>-----Original Message----- >From: Rusty Taylor [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 9:23 AM >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: RE: [ZION] Defend Marriage Petition, more information > > >Dear Zionistas > >this article, while supplying no really new >information, certainly confirms >my previous suspicions regarding the printed media in >our country. while >this does not necessarily indicate a media conspiracy, >I would say it >indicates they at least think alike on this particular topic. > > <http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/040301press.html> >Last week two long-anticipated studies were released on >the sexual abuse >scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church, and it is >hard to believe >that the reporters from the New York Times, the Los >Angeles Times, the >Washington Post, and the Washington Times were at the same press >conference, because they certainly didn�t get the same story. >By Maurine Jensen Proctor
Bob: Thanks for the heads-up on the story. A somewhat different perspective is embodied in the letter below, which I have sent to Sister Proctor. Hello: Maureen Jensen Proctor's misbegotten diatribe (What The Press Won't Say) against the alleged "liberal and politically correct" news media extends the ignoble tradition of shooting the messenger. She asserts that The New York Times' and Washington Post's coverage of the release last week of the report of pedophile priests in the Catholic Church is illustrative of a general hidden media agenda to downplay or ignore the fact that the homosexuality of priests may be linked to the devastating and chronic abuse of children that has plagued the Catholic Church for the past half century. Had Sister Proctor been following this matter from its inception two years ago, she would know that it was the so called "liberal" news media that dug up and put together the detailed history of those sordid crimes. She would have known that the homosexual connection has been raised regularly by "politically correct" news media on the East Coast, led by the Boston Globe (owned by the New York Times) and its sister newspaper in Manhattan. Further, had Sister Proctor done a little research, she would know that Robert S. Bennett, the celebrated Washington lawyer who directed the National Review Board's preparation of the report, said that neither homosexual priests nor celibacy were root causes of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. But "an understanding of the crisis is not possible without reference to these issues." Such was reported on the front page of The Boston Globe. The lead paragraph in the Globe story reveals that the report is "raising questions about what role homosexuality played in the crisis and whether the Catholic Church will try to limit or prevent gay men from joining the priesthood." The deck headline above the story, as well as the opening sentence of the story underscore a possible homosexual connection. The headline read: "More than 80 percent of victims since 1950 were male, report says." Moreover Sister Proctor ignores (conveniently?) Mr. Bennett's comments (as reported by The Globe on the front page) that there were two "overarching contributing factors to why so many priests abused minors: Dioceses and orders did not screen candidates for the priesthood properly, allowing many sexually **dysfunctional** and **immature** men into seminaries; and seminaries did not adequately prepare students for the priesthood, particularly for the challenge of remaining celibate." The news media is properly sensitive to the peculiar issues of any number of minority groups in the United States -- Mormons included. These are touchy times. What we need is more thoughtful and thorough reporting on the complex issues confronting our nation. What we don't need are more convenient bogeymen to blame for our problems. What we desperately need are more reporters who reign-in their personal agendas, do their homework and get their facts straight. I expect nothing less from a fellow Pratt descendant, especially one trained at the University of Utah and Harvard. Ronald B. Scott Boston, Massachusetts Mr. Scott, a media consultant and author in Boston, was a reporter for Time, an editor for Life and a founder of People Magazine. He also was also a senior editor and columnist for The Deseret News and a reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune and United Press International. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html --^----------------------------------------------------------------
