Check out the following two stories:
1. A former Catholic priest comes forward Monday (4/20/09) to claim that another priest abused him as a teenager nearly 30 years ago. (The accused priest has no other similar public complaints and denies the allegations against him.)
2. A former school teacher was sentenced Wednesday (4/22/09) after pleading no contest to eight felony counts, including having sex with two girls under the age of 16. The man "admitted to having intercourse with the girls, performing oral sex with the teens and taking extremely explicit nude photographs of his victims -- including pictures of him with one of the girls - before sending the images over the Internet."
Now it's quiz time! To which story did the Los Angeles Times devote two generous color photos and a 640-word article? Which story did the Times totally ignore?
If you've been a close follower of this issue here at NewsBusters, you already know the answer. The Times loudly trumpeted the case of the Catholic priests, even though the original story was reported three years ago (!). Meanwhile, it totally ignored the story of the teacher (Contra Costa Times, 4/23/09; Long Beach Press-Telegram, 11/5/08).
In addition, at Google news, the story of the priests returns "about 128" results. The story of the teacher? One.
We'll say it again: It seems the most important element to the Times when reporting the awful abuse of children is whether the words "priest," "bishop," or "Cardinal" is in someone's job title.
(And here's another angle to this post: Check out the image of the priests' story from the paper. Next to the story of the priests is a puny "California Briefing" item entitled, "Men get life in child sex case." It is the story of two men sentenced to life in prison for "multiple charges of interstate transportation of minors for sexual activity." Yet this atrocity only merits a very modest 124 words.)
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TheMediaReport.com: "Los Angeles Times: Clergy Abuse and School Abuse"
—Dave Pierre is the creator of TheMediaReport.com and a contributor to NewsBusters.
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Unfortunately I see nothing
April 23, 2009 - 22:18 ET by bigtimerUnfortunately I see nothing changing with the bias filled agenda with this type of newsprint one iota...and we aren't going to any time soon.
I used to have hope...I no longer do.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
"Now it's quiz time! To
April 23, 2009 - 22:33 ET by CT Patriot"Now it's quiz time! To which story did the Los Angeles Times devote two
generous color photos and a 640-word article? Which story did the Times
totally ignore?"
Wait, wait, I got this one, Dave...don't tell me, I got it, I got it-- it was the story about the former school teacher, wasn't it?! Yes! I am so smart.
I have followed the LAT in their coverage of all things Catholic, and they have quite the hard-on for the Catholic Church. It's creepy in its...creepiness. It reminds me of Olbermann's obsession with Bush.
So called journalism
April 23, 2009 - 22:42 ET by NorthCoasterThis so called journalism is being recommended for a bailout. Three guesses as to why they are in trouble........and the first two don't count.
Wow, man! I've been
April 23, 2009 - 22:58 ET by jdhawkWow, man! I've been following those nasty priest stories in the LAT. Of course, as a medicinal marjiuana grower, I hardly have time for such things with my additional work of trying to perfect the perfect bong!
But, hey what's wrong with a little sex between adults and children? Didn't a major movie (The Reader - nominated for best film, director, actress, etc.) just win kudos for that at the Oscars and millions of Americans watched with no complaints whatsoever?
Hey, I'd like to blog more about this, but I have got to go to a rally about legalizing marijuana. I mean, man, it's just groovy, don't you think?
Peace!
LAT Rules!!! Beside, if I run short on "papers" I can just tear off a piece of LAT and roll one . . .
Good question
April 24, 2009 - 05:46 ET by moderncommentaries83Lots and lots of things. At least for now.
Another blogger I read has predicted that the day will come when the Catholic Church is bashed not for the abuse, but for punishing those who did the abusing and taking steps to insure it doesn't happen again. I tend to agree with him.
A majority of the priests who abused were theologically liberal (read: politically correct, against the all-male clergy, for abortion/gay marriage, etc.) and many of them were also homosexual and abused adolescent/teenaged boys rather than small children (ephebophilia, rather than pedophelia). In other words, they are exactly the kind of people our PC-elite culture embrace as "enlightened".
I know of at least one story here (I believe) where someone wants Pope Benedict XVI replaced with a more "liberal" pontiff.
So I have every reason to believe that when we work to excise from our ranks those priests and bishops (and seminarians) who display the same attitudes and tendencies as their abusive predecessors, we'll be in trouble for it.
Right now, consent is the sole criterion of the good when it comes to sexual relationships. As our culture - it is hysterical pursuit of doing anything and everything to please the god of the groin - chips away at sexual mores and morality, expect the notion of consent to go out the window when people realize it stands in the way of some twisted sexual proclivity they'll soon claim is a "right" (think NAMBLA, with legislation).
The same blogger I mentioned above also aptly says "Show me a culture that
despises virginity and I'll show you a culture that despises children." And that's what it's coming to.
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam
mc...so far they have been
April 24, 2009 - 06:38 ET by motherbeltmc...so far they have been successful in peddling the "it's a problem of pedophilia, not homosexuality" line, but they won't be able to pull that off forever.
I don't know if you've read Michael Rose's "Goodbye Good Men" but it's an eye-opening (and depressing) look at the problem. If gays perceive the priesthood as a place where their culture can thrive, there is no way they will stand silently by while the Catholic Church takes serious steps to rectify the problem. They have already balked at psychiatric interviews to assess the sexual inclination of candidates for the priesthood.
PS Isn't one of NAMBLA's mottos "Sex by eight or it's too late"?
They might say "Wow, that sucks!" But at least they'll say "Wow!" -Duff Goldman, the Ace of Cakes
LAT must report this way
April 24, 2009 - 06:11 ET by AgnosticConspiracy of the day -
From the view point of strictly liberal bias in the media isn’t the attack against the Catholic Church the most natural line of reporting from a newspaper in a liberal area with a large Latin base. The only danger fro a liberal point of view of illegal aliens from south of the border becoming citizens is that they may bring their strong familial ties to the Catholic Church with them. Those that can rely on the church need not rely on the government. While the new citizens may vote Democrat and be compliant to the government as they do in their own country; there is also the possibility that they will side with the church on certain social issues. The liberals already have the black communities with their roots in community churches voting against gay marriage so they can’t afford another minority with a tie to a religion.
The alienation of the Catholic Church, while nation wide, is most important in areas in which illegal aliens are settling.
A person may be won over with logic and reason but the masses must be bought with spectacle and platitudes. - 2008 Elections
Nothing new here
April 24, 2009 - 07:09 ET by expatriotJoseph Farah and WND keep a running tally of the number of Teachers who are molesting children and you don't see any press on the problem anywhere else.
As previously stated, if it includes a priest, bishop or cardinal you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be reported. One of the elite gentry and it will be smothered.
And now the rebuttal from liberals denying liberal media bias
April 24, 2009 - 11:28 ET by lotrAnd now, ladies and gentlemen, the rebuttal from our NB Devil's Advocates arguing that there is no liberal media bias...
"Let's wrap him up, alright?" -- Keith Olbermann
I have a very close relative
April 25, 2009 - 10:02 ET by rbosqueI have a very close relative that works for a school district here in the L.A. area and the stories I've heard would make anyone angry. The school disricts have WAY more instances of abuse but they are taken care of quietly at the school level, or settled out of court. Those that do reach the ears of the LAT are ignored.