![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mousmeYeah, so CNN is not exactly my favourite news source, but they've kind of gone beyond the pale now, and the more people who protest this, the better.
Here's what it's about:
Tell CNN, Larry King Live to Stop Promoting James Dobson's Anti-Gay Attacks!
The Sept. 5, 2003 edition of CNN's Larry King Live featured an hour-long interview with James Dobson, the virulently homophobic founder of the anti-gay industry's largest organization, Focus on the Family. Dobson used his hour-long appearance to insult and denigrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and families.
Go to http://www.glaad.org/action/alerts_detail.php?id=3485 to write to Larry King Live executive producer Wendy Walker Whitworth using GLAAD's TAKE ACTION function. Tell her that you expect Larry King to stop allowing Focus on the Family and James Dobson to launch one-sided, unchallenged attacks on the LGBT community. Let them know that after Dobson's anti-gay diatribes on Sept. 5, you expect Larry King Live to produce a show featuring individuals and/or couples who can challenge Dobson's attacks on our lives and talk about the harm caused by our nation's refusal to extend basic protections, rights and dignity to same-sex couples and families.
CNN - Septemer 5, 2003
"Larry King Live with Dr. James Dobson"
Following a diatribe against the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas, King asked Dobson why he seemed so interested in dictating LGBT people's private lives. Dobson responded by attacking civil marriage equality for same-sex couples, claiming, "that will destroy the family, which will destroy the nation, and I think eventually have a major impact on Western Civilization. Homosexuals can be, you know, committed to each other. And they have freedom to behave in the ways that they do, but they cannot be a family."
Dobson also repeatedly claimed same-sex couples "want to destroy marriage." After King asked Dobson why he believed that, Dobson claimed, "Many, many homosexuals are not committed for life. The research shows that they have as many as 300 to 1,000 partners in a lifetime. Why would they want to commit themselves to a binding relationship that prevents that?" King did not challenge either Dobson's claims or his highly dubious statistics.
After claiming that the Britney Spears/Madonna kiss was "part of this continuing effort to desensitize people to homosexuality," Dobson moved onto TV sitcoms, claiming that "almost every one of them now has a homosexual in a very respected role and then you have some straight guy who is a complete clod and a fool." He then attacked Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, characterizing it as "four homosexual men and then one fool that they're working on." (Dobson's factual errors -- in fact, only seven out of the more than 50 broadcast TV sitcoms have any gay, lesbian or bisexual characters, and there are five, not four, members of the Fab Five -- while they might seem trivial, exemplify the anti-gay right's tendency to mislead people through factual inaccuracies -- whether they're uninformed [as with Dobson's Queer Eye error) or intentionally misleading (as with his obviously inaccurate TV sitcom claim].)
On his Focus on the Family Web site and in his writings, Dobson uses inaccurate, defamatory scare tactics to frighten parents into forcing their children into dangerous, discredited pseudo-therapies designed to "cure" gay people. In a recent Focus on the Family publication, he repeatedly labels being gay "a disorder," and then exploits parents' uncertainty and concern by telling them that if they believe they have "an effeminate boy or a masculinized girl" that they should consult a book by anti-gay activist Joseph Nicolosi (whom Dobson praises as "the foremost authority on the prevention and treatment of homosexuality") and then "seek immediate professional help." (the entire essay can be read at http://www.family.org/docstudy/newsletters/a0021043.html)
Unfortunately -- and despite his well-documented attacks on the LGBT community -- this is not the first time that Dobson has appeared as King's sole, hour-long guest, but the FOURTH time in just the past two years.
For King to repeatedly feature Dobson's misleading, error-filled attacks sends a harmful message to the CNN audience, especially when no other guests are invited on the show to refute Dobson's inaccurate, defamatory depictions of gay and lesbian lives and families -- and when King's lines of questioning are so mild and deferential. CNN's and Larry King Live's one-sided promotion of Focus on the Family's defamatory attacks on the lives and relationships of LGBT Americans needs to end.
Please visit www.glaad.org for updates and more information.
Here's the email I sent to: lklshow.ideas@cnn.com
Dear Ms. Wendy Walker Whitworth:
CNN prides itself on being America's most trusted news source. James Dobson's repeated appearances as a stand-alone guest (four times in the past two years) call into question "Larry King Live's" commitment to this standard.
Please rethink "Larry King Live's" one-sided promotion of Focus on the Family's attacks on LGBT lives and families. And please air an edition of Larry King Live that features individuals and/or couples who can challenge Dobson's attacks and talk about the harm caused by our nation's refusal to extend basic protections, rights and dignity to same-sex couples and families. That part is pre-written by the website. My addition follows.
It is important for all of those who watch CNN (in the U.S. and worldwide) to be presented with a fair and balanced viewpoint of all issues. So far Larry King Live has not lived up to this standard with regards to the LGBT community by presenting only one viewpoint on his show.
Not only has James Dobson been allowed to voice his opinion, his blatantly exaggerated and at times even fabulated statistics, and his grossly inaccurate portrayal of the LGBT community several times, but each time he has remained *unchallenged* because there was no opposing voice to his. No one was invited on those or other shows to refute his claims, to present arguments or facts that might disprove his theories.
Progress can only be made through information and through debate, and Larry King Live has sadly sunk to a level in which there is none.
Please consider restoring the balance to this show, and thus prove that CNN continues to be worthy of its reputation as "America's most trusted news source."
Here's what it's about:
Tell CNN, Larry King Live to Stop Promoting James Dobson's Anti-Gay Attacks!
