*** UPDATE ***
Here's a press release we received from members of the gay community regarding the incident:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2009
Contact: Alex Guzman, Political and Legislative Liaison, 915.474.4393 or alexguzman915@hotmail.com
El Paso, Tex.— A coalition of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender
(GLBT) and allied groups, expresses its deep disappointment in the
management of El Paso television station KTSM Channel 9, an NBC
affiliate, for its failure to provide balanced coverage following the
El Paso City Council’s decision to extend benefits to the domestic
partners of municipal employees.
Specifically, following the Council’s 7-to-1 favorable vote on August
25, 2009, KTSM anchor/reporter Ben Swann conducted an exclusive
interview with Pastor Tom Brown of El Paso’s Word of Life Church and
Mr. Barry Martin, both opponents of City Council’s decision. No mention
was made of citizens who support the benefits. Instead, two short clips
of a pre-taped interview with city Representative Steve Ortega were
shown. In the interview, Pastor Brown and Mr. Martin issued opinions
regarding the budget provision and making references to the LGBT
community, without a direct representative of the latter to respond.
This interview aired on KTSM the evening of August 25.
When contacted by members of the LGBT community the day following the
interview, KTSM News Director Kim Bridger refused to grant equal and
balanced coverage of the story by interviewing citizens who support the
domestic-partner benefits decision made by City Council. KTSM General
Manager Gary Sotir did not reply to telephone calls nor email messages
from RGA.
City Council’s decision, made after three weeks of public commentary,
places El Paso among progressive cities across the country that have
made similar decisions. In Texas, El Paso now joins Dallas, Austin,
and Travis County in extending municipal domestic-partner benefits;
other such cities in the region include Las Cruces, Albuquerque,
Tucson, Tempe, and Phoenix. This week, Reno, Nevada, also joined the
increasing number of cities across the United States that choose to
recognize that city employees’ domestic partners deserve fair and equal
treatment.
Our organizations applaud and stand by El Paso City Council’s crucial
decision to advance equal treatment for all city employees. Further,
we believe we deserve fair and equal coverage by El Paso’s various
media outlets, including KTSM Channel 9. Freedom of the press is a
constitutional guarantee; however, biased, unbalanced journalism has no
place in civilized society. In our eyes, this is a form of
discrimination that undermines the freedom of all the citizens of El
Paso.
On behalf of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender community in the
greater El Paso-Cuidad Juàrez-Las Cruces borderland and our allies, our
community organizations would like to have at least one representative
interviewed by KTSM Channel 9 and/or other local television stations to
express our views regarding City Council’s decision, preferably in a
format similar to that afforded Pastor Brown and Mr. Martin. Should
this not be granted, we request a formal on-air apology from KTSM for
its slight toward our community, including its reasons for refusing to
grant us an interview.
Representing the coalition of El Paso GLBT organizations:
Alex Guzman, Political Liaison
Rio Grande Adelante
Van English, Board Member
Metropolitan Community Church
Jesus G. Smith, Chair
Rainbow Miner Initiative
University of Texas at El Paso
Cristina Rivera, President
Queer Student Alliance
Isaac Perez-Bolado,
Vice-President
Delta Lambda Phi Fraternity
915-790-7227
Sam Aguilera, Co-Founder
Puentes LGBT Resources
Desert View United Church of Christ
11160 Montwood Drive,
El Paso, TX 79936
El Paso LULAC Councils
Joe Gutierrez
President, Council 4457
Daniel (“Dan”) Graney
Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus
Keny Michael Apodaca
State Democratic Executive Committeeman
ORIGINAL POST:
Gay advocates in El Paso are using the social networking site Facebook to target what they say was biased reporting at KTSM-TV cable Channel 9 (cable Channel 10) earlier this week. Dozens of Facebook messages have gone out since this morning asking people to call the station demanding fair coverage of gay issues.
The groups claim that in a live studio interview on the issue of the city's extension of health benefits to gay couples, anchor Ben Swann failed to include a supporter of the gay community. In deed, the interview included Pastor Tom Brown and Barry Martin, both vocal opponents of the city's efforts. The men talked about their efforts to get the health issue on a ballot for the entire city to vote on.
Supporters of the city's efforts said the piece should have included someone speaking on behalf of the gay community in El Paso, and dozens have said they have either emailed the station or talked to the news director. One poster on Facebook said the news director was not receptive to his call.
In fairness, Swann's interview was preceded by a taped interview of city Rep. Steve Ortega somewhat defending the council's decision. And in an e-mail, Swann said that the station did try to get Ortega or city Rep. Beto O'Rourke live on the studio but neither could do it.
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