NPR spikes 'Outrage' review that named names

by: Pam Spaulding

Tue May 12, 2009 at 06:59:27 AM EDT

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.

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 is about to run for a U.S. Senate seat, 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.

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,"

This is the same idiotic behavior we've seen coming from many in the media for 20 years on this issue. It's encouraging that some news outlets have moved on it -- the LA Times, Philly Inquirer and others reported on those discussed in the film -- but it's pathetic that some just can't seem to break out of their rigid and ultimately biased thinking.

By not discussing the names of those in the film, NPR is most certainly passing judgment on homosexuality, on the filmmaker and on the public figures involved -- deeming that, if they have secret gay lives, it is the most horrible thing imaginable. They are also deciding to suppress legitimate news because of that distaste and bias.

Neither of those stories has any impact on the rights of a group of people, yet NPR and other outlets feel they cannot do their jobs and report on legitimate stories that do have an actual political impact on the lives of taxpaying Americans who happen to be LGBT. And you know that none of the people who made the decision to slice away at Lee's review would consider themselves homophobic or bigoted in the least -- overt anti-gay behavior is not the only way to foment homophobia. Enabling it with this poor editorial judgment, NPR, works quite nicely as well.

More below the fold.

The subset of these hypocrites who are truly self-loathing turn up in Outrage -- they cruise for homo-sex in the shadows, hating themselves the next day and atone for their "sin" by casting votes against taxpaying citizens.

The closet cases all need to be exposed because some of them are head cases who are clearly unfit to lead. They hold positions of power that make it unethical to ignore this level of hypocrisy, but too many editors out there -- like those at NPR -- are spineless and show their bias when they continue to cling to this double standard.

Related:
* The Talk of the Green Iguana: Will American voters elect the first gay vice president in November?
* Charlie Crist's engagement mocked on MSNBC
* Tongues wag whether Crist's 'girlfriend' is 'the one'
* Poor Charlie Crist - he's really desperate for that VP slot
* Howie Klein: Charlie Crist Has A "Girlfriend"-- A First Step Towards Getting On The Mccain Ticket... To Nowhere?
* Oh my -- more GOP closet doors are flying open...
* It's official: Florida Gov. Charlie Crist endorses marriage amendment