From Democracy, Washington Post Style, by Cliff Kincaid, published Nov 27, 2006, by Accuracy in Media:

The Washington Post says that democracy means that the people should be ignored and state legislatures should obey the dictates of the courts. Its October 26 lead editorial in support of a New Jersey Supreme Court decision redefining traditional marriage actually carried the sub headline: “A court’s order on same-sex partnerships leaves plenty of room for democratic decisions.” In other words, “democratic decisions” have to be made in the context of what is allowed by the court. This editorial makes a mockery of true democratic decision-making and is an embarrassment to the journalism profession.

The Post, of course, is in the camp of the radical homosexual movement. As the editorial states, “For those, like us, who support same-sex marriage, such steps are welcome.” Unfortunately, this bias goes beyond editorials in the paper.

Many news organizations, including the Post, contribute big bucks to the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. Even Fox News gave the organization $10,000.

Peter LaBarbera of the group Americans for Truth, sent a letter to Fox News chief Roger Ailes asking that he balance that contribution by providing an equal amount of money to a group critical of the homosexual agenda. LaBarbera believes that the media “should play it down the middle on homosexuality and other controversial issues, not serve as a cheerleader for the ‘gay rights’ cause.”

However, a key leader of the NLGJA disagrees. Eric Hegedus, NLGJA national president, says that quoting a critic of homosexual rights is comparable to quoting an official of the KKK when writing about civil rights for blacks.

In addition to Fox News, LaBarbera identified the following media or media-related organizations as financial sponsors of the recent NLGJA convention: Miami Herald, McClatchy Co., CBS, CNN, Gannett Foundation, Hearst Corp., US Newswire, ESPN, NBC Universal, ABC News, Nielsen Media Research, UBS, Los Angeles Times, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Tribune Company.

Apparently Wal-Mart failed to take note of the decline in Ford sales and stock value after they determined to openly support homosexual activism.

Excerpted from Commentary & News Briefs, published Nov 3, 2006, by American Family Association:

Wal-Mart is projecting no improvement in sales this month, meaning it will mark the retail company’s worst sales performance in ten years. According to the Bloomberg News Service, Wal-Mart officials blame the poor showing in receipts on such things as disappointing clothing sales and disarray from store renovations. Wal-Mart has also been the target of recent protests from pro-family leaders over the company’s decision to partner with a homosexual chamber of commerce group. Wal-Mart recently joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) and announced that it would give two large grants to the organization. According to American Family Association sources, the retail giant was rewarded with a position on the board of NGLCC. Wal-Mart has also announced its intention to give preference to homosexual-owned businesses in purchasing products. [Fred Jackson]

Continue reading at AFA…

Excerpted from ‘Gay Journalist’ Leader Attacks ‘Marketing of Evil’, published Sept 29, 2006, by WorldNet Daily:

The president of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association has come out swinging at “The Marketing of Evil” author David Kupelian, comparing those who oppose homosexuality on religious grounds with “white supremacists and other hate groups.”

In his latest “Message from the national president,” NLGJA’s national president Eric Hegedus discussed “homophobia” in news coverage – and in the process confirmed one of the many controversial assertions Kupelian made in “The Marketing of Evil.”

“In Chapter 1 of my book,” Kupelian said, “I reported how professional broadcast news journalists at a NLGJA event advocated that, when reporting on homosexual issues, journalists shouldn’t even bother to interview people holding to the traditional Judeo-Christian viewpoint. That is, rather than dignify the biblical viewpoint as worthy of inclusion by the press, it should be treated the same way the media treat the Ku Klux Klan.”

“Some people thought I was exaggerating,” said Kupelian. “Well, now the president of the organization is coming out and making it official: According to ‘gay’ members of the establishment press, when reporting on homosexuality journalists should just stop interviewing people like James Dobson or D. James Kennedy or any other traditionalist espousing a biblical perspective.”

Here’s what Hegedus wrote to NLGJA’s membership:

Continue reading at WorldNet Daily…

And in April, Kupelian’s book was at the center of a national controversy when a Christian librarian at Ohio State University was formally investigated for “sexual harassment” just because he recommended the freshmen class be required to read “The Marketing of Evil.” The charges, instigated by two openly homosexual English professors, were dropped under threat of a lawsuit from the Alliance Defense Fund.

This Sunday, Kupelian will talk about “the marketing of homosexuality” on D. James Kennedy’s nationally broadcast television show, “The Coral Ridge Hour.” Kennedy, the world’s most-listened-to Presbyterian minister, is featuring Kupelian and “The Marketing of Evil” throughout September on the Sunday morning show. This week’s will be the last of four shows promoting the controversial best seller.

