Why Referring To This Image As The "Future Of Media" Is Not Okay

Let's play a game called "Is This Sexist?" I'll show you an image and you tell me if it feels inherently sexist.

Image 1: Sexist, or not?

Answer: Not! This is a great representation of women in Hollywood.

Image 2: Sexist, or not?

Answer: Not! While there may be other issues with this cover, I don't spy anything sexist about it because it honors two major winners at the Oscars. (Although, women can only win if they're given the opportunity to make films, but alas that's a slightly different story.)

Image 3: Sexist, or not?

Answer: Sexist.

Oh so freakin' sexist, especially when paired with the caption written by CNN Senior Producer Josiah Daniel Ryan. "The future of media." Wow. In what universe is the future of media made up of all men (and only one person of color)? In what world is CNN so explicitly banking its entire network and franchise on the shoulder of five (stale) names in media? Were Christiane Amanpour and Erin Burnett (whose show, according to data on CNN, has the "Best Performance Ever") too busy actually working to pose for this gloomy cover photo? It's unclear why both CNN and The Hollywood Reporter would not make it a priority to include both male and female journalists and news anchors on their cover.

If you also happen to do a quick search for the words "women," "female," or "diversity," you get zero results. But within the story, you do get quotes like this "Our competitors like to say we're old and we're out of touch and we're not nimble. That is such an antiquated statement; it's so five years ago" which makes me eye-roll to no end. And please don't get me started on the actual content of the piece. Here's an excerpt: "By the time I join Zucker in his modest office, Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer are offering a recap from the anchor desk in Washington. We watch it on the largest of the 11 screens mounted on the wall opposite Zucker's desk." A "modest desk" with "11 screens mounted on the wall" is laughably ironic. What a truly modest guy!

The fact that the lengthy profile is written by a female journalist is also just the cherry on top.

I'll let the internet polish off this glaringly sexist moment (brought to us by THR and CNN) with a few inquisitive and sarcastic tweets while I patiently wait for an inclusive, diverse cover which accurately and wholly represents the real future of media.