Day: August 30, 2007
Journalistic Ethics: When to Out a Guy
In his “Everyday Ethics” column, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute mulls over the question of when it is appropriate or germane to a story to identify a public figure or politician as gay. He notes that there were intimations that the latest scandalized pol was gay almost a year ago:
Last fall when a gay activist and radio show host claimed that Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was secretly gay, newsrooms around the country agonized over how and what to cover. Since Roll Call ‘s revelation Monday evening that Craig was arrested in a sting operation in a men’s restroom at the Minneapolis airport, I have been fielding calls from reporters asking if and when journalists are justified in covering the sexual orientation of a politician.
Because Craig pleaded guilty, McBride argues, his alleged gayness is certainly part of the story. But on the axis of reasons to cover a person’s assumed sexual orientation, Craig also qualifies on several other measures:
- Hypocrisy: It is fair game if a certain politician has consistently voted on public policy issues that appear to undermine the rights or the political agenda of gay and lesbian citizens and if there is evidence that he is gay himself. I actually support a higher threshold. Merely voting a certain way on issues doesn’t quite cut it. The only time the hypocrisy argument really works is when an individual has railed against gays and lesbians as a campaign platform. We don’t call women who vote against public policy that would be beneficial to other women hypocrites.
- Honesty: If a guy says he’s not gay and it turns out that he is, he’s a liar and voters deserve to know. Here again, I believe a higher threshold is in order. Has he deceived a spouse? Has he actively created a false impression?
- Infidelity: We don’t care if he’s gay. We care if he is having affairs and breaking his marriage vows. Then focus on the infidelity, not the sexual orientation. We’ve cared about philandering ever since the days of Gary Hart.
- Criminal behavior: This is the clearest justification. If a politician is engaged in or charged with behavior that is deemed to be against the law, then we usually care. But go one step further and explain why such behavior is criminal, especially when it involves tapping ones foot in a men’s room.
- The impact the rumors/story have on the voters and politics: We don’t care whether he’s gay. We report on the effect the story has on the political scene. This is a cop-out, a great way to back into a salacious story without taking responsibility for the information at the heart of the story. News editors, executive producers and political hacks, take your pick. If you’re going to cover the Senator Larry Craig story, find a journalistic purpose for the space and time and energy it consumes.
LBJ Visited New Orleans Within 24 Hours After Hurricane Betsy
“This is your President!” Johnson announced. “I’m here to help you!”
Hurricane Betsy came ashore at Grand Isle, Louisiana, on the evening of Sept. 9, 1965. Like Hurricane Katrina would do 40 years later, the surge devastated New Orleans, flooding parts of the city, including the Lower Ninth Ward, for days.
One striking difference between Betsy and Katrina was the response of the president and the federal government. Less than 24 hours after Betsy hit and New Orleans was flooded, Pres. Lyndon Johnson was in the city, making surprise visits to shelters, offering encouragements to the city’s newly homeless residents.
Here is a transcript of LBJ’s remarks upon landing at the New Orleans airport at 3 p.m. that day, via John Edwards ’08 Blog:
Today at 3 o’clock when Senator Long and Congressman Boggs and Congressman Willis called me on behalf of the entire Louisiana delegation, I put aside all the problems on my desk to come to Louisiana as soon as I could. I have observed from flying over your city how great the catastrophe is that you have experienced. Human suffering and physical damage are measureless. I’m here this evening to pledge to you the full resources of the federal government to Louisiana to help repair as best we can the injury that has been done by nature.
And then there is this:
In the Ninth Ward, Johnson visited the George Washington Elementary School, on St. Claude Avenue, which was being used as a shelter. “Most of the people inside and outside of the building were Negro,” the diary reads. “At first, they did not believe that it was actually the President.” Johnson entered the crowded shelter in near-total darkness; there were only a couple of flashlights to lead the way.
“This is your President!” Johnson announced. “I’m here to help you!”
The diary describes the shelter as a “mass of human suffering,” with people calling out for help “in terribly emotional wails from voices of all ages. . . . It was a most pitiful sight of human and material destruction.” According to an article by the historian Edward F. Haas, published fifteen years ago in the Gulf Coast Historical Review, Johnson was deeply moved as people approached and asked him for food and water; one woman asked Johnson for a boat so that she could look for her two sons, who had been lost in the flood….
It’s hard to imagine George W. Bush visiting a shelter so soon after a disaster — or rather it is impossible to imagine because it would never happen.
Homophobia Inc.: Message of Hate Raises Hundreds of Millions of Dollars – Tax-Free
Homophobia has flourished in the Bush era, both as a potent political tool — many people believe George Bush would have lost Ohio in 2004, and thus a second term, if Karl Rove hadn’t made sure there was an anti-gay initiative on the state ballot — and as an industry unto itself. In just one year, the top 10 Christianist groups that promote homophobia raised over $400 million in tax-free dollars:
- Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN)
Founder, CEO and Director: Pat Robertson
2004 Revenue: $186,482,060 - Focus on the Family
Founder and chairman: Dr. James C. Dobson
2005 Revenue: $137,848,520 - Coral Ridge Ministries
Founder and President: Rev. D. James Kennedy
2005 Revenue: $39,253,882 - Alliance Defense Fund (ADF)
President, CEO and General Counsel: Alan Sears
2004 Revenue: $17,921,146 - American Family Association (AFA)
Founder and Chairman: The Rev. Donald Wildmon
2005 Revenue: $17,595,352 - American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)
Founder and President: Pat Robertson, Chief Counsel: Jay Sekulow
2005 Revenue: $14,485,514 - Family Research Council (FRC)
Founder: James C. Dobson, President and CEO: Tony Perkins
2005 Revenue: $9,958,115 - Jerry Falwell Ministries
Founder and Director: Jerry Falwell (deceased)
2005 Revenue: $8,950,480 - Concerned Women for America (CWA)
Founders: Tim and Beverly LaHaye
2005 Revenue: $8,484,108 - Traditional Values Coalition (TVC)
Founder and Chairman: The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
2005 Revenue: $6,389,448
All of these groups use homophobia as a fundraising tool, but while some address a wide range of social issues, four of them — Focus on the Family, AFA, FRC, TVC — are one-trick ponies that focus all or most of their activities on promoting homophobia. (The late Falwell and CWA arguably could belong to this group too.) These four groups raised $169 million of the revenue in 2005.
If fundraising for these four hate groups remains flat each year from 2005 through the end of 2007, they will have raised about $500 million among them in three years.
Tax free.