Dr. Michael Campion, a psychologist who for years has provided screening services for police departments in the Midwest region, was recently suspended by the Minneapolis Police Department. The apparent reason for Dr. Campion’s suspension: he is a Christian and served on the board of the Illinois Family Institute (IFI), which one liberal newspaper called “an anti-choice and anti-gay organization.”

Martha Kleder has more on this story with Peter LaBarbera, spokesman and former Executive Director for IFI and President of Americans for Truth. You will also here more about FOX News and Walmart‘s support of a homosexual activist group, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.

Click HERE to listen.

From ‘Fair and balanced’ network gives $10K to ‘gays’, published September 9, 2006, by WorldNet Daily:

Fox News Channel, which owes its No. 1 cable news rating to its immense popularity with conservatives, is donating $10,000 to an organization of homosexual journalists.

Fox News tells viewers “We Report. You Decide.” But it has made the donation to “connect with” the estimated 650 journalists who are attending a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association event at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel this weekend.

The company has joined with the Miami Herald, McClatchy Co., CBS, CNN, Hearst Corp., US Newswire, ESPN, Bloomberg, ABC News, The Los Angeles Times, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Washington Post and Tribune Co. in sponsoring the event for the organization that claims 1,300 members nationwide.

“By sponsoring the ‘Out in the Sunshine,’ you gain a direct link to top media professionals from across the country and around the globe. The various levels of sponsorship allow you increased visibility, and access to influential members of the mainstream and LGBT media,” said the convention website.

A message left with Fox News seeking comment was not returned immediately, but an activist group had a contribution ready for the debate.

Americans for Truth essentially asked Fox News to live up to its own words, or eat them.

Peter LaBarbera

In a letter e-mailed yesterday from AFT chief Peter LaBarbera to Fox News Channel President Roger Ailes, LaBarbera said the network’s “fair and balanced” reputation is on the line.

From FOX News Channel Caught Donating $10,000 to Gay Journalist Organization, by John-Henry Westen, published Sept 8, 2006, by LifeSite News:

While the left likes to pretend that Fox News Channel is a right-wing conservative news organization, Fox has always claimed it is “fair and balanced”, trying to portray the image of center of the road. However, their “fair and balanced” claim will be under close scrutiny by conservatives this week as a pro-family group has asked Fox News to match a $10,000 donation to a homosexual journalism organization, with a donation to pro-family group.

Fox News is listed as a “Feature Level” sponsor of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) annual convention which began yesterday and runs through the weekend in Miami. See the NGLA sponsorship page featuring Fox News as a sponsor: http://www.nlgja.org/convention/2006/sponsors.htm

The controversy is of heightened intensity since the leader of the NLGJA recently compared pro-family critics of homosexuality to “white supremacists.”

Americans for Truth (AFT) is asking Fox News Channel to be “fair and balanced” by giving $10,000 to a conservative group to match its donation to NLGJA. In a letter sent today to Fox News Channel President Roger Ailes, AFT President Peter LaBarbera wrote: “FOX News cannot claim to be ‘fair and balanced’ in its coverage of homosexuality while providing large grants to a special interest group like the [NLGJA] that demonizes religious conservatives and, worse, seeks to influence the media nationwide to exclude conservative critics of the homosexual political/cultural agenda from gay-related stories.”

AN AMERICANS FOR TRUTH PRESS RELEASE

NAPERVILLE, Illinois—Americans for Truth is asking Fox News Channel to be “fair and balanced” by giving $10,000 to a conservative group to match its donation to a homosexual journalists’ organization whose leader recently compared pro-family critics of homosexuality to “white supremacists.”

In a letter sent today to Fox News Channel President Roger Ailes—following FOX’s $10,000 sponsorship gift to the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) annual convention—AFT President Peter LaBarbera wrote:

“FOX News cannot claim to be ‘fair and balanced’ in its coverage of homosexuality while providing large grants to a special interest group like the [NLGJA] that demonizes religious conservatives and, worse, seeks to influence the media nationwide to exclude conservative critics of the homosexual political/cultural agenda from gay-related stories.

“A balancing grant to AFT or a like-minded pro-family organization would signal that Fox News Channel is committed to living up to its credo and not taking sides in the Culture War. It would also … show respect for the tens of millions of Americans who do not deserve to be likened to the KKK simply for adhering to historic Judeo-Christian beliefs.”

The NLGJA bills itself as merely a professional organization for journalists, yet over the years its members have repeatedly suggested that covering “both sides” of homosexuality-related issues is like quoting the KKK on stories about race—a preposterous analogy especially considering that African Americans poll stronger against “gay marriage” than whites.

