Yes, it's news that Campbell Brown has quit her post at CNN. But why the sexist circus? Sharing a time slot with Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann, Brown made the uncomfortable leap from reporter to bombastic commentator for the struggling news network in '07 — probably some producer's misguided ploy to steal ratings share from those macho, venom-spewing bullies. And yesterday, she became the latest in a parade of smart-girl anchors who get steamrolled by the ratings machine, and suffer disproportionate humiliation as a result. Consider: Talk of Katie Couric's failure started one week after she began holding down the evening new at CBS, and generally focused on her wardrobe choices over her reporting skills. Paula Zahn was beat up by Fox News, where honcho Roger Ailes compared her to a "dead raccoon," before struggling at CNN, where she was disappeared to make way for Brown. Now that Brown's given notice, bloggers are blaming her failure on CNN failing to sex her up. Can you picture Dan Abrams, Aaron Brown, or any other viewer-challenged anchor-dude getting this kind of treatment?
