The Reporter That Started "Bitter-gate"

As I was reading the newspaper (LA Times) this morning, I found an interesting article regarding the reporter who published the now infamous "bitter" remarks Obama had made during a fund raiser in San Francisco last weekend.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-bitter15apr15,1,5024574.story

'Citizen journalist' at center of Barack Obama 'bitter' words

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The woman's Web post prompts charges of elitism against Obama, and exposes her to waves of vitriol.

By James Rainey, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 15, 2008

Mayhill Fowler grew up with a mother who didn't like her talking politics in the home. As an adult, she faced publishers who wouldn't put her writing in print.

She found an outlet for her twin passions of writing and politics last year in the Huffington Post, the left-leaning website. But Fowler conceded that her early reports from the Democratic campaign trail didn't produce anything particularly newsworthy.

That all changed last Friday, when her report on Barack Obama's statements about the "bitter" feelings of small-town Americans thrust the 61-year-old Oakland woman into a political storm that continued to rage Monday.

The story prompted charges of elitism against Obama by his presidential election opponents, and exposed the neophyte "citizen journalist" to waves of vitriol.

The furor is the latest reminder of how untraditional reporters and news outlets have changed the nature of journalism and politics. Fowler, a supporter and contributor to Obama's campaign, gained access to an event deemed "closed" to mainstream journalists and the resulting story forced big news outlets to take notice.

"We have entered new territory and the rules are not all clear," said Larry Pryor, a USC journalism professor. "You have to assume that everything is on-the-record. There's no getting around that anymore."

Fowler said Monday she had received about 200 e-mail messages that ranged from "creepy to threatening," including a few death threats from purported Obama supporters. She said about 25 e-mails praised her...

This story would not have been so controversial had she not reported it. But I believe that she is just being a good reporter. As stated in the article, she has been an admirer of Obama for quite some time. She has also donated the maximum of $2300 to his campaign. I think it is outrageous that some people are giving her death threats and the such. Of course we can disagree with what she had reported, but threaten her? That's a little bit over the top. I'm an Obama supporter and i lamented the fact that his remarks have stirred such controversy. Candidates are going to make gaffes. That's a given. When one is reported, we can't go around threaten to kill people is the report on something we don't like. We need to be adults, act like adults. Had Ms. Fowler taken Obama's words and reported them out of context, then that would be another story. However, she provided the whole transcript of what he had said, so it was in context and legitimate. We can argue and discuss this like adults, but not go crazy and threatening to kill someone who is just doing their job.