Hillary Clinton becomes the first female presidential candidate, but husband takes the front page
It was a historic night for American politics on Tuesday after Hillary Clinton officially secured the Democratic Party nomination for president of the United States, making her the first woman in U.S. history to receive such an honour.
Some Americans were not satisfied with how the media decided to portray this iconic political moment on newspaper front pages.
Journalist Kelsey McKinney was quick to point out on Twitter that numerous front-pages across America decided to focus their attention on another face of the Clinton campaign, Hillary’s husband and former president Bill Clinton.
Hillary Clinton, first woman to win the presidency! Let’s put a big pic of her husband on the front page! pic.twitter.com/hRzu9VxuSE
— kelsey mckinney (@mckinneykelsey) July 27, 2016
The numerous images used of the former 42nd president were taken during his speech supporting Hillary’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In an article written for Fusion, McKinney notes the argument that Bill Clinton’s photo is more suitable than a picture of Hillary for a front-page story dismisses the Democratic nominee’s monumental accomplishment.
“Sure, newspapers like to run a photo from the actual day an event took place. Yes, Bill was inarguably the biggest name to speak in Philadelphia last night (he used to be president!). And yes, Hillary Clinton wasn’t physically standing on the stage.”
“But none of these excuses are reason enough to put Bill Clinton as the representative snapshot of his wife’s historic victory, of the night the first woman is nominated for president by a major party.”
McKinney also argues an underlying sexism is responsible for numerous front-page snubs, and highlights other publications who did manage to use either Hillary Clinton or her supporters for their coverage.
Look at these papers that did not use a photo of Bill and still managed to produce a paper! pic.twitter.com/psSUbn9PBr
— kelsey mckinney (@mckinneykelsey) July 27, 2016
McKinney wasn’t the only one to speak out on Twitter.
Wait - which Clinton did the Dems nominate last night? Thought it was Hillary so why is Bill’s pic on front page? https://t.co/49Vp7kJjQq
— Jessica Porter (@snakehairlady) July 27, 2016
@chicagotribune Fixed it for you! #WeMadeHistory pic.twitter.com/rjTDAHj6S6
— Grace Laine (@TAW3343) July 27, 2016
WaPo even managed to get Bill and Bernie on the front page not Hillary Clinton. #YouHadOneJob https://t.co/LC5kd86PbF
— Christoph (@clarityandchaos) July 27, 2016
Is Hillary on the front page of any newspaper? From what I’m seeing & hearing, (white) men are making history… pic.twitter.com/uwIUV0hNfL
— Sharla (@sharlatee) July 27, 2016
With the U.S. election set to take place this November, this likely won’t be the last example of media coverage controversy surrounding either the Democratic or Republican candidate’s campaign in the months ahead.