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01/31/2011
CJR on G-A-Y: 'The Times could have used a lot more of that kind of reporting'
Columbia Journalism Review's business section, "The Audit," rightly criticizes The New York Times' weekend Chick-Fil-A story. Here are pertinent snips:
The New York Times’ story in yesterday’s paper about the Southern chicken chain Chick-fil-A leaves much to be desired.
...
The Times is just the latest to give too much credence to the Pennsylvania angle of this story.
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Thing is, there’s plenty of evidence that the company or its founders, anyway, have funded anti-gay-marriage activities before. The blog Good As You, which broke the Pennsylvania story, reports that the company’s WinShape Foundation doesn’t allow gay couples at its retreats and “defines marriage from the Biblical standard as being between one man and one woman.
The Times could have used a lot more of that kind of reporting and a lot less man-on-the-street opining.
The problem with this piece is that the controversy itself is the story, allowing the paper to escape having to do the real legwork of sorting out for us just how legitimate the controversy is.
Just How Anti-Gay Marriage is That Chikin [CJR -- The Audit]
So a missed opportunity, sadly. But the next time a fast food company is found to be running a retreat center that explicitly bans gay couples and/or hosting regular "protect marriage" seminars? Well just give us a ring, Old Grey Lady.
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*Our complete Chick-Fil-A controversy Archive
