By Jeremy Sewall and Kenneth Ervin Jr.
ABC News, Time Inc., People magazine, MTV, Fox Entertainment donate to GLAAD Awards.
Major media businesses are underwriting a pro-homosexual group that regularly lobbies them to make changes in TV and film scripts.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) held its 15th annual media awards event in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 27, with similar events planned in New York tonight, April 12 and in San Francisco on June 5. Major media company sponsors include ABC News, Fox Entertainment, TimeWarner, Time and People magazines, and MTV.
“Folks in the media scratch their heads and look innocent when pro-family groups accuse them of lacking objectivity on homosexual issues,” said Robert Knight, director of the Culture & Family Institute, an affiliate of Concerned Women for America. “But the GLAAD Awards pull back the curtain to reveal the man in the lavender suit who is pulling the media levers.”
Knight, a former news editor and writer for the Los Angeles Times, said that media bias “is so thick now on the homosexual issue that you don’t know whether you’re reading a mainstream newspaper or the latest Gay Blade.”
Presented by Absolut Vodka, GLAAD’s event honors the year’s “outstanding” representations of “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender” people, issues, and events in the media.
Dozens of other companies also agreed to underwrite GLAAD’s media awards:
Platinum Underwriters, contributing $100,000 each: Wells Fargo and IBM.
Underwriters, who contribute $50,000: Anheuser-Busch, Banana Republic, Coors, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lehman Brothers and Motorola.
Gold Patrons, who contribute $25,000: Blockbuster, MTV, Perrier, Starbucks Coffee, Time Warner, and Tylenol PM.
Patrons contribute $12,500: AT&T, Kodak, Fox Entertainment Group, The McGraw-Hill Companies, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Verizon.
“Sponsors” contribute $8,500: ABC News, American Express, Bravo, CBS/UPN, People magazine, Levi Strauss, Microsoft, Miramax, Time Inc., Time magazine, Warner Brothers Records and Yahoo!.
GLAAD says it promotes fair and balanced reporting on “gay rights,” but the group holds a twisted view of “balance.” GLAAD was instrumental in the successful campaign against Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s short-lived television version of her highly rated radio talk show. A one-time “gay rights” supporter, Dr. Laura spoke out against homosexual activists who had turned on her after she publicized the fact that many people have overcome homosexuality and become “ex-gay.”
The GLAAD media guide argues that news stories should be kept free of statements by “anti-gay” organizations.
Consider this excerpt:
Media coverage of our community has become — and continues to become — increasingly multi-dimensional. As a result, reporting that remains mired in simplistic, predictable “pro-gay” and “anti-gay” dualisms does a disservice to readers seeking information on the diversity of opinion and experience within our community. . . .There continues to be a need for journalists to distinguish between opposing viewpoints on lesbian and gay issues and the defamatory rhetoric that fuels prejudice and discrimination. While defamatory comments may be newsworthy, they should no longer be used simply to provide “balance” in a news story. Unfortunately, anti-gay organizations and institutions continue to see their incendiary rhetoric and inaccurate, unverifiable claims legitimized through stories, features and profiles. Such inclusion, despite the best efforts of reporters striving for fair and accurate coverage, devalues the quality of journalism.
Recipients of GLAAD’s awards include Nicole Kidman, Ann Curry, Christina Aguilera, Tony Bennett, Cher, Michael Douglas, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Diane Sawyer, Shirley MacLaine, Barbara Walters, the casts of Will & Grace, Sex and the City, Friends, and more.
(This article courtesy of Concerned Women for America.)
