It's 2016, and a columnist thought this news anchor's skinny jeans were "jarring"

There's strong evidence that suggests when certain people see a female news anchor, they simply stop listening to the words she's saying and focus solely on the clothes she's wearing. That's a normal way to consume news, right?

On Tuesday, writer C.J. from the Star Tribune devoted an entire column to KARE 11 news anchor Jana Shortal's skinny jeans, according to Jezebel. The now-deleted article starts off by saying a wide-angle shot of Shortal — who was delivering news on the murder of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling — didn't do her "any favors." 

"She looked great from the waist up in a polka-dot shirt and cool blazer, but the skinny jeans did not work," C.J. wrote. "I was among a number of media types who found them inappropriate and, given the gravity of the day's subject matter, downright jarring."

C.J. went on to criticize Shortal for not taking seriously the story she was covering, writing, "being hip in skintight pants while discussing this story was unseemly, perhaps disrespectful."

Shortal responded to the flack in a Facebook post on Wednesday, recalling how sad and uneasy she felt when she learned what had happened to Wetterling — and how her outfit hadn't even crossed her mind.

"I left everything I had on that newsroom floor," wrote Shortal. "And today. You took that away. You made it about my pants."

Shortal spoke out in June about the sexist pattern of people criticizing female news anchors for the way they dress, calling back to the now-infamous "sweater incident," where KTLA meteorologist was handed a cardigan on air to cover up. 

The local news anchor reminded C.J. that her skinny jeans hadn't distracted from the tragic news story — the Tribune column had.

Shortal wrote on Facebook, "You wrote about clothes in the darkest moment of Minnesota news history."