NLGJA National President Eric Hegedus repeats the spurious white supremacist comparison on the NLGJA’s website:

“How appropriate is it to quote interviewees whose ideas could be considered homophobic? … Certainly, news organizations have written extensively about white supremacists and other hate groups… But I doubt that any journalist is adding them to a source contact list for bringing “balance” to future stories about reparations, interracial marriage, the Holocaust or immigration. That same ethic needs to extend to LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] coverage, too.”

Wal-Mart Corporation is also listed among the $10,000 sponsors of the NLGJA convention, which began yesterday and runs through the weekend in Miami.

By Peter LaBarbera

Fox News and Wal-mart are among the high-level ($10,000) sponsors of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association’s (NLGJA) 2006 Convention in Miami (Sept 7-10 at Loew’s Miami Beach Hotel). Every year, the NLGJA garners hundreds of thousands of dollars in Big Media sponsorships for its convention; this year it appears (based on the sponsorship list below) that the total is around half a milliion dollars in corporate support.

The NLGJA bills itself as merely a professional organization for journalists who “happen to be gay,” as the liberal cliche goes. But the organization advocates a pro-homosexual “spinning” of the news not unlike the activist group GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Note, for example, the NLGJA’s advice to the media regarding coverage of Lance Bass, the ‘N Sync band member who recently publicly revealed his homosexuality:

• The term “gay” is the preferred adjective that has largely replaced “homosexual” in referring to men who are sexually and affectionally attracted to other men. “Homosexual” should be used only if “heterosexual” would be used in parallel constructions, such as in medical contexts.

• Whether in headlines, teases, or body copy, try to avoid using forms of the word “admit,” which is typically used in the context of something shameful or illegal. Some examples of less potentially charged words are “announce,” “disclose” and “say.”

While it is true that the “mainstream” (read: dominant liberal) media is so pro-homosexuality these days that it is hard to discern between media activism and plain old homosexual-group activism, that does not make it right. The media should play it down the middle on homosexuality and other controversial issues, not serve as a cheerleader for the “gay rights” cause.

Yet over the years, NLGJA members have repeatedly suggested that covering “both sides” of homosexuality-related issues is like quoting the KKK on stories about African Americans–a preposterous analogy especially considering that Blacks and minorities poll stronger against “gay marriage” than whites. Thus, if you think the Lance Bass advice above is tendentious, try this from NLGJA National President Eric Hegedus (a page designer for the Philadelphia Inquirer), who repeats the spurious white supremacist comparison on the journalist group’s website (emphasis added):

How appropriate is it to quote interviewees whose ideas could be considered homophobic?… Certainly, news organizations have written extensively about white supremacists and other hate groups. For instance, in October we saw a flurry of stories about 13-year-old twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede, who use entertainment to promote the supremacist movement (“Young singers spread racist hate,” said a headline on the ABC News Web site). But I doubt that any journalist is adding them to a source contact list for bringing “balance” to future stories about reparations, interracial marriage, the Holocaust or immigration. That same ethic needs to extend to LGBT coverage, too.

Although not all NLGJA members may share Hegedus’ view on this, clearly the NLGJA is an activist organization with a strong institutional bias against those espousing traditionalist views on homosexuality.

Our question for Fox News executives is: if you are truly “fair and balanced,” will you now give an equal and corresponding grant to Americans for Truth or another pro-family organization, say, Accuracy in Media, that counters the ubiquitous pro-“gay” spin in the media? We’ll be awaiting your answer.

The following are corporate sponsors for this year’s NLGJA conference in Miami:

“Groundbreaker Level” – $35,000

• Miami Herald
• El Nuevo Herald
• McClatchy Co

“Headliner Level” – $25,000

• Planet Out
• Harrah’s
• Jet Blue

“Editorial Level” – $15,000

• MGM Mirage
• BELO
• CBS
• CNN
• Gannett Foundation
• Hearst Corp
• Coca Cola
• Orbitz
• US Newswire
• ESPN
• Verizon
• Microsoft

“Feature Level” – $10,000

• NBC Universal
• Key West
• Gilead
• Toyota
• IBM
• Passport
• (illegible)
• Bloomberg
• Wal-Mart – [That’s right, the same Wal-Mart that recently gave $25,000 to National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce is also sponsoring NLGJA–Ed.]
• Sam’s Club
• Fox News

“News Brief Level” – $5,000

• ABC News
• GM
• Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Hill & Knowlton
• Kimpton Hotels
• Nielson Media Research
• Q Syndicate
• UBS
• China Grill

“Source Level” – up to $5,000

• Los Angeles Times
• Page & Author
• South Florida Black Journalists Association
• South Florida Sun-Sentinel
• Washington Post
• Tribune Company