Monday, November 17, 2008

AP Insanity

I can't believe this is what goes as news. Is the AP really out there to start wars, pit two groups against one another, American vs. American? Well according to this AP wire story, KPVI in Pocatello picked up, there is evidence to show they are.

http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=9356535

This article is especially offensive to me in 2 ways.

A. By reporting on "not publicly cited" evidence, it is just conjecture. This may be seen in two ways. One way is that it points out that Mormon's will believe something, even when there isn't evidence to support it. That's not a way to make the LDS church more popular in America.

B. It is pitting Mormons against gays, in some sort of false dichotomy. The people involved on both sides of the Prop 8 issue are Americans. The LDS Church's playing of the blame game only works to bias people against the Church. Whenever a church calls other American's terrorists, right after opposing them rights, it makes the church look only MORE bigoted. You oppose their rights and then call them terrorists.

In this story, of course it must be the gays...it couldn't possibly be the fact that there were FLDS have been in the news for the last few months and people may have a problem with the FLDS and not know the difference; nor could it be some angry church member about any of the other issue that the church has going on. It couldn't be that the church has a history of racism, or that there are lots of angry Republicans in Utah, over an election and church-targeted threats make news.

Anther thing the article, and framing of the Mormon's as the victims in this, is minimizing their role in Prop 8. I'm not sure that some church member make the claim to the AP to help cast them as the vicitm. I don't think this is something a church would come out and say when there is no evidence.

How about professional journalists report when there is new, instead of when there are just blame games and divisiveness to report.