August 14, 2020
To: We Have Her Back
From: Senator Marsha Blackburn
Re: Your Open Letter To The Media On The Treatment Of News Coverage For The Vice Presidential Candidate
Thank you for detailing your expectations of treatment of the Democratic VP nominee. I commend you for taking on the media and pointing out their mostly subjective and inconsistent coverage of female candidates. The media has applied different metrics to women than to men for years. As the first female elected to the United States Senate from the state of Tennessee, I join you in having regularly noted such discrepancies, and I continue to experience this discrimination on a regular basis.
I would suggest that you seek to have this filter applied to all women in public service—liberal and conservative. It should be equal treatment regardless of ethnicity or political inclination. It would be helpful if you would choose to join me in making sure that all voices are heard and all points of view have a platform for respectful discussion and debate. I agree that women are often “subject to stereotypes and tropes about qualifications, leadership, looks, relationships and experience.”
As a conservative female in public service, I have found that the mainstream media and the support groups of the left make no room for viewpoint diversity. Pro-life women are accused of not supporting women and children; if pro-family you are accused of being intolerant; if pro-business you are accused of supporting greed; if pro-second amendment you are accused of encouraging violence. These stereotypes continue to
infiltrate the media and newsrooms because women of the left — perhaps unknowingly — shun the woman that raises her voice and supports an issue that does not reverberate within liberal echo chambers.
We must equalize treatment and respect of all women in the political process. This would allow the American public, and women in particular, to engage in a respectful debate and point/counterpoint on issues of importance to women and their families.
So, as you instruct the media on how to approach its coverage of Senator Harris, I would urge you to join me in encouraging a level playing field for women. All women regardless of ethnicity, political viewpoint, or any other criteria that may be used to divide females into subsets of contrasting value, are deserving of equal treatment. “We Have Her Back” should apply to all women.
You can also view Senator Blackburn’s letter HERE