Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Utah TV station sensationalizes Queer Prom

This past weekend The Utah Pride Center held its annual Queer Prom and it was a great success. But you wouldn't know it from Utah’s KTVX ABC Channel 4, which decided to slant their report: Queer Prom causes a stir. GLAAD spoke with the station’s News Director about their shoddy coverage and he claims (of, course) that the story was both “balanced” and “presented both sides." Guess he's hankering for a job at Faux News.

GLAAD reports:

On Saturday, April 10, The Utah Pride Center held its annual "Queer Prom." According to the Utah Pride Center, over 800young people enjoyed the event.

Organizers and attendees were happy with how seamlessly the night went, and everyone seemed to have a good time at the prom.

Because the event was so well attended, and there were no known problems, it came as a shock when Utah’s KTVX ABC Channel 4 ran a story called, "‘Queer Prom causes a stir."

Rather than reporting on the hundreds of people who attended the event and enjoyed themselves, KTVX chose to cover the event by amplifying the voice of one vehemently anti-gay activist.

KTVX created controversy by using one person’s anti-gay and dangerous statements to sensationalize the story. READ MORE
GLAAD is urging people to contact KTVX ABC Channel 4, by leaving a comment at the bottom of the story, or write directly to the station or on Twitter @ktvx.