It didn't take long for this story in the NYT about a group of young, successful (all white, all male) political bloggers to piss off a lot of women. "Brat Pack" stories are always popular. People like to read about young, successful people, especially when they travel in hordes. What an exclusive club! What intelligent fun they must have! Would you look at that, some of them even have some neat-sounding female accessories! Luckily Ann Friedman was quick on the draw with her wonderful send-up that shouts out the many talented female journalists in DC who have, as she notes, been there all along.
One sweltering DC evening many months ago, Ann Friedman, 29, then an editor for The American Prospect, sat with her friends Annie Lowrey, a reporter for Slate; Suzy Khimm and Kate Sheppard, reporters for Mother Jones; Marin Cogan, a reporter for Politico; Phoebe Connelly, a freelance writer and former web editor for The American Prospect; Britt Peterson, an editor at Foreign Policy; Dayo Olopade, a writer for The Daily Beast, Kay Steiger and Shani Hilton, editors at Campus Progress; Kat Aaron, a reporter for the Investigative Reporting Workshop; Monica Potts, a blogger for The American Prospect; Amanda Terkel, a reporter for The Huffington Post; and Laura McGann and Sara Libby, editors for Politico, at a bar on U Street. Ms. Friedman spoke about her younger — well, relatively younger — days in the city.
“Everyone’s gotten a little bit older and a little more tired of being constantly rendered invisible,” Ms. Friedman said, speaking of a wave of Washington women journalists who have come of age together. “Four years ago, we were fact-checking and editing these male pundits, along with creating award-winning work of our own. None of that has changed.” [my emphasis].
Go Ann!