ABC's 20/20 has sunk to new lows. Television news sources once respected due to their high standards are now under criticism due to a shift to obtaining higher ratings for advertisers.
20/20's story on Matthew Shepard's murder is just such a piece of tabloid journalism. They have interviewed people who have changed their story many times, have motivation to change their story and failed to put forward all the credible facts.
"This was indeed a complex murder; no one is suggesting otherwise," Garry concluded. "But for 20/20 to lay out a case based on speculation, innuendo, the avoidance of critical facts, sources lacking in basic credibility, and reliance on conflicting pieces of information is reckless journalism." - GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry
Matthew Shepard's story is only one case of hate motivated crimes against gays in the United States. Many more equally horrific cases have been prosecuted since and many more are being swept into the proverbial closet.
Homophobia is the largest health issue facing gays in the United States, Canada and around the world. ABC's 20/20 has made it okay to continue to ignore the dangers of being gay in this case, the United Sates.
Click here for GLAAD's link to emailing ABC
Rick Barnes
peace earth and justice
3 comments:
Yes, it was all about the ratings. So who were they selling this story to? I posted my own rant. (I wasn't quite so reasonable.) My conclusion:
Homophobes picketed Matthew’s funeral with hate speech and signs such as "God Hates Fags" and "Gay Matt in Hell." There is a market for what ABC was selling. They want a different story, one in which hatred of gays and lesbians is not to blame. Last Friday night, they got it.
Beware the person who offers simple solutions to complex problems. IBE
I always try to be polite, sometimes it does not work. What ABC and 20/20 did was dastardly!
I also posted quite a bit on this issue on my own blog. http://members.shaw.ca/OZ/home.html . In this day and age, I would hope that we could move at least the one step forward without having to move the two steps back.
One of them is directly here:
http://bbogdan.blogspot.com/2004/11/american-triangle.html
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