Topic: NewsBusters
The Media Research Center's anti-gay agenda rears its ugly head again in a Jan. 2 NewsBusters post by Ken Shepherd complaining that gay marriage becoming legal in Maryland was treated as the major news that it is by the Washington Post, which includes much of Maryland in its circulation area:
Most of the January 2 front page for The Washington Post was devoted to the resolution of the so-called fiscal cliff, but editors made sure to leave space for a gauzy 33-paragraph story entitled "History at the altar: Maryland sees wave of same-sex weddings as law takes effect."
By contrast, an uplifting story involving a non-controversial religious tradition in African-American churches was shuffled to the bottom of page A2, despite the tremendous historical significance of the 2012 New Year's Eve "watch night" celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Shepherd seems to have missed that the Emancipation Proclamation happened 150 years ago, while legalization of gay marriage is a breaking news event. But Shepherd still wants to lecture us on how breaking news should be ignored if it doesn't jibe with his religious views:
The African-American church tradition of "watch night" is a thoroughly patriotic celebration that can be appreciated by non-Christian Americans even though at its heart, the service is a religious one.
Rather than bringing all Post readers together to ring in the new year with front-page real estate devoted to the intersection of American history with the African-American spiritual traditions, the paper's editors elected to highlight same-sex unions which are still opposed by most religious faiths, including a great number of observant African-American Christians.
Apparently, the expansion of civil rights is not "thoroughly patriotic" as far as Shepherd is concerned. Or some people's civil rights are more newsworthy than others.
