When BuzzFeed’s Kate Aurthur published a story taking aim at pro-traditional marriage supporters, gay writer Brandon Ambrosino fired back with an eloquent Washington Post op ed defending ideological diversity.
Aurthur’s November 29 piece explored the Biblical views of Jimmy Seibert, a preacher in Waco, Texas. That wouldn’t normally be news, except for the fact that Seibert pastors the church attended by Chip and Joanna Gaines—the charming stars of HGTV’s popular Fixer Upper.
The home transformation show has nothing to do with LGBT issues, and the devout Christian couple has never discussed them. Thus, Arthur’s intention was clear: to force the Gaineses to reveal their stance on homosexual marriage. And if they agreed with Seibert? Takedown.
Ambrosino, a writer whose work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic and Politico, called the article “an elaborate exploration” of a “hypothetical question.” In other words, it was a “non-story" that never should have been approved; yet, when the Daily Caller reached out to BuzzFeed's Editor-in-chief Ben Smith, he stood by his reporter. But that was the least of the issues, Ambrosino believed.
Nearly four out of ten Americans oppose same-sex marriage, according to a 2016 Pew poll. To Ambrosino, that reality reveals something sinister about Aurthur’s seeming intentions. “Is the suggestion here that 40 percent of Americans are unemployable because of their religious convictions on marriage?” he questioned. “BuzzFeed is probably at the forefront of discussions surrounding diversity in entertainment. Do their reporters think diversity refers only to skin color? Does ideological diversity count for nothing, especially when it is representative of, again, a sizable chunk of the American public?”
Furthermore, Aurthur’s article only reinforced the concerns that many Trump supporters expressed about the media during this election season. One of those concerns, according to Ambrosino, is that “some journalists — specifically younger ones at popular digital publications — will tell stories in certain deceitful, manipulative ways to take down conservatives.”
“And really,” he added, “I can’t for the life of me imagine any other intention of the Gaines story.”
