Former DC Mayor Marion Barry is back in the news again, but not for his anti-gay marriage crusade, but because of his relationship with a former girlfriend whom he may have given a $60,000 city contract for that reason. The Washington City Paper has been all over this story, but this week's cover, which features a picture of Barry along with former paramour Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, has caused something of an outrage. The cover features a phrase we can't reprint here at TAPPED because of our family blog policy, but suffice it to say in involves a graphic quote from Watts-Brighthaupt alleging Barry threw her out of his hotel room at the Democratic Convention in Denver because she wouldn't perform a certain sex act. The City Paper had obtained a number of private voicemails between Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt.
Some folks in DC are saying the decision to run the cover, with its graphic language, was racist.
This is a disgrace, and I want to know what the media is doing about this," said Tisa Mitchell, 37, of Northeast Washington. "This is racially motivated. It's ugly. . . . You wouldn't do this to a white politician."
As television cameras gathered around them, Mitchell said: "I don't like the graphic nature of the front page. Everyone has relationship issues, but it shouldn't be put on the front page."
Putting that phrase on the cover was not a decision I would have made--one of the reasons being that the sensational cover has now drawn attention away from the ethical problems that should be at the center of the controversy. As to whether this would have been done for a "white politician," I'm not sure it would have been done if the story didn't involve Marion Barry, who has a talent for scandals that produce quotables. The City Paper is also known for pushing the envelope, so I don't really see a racial angle here.
At any rate, shouldn't the Post be careful about letting Howard Kurtz cover the outcry? I'm not sure he can do so objectively.
-- A. Serwer