Enabling homophobia is still the MSM editorial standard. A review by NPR’s Nathan Lee of the new documentary “Outrage” was sliced and diced to remove the names of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and former Senator Larry Craig from it, resulting in Lee removing his byline.
This is the real outrage—the MSM’s pervasive homophobic double standard of protecting closeted pols as a private matter while deeming the personal lives of straight pols fair game—a theme woven throughout the film—is proven yet again. Eugene Hernandez @ IndieWire:
Citing a policy of protecting the privacy of public figures, an NPR superior cut the names of current Florida governor Charlie Crist and former Senator Larry Craig from the review after writer Nathan Lee and his assigning editor at NPR had agreed on the text of the piece. However, a photo of Larry Craig accompanies the review and says that the former Senator is a subject of the documentary. It also hints strongly at the inclusion of Crist in the doc.
Lee was not told of the NPR policy about public figures when he was assigned to review the new film.
“NPR has a long-held policy of trying to respect the privacy of public figures and of not airing or publishing rumors, allegations and reports about their private lives unless there is a compelling reason to do so,” Dick Meyer, NPR’s executive director of Digital, told indieWIRE late Sunday night. “This may be considered old-fashioned by some, but it is a policy we value and respect. We neglected to inform the author of the ‘Outrage’ review about this policy when the piece was commissioned, a simple oversight we regret.”
“Only an overriding public need to know can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy,” the NPR policy, posted on its website.
There is a world of things wrong about NPR’s excuse for shredding this review. First of all, Larry Craig’s little airport bathroom stall toe-tapping isn’t a private matter—he was arrested and confessed to the act, which occurred in a public place. That’s a matter of public record. FAIL, NPR.
Second of all, it’s not as if coverage of Crist is invisible. It’s been mentioned in other reviews of the film. Plus, Crist has announced his run for a U.S. Senate seat (see more below the fold), and if he wins, he will vote on LGBT-related legislation. He has an ample anti-gay record in his state. Is this not relevant to the news media?
The local media has reported on his closet, for god’s sake. For crying out loud, when he announced his engagement, the ridicule was heaped upon the governor by readers in a Sun-Sentinel poll (I got a screen cap for posterity, right). FAIL, NPR.
Third, NPR has no business tossing out the “privacy” card when it couldn’t resist deeming John Edwards’s heterosexual tomcatting newsworthy, underscoring that there were legitimate political reasons for the reporting:
Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has admitted to having an extramarital affair, but has denied fathering a child by the woman. The affair has been reported in recent weeks in the tabloid press.
Alex Chadwick speaks with NPR Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving about the political implications of the revelation.
It even held a roundtable on the affair. FAIL, NPR.
The editorial paranoia at NPR is out of control; when Lee left a comment to say that the pre-butchered review had been approved by his editor prior to some nervous homophobia enablers higher up the food chain it was removed by the administrators. In it, he said:
“I asked that my name be removed in protest of NPR’s policy of not ‘naming names’ of closeted or rumored-about politicians - even those who actively suppress gay rights, and thus whose sexual identities are of significant importance to the press,”
More below the fold.