The Sept. 5, 2003 edition of CNN's Larry King Live featured an hour-long interview with James Dobson, the virulently homophobic founder of the anti-gay industry's largest organization, Focus on the Family. Dobson used his hour-long appearance to insult and denigrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and families.
Go to http://www.glaad.org/action/alerts_detail.php?id=3485 to write to Larry King Live executive producer Wendy Walker Whitworth using GLAAD's TAKE ACTION function. Tell her that you expect Larry King to stop allowing Focus on the Family and James Dobson to launch one-sided, unchallenged attacks on the LGBT community. Let them know that after Dobson's anti-gay diatribes on Sept. 5, you expect Larry King Live to produce a show featuring individuals and/or couples who can challenge Dobson's attacks on our lives and talk about the harm caused by our nation's refusal to extend basic protections, rights and dignity to same-sex couples and families.
CNN - Septemer 5, 2003
"Larry King Live with Dr. James Dobson"
Following a diatribe against the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas, King asked Dobson why he seemed so interested in dictating LGBT people's private lives. Dobson responded by attacking civil marriage equality for same-sex couples, claiming, "that will destroy the family, which will destroy the nation, and I think eventually have a major impact on Western Civilization. Homosexuals can be, you know, committed to each other. And they have freedom to behave in the ways that they do, but they cannot be a family."
Dobson also repeatedly claimed same-sex couples "want to destroy marriage." After King asked Dobson why he believed that, Dobson claimed, "Many, many homosexuals are not committed for life. The research shows that they have as many as 300 to 1,000 partners in a lifetime. Why would they want to commit themselves to a binding relationship that prevents that?" King did not challenge either Dobson's claims or his highly dubious statistics.
After claiming that the Britney Spears/Madonna kiss was "part of this continuing effort to desensitize people to homosexuality," Dobson moved onto TV sitcoms, claiming that "almost every one of them now has a homosexual in a very respected role and then you have some straight guy who is a complete clod and a fool." He then attacked Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, characterizing it as "four homosexual men and then one fool that they're working on." (Dobson's factual errors -- in fact, only seven out of the more than 50 broadcast TV sitcoms have any gay, lesbian or bisexual characters, and there are five, not four, members of the Fab Five -- while they might seem trivial, exemplify the anti-gay right's tendency to mislead people through factual inaccuracies -- whether they're uninformed [as with Dobson's Queer Eye error) or intentionally misleading (as with his obviously inaccurate TV sitcom claim].)
On his Focus on the Family Web site and in his writings, Dobson uses inaccurate, defamatory scare tactics to frighten parents into forcing their children into dangerous, discredited pseudo-therapies designed to "cure" gay people. In a recent Focus on the Family publication, he repeatedly labels being gay "a disorder," and then exploits parents' uncertainty and concern by telling them that if they believe they have "an effeminate boy or a masculinized girl" that they should consult a book by anti-gay activist Joseph Nicolosi (whom Dobson praises as "the foremost authority on the prevention and treatment of homosexuality") and then "seek immediate professional help." (the entire essay can be read at http://www.family.org/docstudy/newsletters/a0021043.html)
Unfortunately -- and despite his well-documented attacks on the LGBT community -- this is not the first time that Dobson has appeared as King's sole, hour-long guest, but the FOURTH time in just the past two years.
For King to repeatedly feature Dobson's misleading, error-filled attacks sends a harmful message to the CNN audience, especially when no other guests are invited on the show to refute Dobson's inaccurate, defamatory depictions of gay and lesbian lives and families -- and when King's lines of questioning are so mild and deferential. CNN's and Larry King Live's one-sided promotion of Focus on the Family's defamatory attacks on the lives and relationships of LGBT Americans needs to end.
Please visit www.glaad.org for updates and more information.
Here's the email I sent to: lklshow.ideas@cnn.com
Dear Ms. Wendy Walker Whitworth:
CNN prides itself on being America's most trusted news source. James Dobson's repeated appearances as a stand-alone guest (four times in the past two years) call into question "Larry King Live's" commitment to this standard.
Please rethink "Larry King Live's" one-sided promotion of Focus on the Family's attacks on LGBT lives and families. And please air an edition of Larry King Live that features individuals and/or couples who can challenge Dobson's attacks and talk about the harm caused by our nation's refusal to extend basic protections, rights and dignity to same-sex couples and families. That part is pre-written by the website. My addition follows.
It is important for all of those who watch CNN (in the U.S. and worldwide) to be presented with a fair and balanced viewpoint of all issues. So far Larry King Live has not lived up to this standard with regards to the LGBT community by presenting only one viewpoint on his show.
Not only has James Dobson been allowed to voice his opinion, his blatantly exaggerated and at times even fabulated statistics, and his grossly inaccurate portrayal of the LGBT community several times, but each time he has remained *unchallenged* because there was no opposing voice to his. No one was invited on those or other shows to refute his claims, to present arguments or facts that might disprove his theories.
Progress can only be made through information and through debate, and Larry King Live has sadly sunk to a level in which there is none.
Please consider restoring the balance to this show, and thus prove that CNN continues to be worthy of its reputation as "America's most trusted news source."
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-09-23 11:16 am (UTC)So yes, King sucks. But the show's not going to change.
*bangs head against desk*
no subject
Date: 2003-09-23 11:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-09-23 11:21 am (UTC)The evil side of media
Date: 2003-09-23 12:22 pm (UTC)Anyhow, I wonder if letters will actually be taken seriously or if they'll just use it to see how much of a rise they're getting out of the public (and therefore continue it). I'd like to think the former, but cynically believe it will be the latter...