Fox News and the Baby Mama drama

I try not to write too much about Fox News, because I just have very little interest in paying much attention to it. But lately, they seem to be getting themselves in trouble. The latest brouhaha, over the use of the term "Obama's Baby Mama" to describe Michelle Obama, requires a response.


Here's a good description of the problem:

In addition to being insulting, the phrase "baby mama" is also inaccurate. The Urban Dictionary defines "baby mama" as"the mother of your child(ren), whom you did not marry and with whom you are not currently involved."

However, I should note that Fox has apologized. Credit where it is due.

“A producer on the program exercised poor judgment in using this chyron during the segment,” Fox's Senior Vice President of Programming Bill Shine said in a statement to Politico.

I'm a firm believer in applying the principle of innocent until proven guilty, so I try not to pass judgment unless the evidence is clear. But the evidence this time around is strong. This was not a slip of the tongue. Someone had to make a conscious decision to put this on the air. And they clearly thot that they could get away with it. I don't want to try and figure out what the rationale was. I do think, however, that there may be a generational divide:

A Fox staffer said that others internally were bothered by describing the potential first lady and very accomplished women — as the senator's "baby mama."

I'm going to assume that the people who were bothered by this were younger people, who grew up a little more sensitive to these issues. As an Obama supporter, I try to believe in the possibilities of forgiveness and understanding.

What I have not seen mentioned is that Fox seems utterly clueless about the double standard of applying this to a black woman. Would they ever use the term "baby mama" to describe Laura Bush? Or Nancy Reagan? Or Barbara Bush? Or Rosalyn Carter? No.

So here's a suggestion for commentators, conservative or otherwise: if you are wondering about the propriety of using a particular term to describe Barack or Michelle Obama, try to imagine using it to describe Ronald or Nancy Reagan. Then you won't be subjected to damning ridicule.