December 17, 2005

Whoever is detected in a shameful fraud is ever after not believed even if they speak the truth. - Phaedrus

Most newspapers expect the readers to believe a news story will be an honest and unbiased presentation of an event factually written by a reporter and honestly reviewed by a news editor. Readers expect the news section will be bias free.

An editorial or an op-ed piece in a newspaper represents the “official view” of the news by that particular newspaper or the opinion of an interested reader. And of course newspapers have the right to express their “official view” in editorials or on their op-ed pages.

Newspapers also have the right to change the opinion of the general public using their editorial or op-ed pages. However, it is dishonest and unethical for a newspaper to engage in slanting news reports – a process referred to as yellow journalism – by presenting “editorials or op-ed” pieces under the guise of a news story.

The Boston Globe labels this distinction, “the separation of church and state.” The Globe claims that this “separation of church and state” is a cherished tradition that helps protect the integrity of both the news section and the editorial/op-ed section.

Forked Tongues

The Boston Globe, similar to most newspapers, expects the readers to believe that their “news stories” contain no “editorials or op-ed” influences. The Globe wants the readers to believe that the news-operation, led by editor Marty Baron, is absolutely and entirely separate from the editorial (opinion) pages of the ideological feminist editorial-page editor Renee Loth. An ideological feminist is a feminist who is more concerned about women’s rights than he or she is victim or civil rights.

The following are quotes from a December 15, 2005 Associated Press release

A lesbian couple who entered into the nation’s first same-sex civil union are splitting up amid allegations of violent behavior [italics added.]

Conrad also obtained a restraining order [italics added] Wednesday against her partner saying Peterson punched a hole in the wall during an argument and threatened to harm a friend.

The AP story makes it crystal clear that Conrad not only knew why the relationship ended and the AP story also makes it obvious that Conrad is not only asking the court to dissolve the union, she is also asking the court for a domestic violence restraining order.

The Boston Herald picked up the AP story considered the allegations of violence and the request for a domestic violence restraining order that it ran it on page 10 under the headline, “Woman’s violence claim ends first civil union.” The Herald story is a faithful and an honest representation of the AP story.

The Herald reports both the allegations of violence in the relationship and information about the restraining order. After all, the allegations of violent behavior were important enough to be the lead paragraph of the AP story. The allegations of violent behavior are the central reasons for the request for a restraining order.

The New York Times ran the AP story and in the lead paragraph of its news story the Times reported that the lesbian couple who entered into the nation’s first same-sex civil union are splitting up amid allegations of violent behavior. It is apparent to the Times that the allegations of violent behavior are central to the news story and the request for a restraining order are because of allegations of domestic violence. This information can not be missed or misconstrued as something else. Or can it?

Because the AP story, the New York Times and the Boston Herald all report in their news stories that allegations of violent behavior are integral regarding the request for a domestic violence restraining order and of course they play an important role in the break up of Conrad and her partner, one would expect those same facts would appear in the Boston Globe news story, right! Wrong!!

The Boston Globe Manipulation of the Facts

The Boston Globe picked up the AP story and ran it on page B2 under the headline “Couple that made history for civil union are splitting.” The Globe news story reports that Carolyn Conrad asked a court in Brattleboro, VT to end the civil union. The Globe ignored any mention of violence and the request for a domestic violence restraining order.

In fact the Globe, because of the AP news story is well aware of the allegations of domestic violence and the request for a restraining order by Conrad, claims in its news story that neither one of the partners nor the lawyer for Conrad would comment why Conrad was in court. While the Globe did not lie, it did willingly and knowingly omit and expunge what all the other news agencies reported as fact.

Why does the Globe omit any mention of domestic violence in its report? Why did the Globe, a newspaper that is so committed to integrity in reporting and that has for so many years lead public opinion to end or prevent domestic violence, purposely expunge and omitted information about allegations of domestic violence or the issuance of a restraining order?

What are the reasons that the Globe news story differs from all the others news agencies? Was this news story turned into an opinion/op-ed piece? If so, what happened to the integrity that Baron cherishes?

Were the omission of violent behavior between the women and the expunging of information about the issuance of a restraining order an oversight or purposely done? Regardless, it does appears that someone’s “gender agenda” played a role in slanting a news story to better fit the past and future opinion/op-ed pages of the Globe by quashing the facts reported in all the other news reports.

What is a less honest presentation of the news; presenting mythical event as a real story or deconstructing a real news story so that the news story will fit the “official view” of the newspaper?

And most important of all, the readers of the Globe are now left wondering if this misrepresentation of a news story to fit its op-ed pages is a single and isolated event or is this simply a reflection of a long time policy at the Boston Globe?

Richard L. Davis