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Whitmer and GOP House Speaker Slap Fox 2 Detroit for Crude Report on Her Appearance

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February 14, 2019, 6:23 PM by  Alan Stamm

Fox 2 News deserves a spot in one of its periodic segments -- the feature labeled Hall of Shame.

We initially hesitated to go here for two reasons: It's dicey for a news-gatherer to question coverage decisions elsewhere (let he who is without . . .), and disgrace sometimes is best ignored.

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But a chorus of outrage about a story in Wednesday night newscasts, including three tweets from the governor and one from the Republican speaker of the State House, makes this newsworthy. The coverage had nasty comments about the governor's appearance during a statewide address Tuesday.

"That Fox 2 News story was way out of line," says Gretchen Whitmer, who also calls it "garbage."

"The story is ridiculous," comments House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering. 

Critics in Michigan and beyond accuse the station of sexism, pandering and poor judgment for reporter Erika Erickson's roundup of lewd, misogynistic, juvenile remarks about Whitmer's appearance during her first State of the State speech Tuesday night. "Showing off her cans," "nice rack," "push-up bra" and "I'd hit it" are among reactions aired.

Erickson says that "social media [is] exploding with comments on Whitmer's boatneck blue dress," then shares five from her station's Facebook page. She also solicits wardrobe reactions in the field, including praise of the governor's appearance. (Normally, we'd share a link and embed the three-minute video. This time, we'd rather not encourage viewing.) 

News director Kevin Roseborough doubles down in a two-paragraph statement. "This is not a subject that should be turned away from," he says, adding that the governor is invited "to talk about this further." 

For now, here's how she responds to the nastiness Thursday afternoon:

Speaker Chatfield shares his view:

Michigan's Democratic Party chair tweets:

When Deadline Detroit contacted Roseborough at Fox 2, he declined to comment and said a statement is at the station's website. After a two-sentence preamble, the news director says:

We were taken aback by the number and nature of many inappropriate comments on the governor's physical appearance.

We chose not to ignore the comments, and to instead examine them through person-on-the-street interviews and an expert's opinion on the double standard faced by female leaders. This is not a subject that should be turned away from, and we have extended an invitation to the governor to talk about this further."

The local station is a Fox Television Stations affiliate. That division which shares corporate ownership with the Fox News cable channel, a separate business. 

The earliest and most substantive pushback is at Michigan Advance, a Lansing newsletter, where editor Susan J. Demas blasts the Southfield station for its "roundup of social media randos commenting on the dress she wore — and even explicit assessments of her body parts. . . . Truly, this is journalism at its finest."


The Southfield station's post remains online.

Her headline tells Fox 2 to "really just stop with your creepy fashion critiques of Whitmer." Demas detects a change from the past eight years and figures more is coming:

Nobody ever did stories about how nicely former Gov. Rick Snyder filled out his suit during his State of the State speeches. . . . No one ever wrote a story about Rick Snyder’s pecs or abs, as far as I can recall. . . .

And with a record number of women running for president next year, buckle up. It’s only gonna get worse.

Other foul calls are in nine tweets below, starting with one from a Washington, D.C., political communications executive who worked in Barack Obama's White House and was deputy communications director for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign:

This is from the governor's communications director:

A White House digital reporter for CBS News also pushes back:


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