Gullible National News Organizations
Texas, one of the Nation’s great charnel houses, and their Baptist allies have made captives of fundamentalist Mormon women and girls.
A raid on a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) Ranch first captured all the girls. Next the Texas State Police and Texas Rangers captured the rest of the children and adult females. They also brought in an armored vehicle to use against the remaining men. An unknown number of adult males and perhaps an unknown number of adult females remain on the ranch. The number still there has been ignored by the national press.
The various news media has again demonstrated gullibility with their coverage by regurgitating the Texas version of events and ignoring very troubling behaviors and claims from the authorities.
On 7 April, 2008 ABC and CBS brought this to fore.
Diane Sawyer, anchor of the ABC Good Morning America show, interviewed a person who claimed to be an escapee from polygamy. One claim this guest made was that FLDS Elders were water boarding infants. Sawyer did not even bat an eye at this extraordinary claim. She did not catch on that this is something borrowed from the revelations of Guantanamo Bay. The obvious problem that such activity would damage infants escaped the grasp of Sawyer. Instead, she asked, “What’s it going to take?” to address the problem of females accepting polygamy. This was an example of a woman who believed that the Mormon females had to be brainwashed to do what they did. Ms. Sawyer doesn’t give them credit for making their own decisions.
Sawyer neglected to address the murky nature of the alleged complainant. She also ignored the troubling history of the Texas Child Protective Services. The ABC team did not bother to check the whereabouts of the adult male who Texas claimed was the abuser of the person who called an unnamed domestic shelter. A quick check with the man’s probation agent in Arizona could quickly test the claims made through the violence center.
Katie Couric, who anchors the CBS Evening News, was at it also. She interviewed a self‑proclaimed former polygamist, John Llewellyn, who made troubling statements.
Llewellyn claimed the FLDS was filled with crime, corruption, and abuse because it was about sex, power, and money. He didn’t provide facts. He also claimed that “little girls” were raised to be brood mares.
He also claimed that the FLDS leaders were claiming to speak the infallible word of God. But, this is not different from many other groups and even some politicians.
Ms. Couric did not ask Llewellyn how many wives he had as a polygamist and how he managed to divest himself of the wives.
The problem of the caller who started this mess was not addressed by either network. The preference was to proclaim “startling” and “shocking” claims as real rather than allegations. Nor was the lack of investigation by Texas Authorities even considered.
Many citizens are considering the news media to be typically ignoring facts in their presentations. This behavior did not start with this mess, but the salacious and ignorant coverage of the great Texas Ranch raid will solidify the contempt for those who style themselves reporters.
by Brian McCorkle
in category FLDS,Rants
