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Newspapers Criticized For Running Photos Of Bill Clinton After Hillary Made History

This is awkward.

Hillary Clinton made history Tuesday when she became the first woman nominated to lead a major American party into a presidential election. By any standard, that's front-page news.

But several major U.S. newspapers ran the story with photos of a man on page A1 — Clinton's husband and former president Bill Clinton, who sang his wife's praises with a speech to the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night. The photo choice sparked discussions about sexism and gender biases on social media Wednesday.

"For people who still don't think gender bias is a significant issue in this election, I'd like you to tell me the last time a man's accomplishment was accompanied by a picture of his wife in his stead," blogger Ramblin' Mama wrote on Facebook, with a screengrab of the Chicago Tribune's front page.

"Go ahead, I'll wait."

Many took to Twitter with screengrabs of newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post that also featured a photo of Bill with a headline celebrating Hillary.

Kelsey McKinney, a staff writer for Fusion, shared many examples online.

An image of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination but called Tuesday for her to be named the the nominee by acclamation, was also featured by some papers.

A print deadline issue?

Wall Street Journal reporter Byron Tau suggested his paper's decision merely reflected the reality of "print deadlines," as Bill Clinton addressed delegates late Tuesday night. A late edition of the Journal showed a photo of Clinton addressing delegates via a video message.

That excuse didn't wash with many who argued that every media outlet has ample photos of Hillary Clinton on file by now.

And — according to a round-up by Poynter — many newspapers opted to go with an older photo of Hillary on their front pages.

And some, like The New York Times, went with a photo of ecstatic women cheering on the monumental moment.

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"I have always believed that women are not victims, we are agents of change, we are drivers of progress, we are makers of peace -- all we need is a fighting chance."

Perfect Quotes From Hillary Clinton

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