CNN’s Dana Bash got a new gig on Thursday as well as an age-old problem facing women in the workplace.
The network announced that the 51-year-old veteran political correspondent would host the network’s “Inside Politics” newscast.
Bash will replace John King, who will lead a new reporting project where he tells stories about voters in key battleground states.
As might be expected, many media reporters did pieces on the news, but Bash wasn’t pleased by how the Los Angeles Times framed the story ― at least in the initial headline.
That’s because the original headline, “John King Exits CNN’s ‘Inside Politics’ for New Role. His Ex-Wife Dana Bash Will Succeed Him,” focused on the fact that the two were once married, from 2008 to 2012, and had a son together ― and not her own substantial qualifications for the position.
So Bash called out the paper on Twitter:
Hey @latimes
– yes John and I used to be married. We are now friends and share a wonderful son together. In this context I am not an “ex wife,” I am a veteran journalist with decades of experience who worked hard for this role. Do better please.
The newspaper took her criticisms to heart and removed the ex-wife reference from the headline, and she graciously responded, “Thank you.”
Hillary Manning, the LA Times’ vice president of communications, told JS by email that the headline on the story was updated after it was published.
“We agreed that including the reference to King and Bash having previously been a married couple in the headline could be misinterpreted,” she said.
Bash also congratulated King on his new gig as well.
Still, many people were understandably bothered by the publication’s original headline, which came across to some as a reminder of outdated views that a woman’s worth is directly related to the men in their life.