Times media reporter Brian Stelter was the latest to downplay Obama-supporter Hilary Rosen's insult of Ann Romney of having "never worked a day in her life," in his Sunday Review "news analysis," "From Flash to Fizzle [1]." Stelter argued that Hilary Rosen's insult would be the latest controversy to burn hot and then be totally forgotten:
....Just ask Jeremy Lin, who’s no longer a source of “Linsanity,” or Karen Handel, who’s no longer a top official at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, or Michele Bachmann, no longer a presidential candidate. Or Rick Perry. Or Herman Cain. (If you can remember why they were newsworthy at all.)
In a few days, ask Hilary Rosen, whose comments about Ann Romney sparked a brief but furious “mommy war” last week.
These flash-in-the-pan episodes have long been evident in the entertainment universe. The breakup of a marriage like Kim Kardashian’s or the death of a superstar like Whitney Houston prompts instant heehawing and told-ya-so-ing, and a month later we’re hard-pressed to remember that it happened at all.
But now, the same overreactions happen with political news -- when Sarah Palin hints again at running for president or Rush Limbaugh insults a law student on the radio.
Speaking of "overreactions" – Stelter did six full stories on Limbaugh and free-birth-control advocate Sandra Fluke, and never suggested it was a non-issue with little permanent resonance. In contrast, his Sunday piece marks the first story by Stelter (according to a nytimes.com search) that even mentions Rosen, only to suggest that the controversy is already on the wane. (Little wonder, with such unimpressive coverage from the Times [2].)