I'm going to keep this (pretty) brief.
First off, in case you didn't see it, this is a link to the letter the Providence Journal published today.
https://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/20190610/my-turn-david-carlin-equality-act-seeks-to-impose-delusions?fbclid=IwAR1GCDL2zKilICxCF6rGQjQIfPRCy7jdyEv-1uMjOcERdTFfDWvxleAqkGs
I hesitate to even post the link, because the letter is the definition of putrid trash.
Smarter people than I am can take apart every gross assertion the author makes, and I encourage them to do so.
My attention is going to be focused on the Providence Journal, and their insistence to continue to provide bigots and hatemongers a platform, because it appeases their rapidly dwindling readership, which at this point I can only assume is made up primarily of inland fossils and backwoods morons.
The Journal can't seem to help itself from catering to these people, and while it may seem like a business decision to play to the crowd that's still there, disguising their pandering as the opinions of someone in an Op-Ed is the height of cowardice. These are not views separate from what the journal would like to promote. Nobody is forcing them to publish letters like this. They are not showing both sides of any issue. There is a balanced way to talk about nearly everything, but when hate speech enters the equation, we've left the realm of journalism and we're in a much darker place.
This is not the first time the Journal's pulled this, and I'm sure it won't be the last, but the fact that they've decided to publish this letter during Pride month is yet another slap across the face to the LGBTQ community in this state at a time when it seems they're already under fire from all sides simply because the timing seems right for their adversaries.
Even the headline of the piece infuriates me--My Turn.
You do not get a turn to be homophobic.
You do not get a turn to be transphobic.
You do not get a turn to be sexist.
You do not get a turn to say whatever you feel like saying under the auspices given to you by the current President that you, a person of privilege, has really secretly been under attack for awhile and you should have the opportunity to fight back.
Sir, you had your turn, and thank goodness, your turn is over.
As someone who has gotten a more-than-adequate amount of coverage in the Providence Journal over the years, it hurts me to say that I will no longer be interacting with them on any level. I've had wonderful relationships with the people who work for the arts section there, and while I am aware that different departments handle different areas of the paper, and that it's all getting sent back up to some mysterious group of owners in Texas who no doubt are guiding the paper in a more radically Conservative direction, this is not an issue over which I am going to split hairs. I'm sure some of the employees at the Journal feel the same way I do today, and I hope they speak up and speak loudly.
Publishing this letter at this time--and without allowing for an immediate response that could be published alongside the letter--is nothing short of an attack.
I understand those who say that we need to preserve print journalism, but we also need journalism to be better and not fall victim to pandering and the spread of misinformation all done under the umbrella of "opinion."
Hopefully the Journal enjoyed the burst of attention they're getting today, admittedly including from me, because it's the last bit of my attention they're going to get from this point on.
First off, in case you didn't see it, this is a link to the letter the Providence Journal published today.
https://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/20190610/my-turn-david-carlin-equality-act-seeks-to-impose-delusions?fbclid=IwAR1GCDL2zKilICxCF6rGQjQIfPRCy7jdyEv-1uMjOcERdTFfDWvxleAqkGs
I hesitate to even post the link, because the letter is the definition of putrid trash.
Smarter people than I am can take apart every gross assertion the author makes, and I encourage them to do so.
My attention is going to be focused on the Providence Journal, and their insistence to continue to provide bigots and hatemongers a platform, because it appeases their rapidly dwindling readership, which at this point I can only assume is made up primarily of inland fossils and backwoods morons.
The Journal can't seem to help itself from catering to these people, and while it may seem like a business decision to play to the crowd that's still there, disguising their pandering as the opinions of someone in an Op-Ed is the height of cowardice. These are not views separate from what the journal would like to promote. Nobody is forcing them to publish letters like this. They are not showing both sides of any issue. There is a balanced way to talk about nearly everything, but when hate speech enters the equation, we've left the realm of journalism and we're in a much darker place.
This is not the first time the Journal's pulled this, and I'm sure it won't be the last, but the fact that they've decided to publish this letter during Pride month is yet another slap across the face to the LGBTQ community in this state at a time when it seems they're already under fire from all sides simply because the timing seems right for their adversaries.
Even the headline of the piece infuriates me--My Turn.
You do not get a turn to be homophobic.
You do not get a turn to be transphobic.
You do not get a turn to be sexist.
You do not get a turn to say whatever you feel like saying under the auspices given to you by the current President that you, a person of privilege, has really secretly been under attack for awhile and you should have the opportunity to fight back.
Sir, you had your turn, and thank goodness, your turn is over.
As someone who has gotten a more-than-adequate amount of coverage in the Providence Journal over the years, it hurts me to say that I will no longer be interacting with them on any level. I've had wonderful relationships with the people who work for the arts section there, and while I am aware that different departments handle different areas of the paper, and that it's all getting sent back up to some mysterious group of owners in Texas who no doubt are guiding the paper in a more radically Conservative direction, this is not an issue over which I am going to split hairs. I'm sure some of the employees at the Journal feel the same way I do today, and I hope they speak up and speak loudly.
Publishing this letter at this time--and without allowing for an immediate response that could be published alongside the letter--is nothing short of an attack.
I understand those who say that we need to preserve print journalism, but we also need journalism to be better and not fall victim to pandering and the spread of misinformation all done under the umbrella of "opinion."
Hopefully the Journal enjoyed the burst of attention they're getting today, admittedly including from me, because it's the last bit of my attention they're going to get from this point on.
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ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate the need to publish viewpoints from a broad spectrum of perspectives, hate speech does not qualify. Ignorance does not excuse the lack of compassion toward a fellow human. Projo made a choice, and that choice may have severed ties to much of the arts community.
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