Topic: CNSNews.com
WorldNetDaily wasn't the only ConWeb component to weigh in yesterday on gay issues in California. An Aug. 29 CNSNews.com article by Susan Jones covered much the same ground as WND, but did so in a slightly more balanced fashion.
Like WND, Jones presented most of the claims by the Campaign for Children and Families -- a "conservative advocacy group" that opposes the bills proposed and signed in California -- unchallenged or as fact. Unlike WND, Jones did include an opposing view in the form of four paragraphs (of the 18-paragraph article) quoting the "homosexual advocacy group" Equality California, but Jones does not use any of that material to directly challenge CCF's hyperbolic claims. Further, much of the CCF criticism Jones cites was directed at California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Jones made no apparent effort to contact Schwarzenegger's office for a response.
Jones also falls for the depiction-equals-approval fallacy. In describing the bills that seeks to bar schools from "reflecting adversely" on homosexuality, Jones adds: "It indirectly requires a positive portrayal of those sexual lifestyles, conservatives complain." But Jones does not explain how this claim is in any way factual -- or why her readers should accept CCF's claims at face value, as she does.
