The Media Coverage Of Governor Palin's Daughter

I know life isn't fair. But our societal ideal is to make it as fair as possible for our children. That is the whole idea behind public education (although it is far from fair, but that's another story), and tax funded health care programs to cover poor children.

But apparently that societal ideal has been thrown out the window by our media.

Unfortunately, teenage pregnancy is a huge problem in our society. It seems to be happening all the time. It happens to families of all political persuasions. It happens to good families as well as broken ones. And when it happens, it is an extremely difficult situation with many difficult decisions to make which have life-long consequences. Of all things that we should say are a "personal matter," certainly this should be one of them.

So when I heard the news that Governor Palin's 17-year old daughter is pregnant, my heart went out to her and her family. I expected the news to be covered, of course. But watching CNN tonight I was appalled that they splashed her face on the screen several times in the midst of talking about the political implications of the situation. The story was second only to the hurricane.

She is 17 years old! Give her some privacy! Don't you think this is hard enough for her already. This is irresponsible journalism, in my opinion.

As far as the political implications, it makes no difference to me, and I don't think it will to most Americans. If a president can have an affair in the oval office itself, and still maintain his legacy and be considered by many to be an effective president, then certainly Palin's daughter's situation (which pales in comparison), shouldn't disqualify her from the VP position. To some it might however. And to those people I say, Jesus isn't running this year.

So with that, let's move on and give the girl a break.

Update: To Obama's credit, he said related to this matter: "Let me be as clear as possible... I think people's families are off-limits and people's children are especially off-limits." Of course that's what he had to say, and I believe he means it. I hope though that others (including the media) follow his lead.