Looking Past the Leaderboard
Media have a tendency to talk about LGBT issues using the broadest strokes, and nowhere is that more obvious than in election coverage. Despite being such a pivotal year for LGBT voters – major presidential candidates have never before so publicly courted LGBT communities and advocates – mainstream press has remained largely silent on the role of LGBT Americans in the 2008 presidential primaries. Where media coverage has existed, much of it has been limited to generalizations, painting LGBT voters in sweeping terms that only scratch the surface or designating issues related to LGBT equality as “wedge issues,” just as many outlets did during the 2004 presidential elections.Too often, media portray the election as if it were a NASCAR race – who is inching ahead today in the polls, who is slipping behind – and lose sight of the issues that matter most to voters. By scrutinizing media claims around LGBT issues and this year’s elections, we will hold the media accountable to standards of fair, accurate and inclusive coverage. This means coverage that doesn’t represent LGBT issues as inherently marginal, divisive or irrelevant to the electoral cycle. And more importantly, that media don’t give a pass to the anti-gay stance of high-level supporters of the major presidential candidates as well as their statements about other constituencies. Finally we want to see stories that go beyond speculation about the influence of proposed marriage bans on voter turnout to discuss the impact these ballot initiatives have on the lives of committed lesbian and gay couples in communities throughout the country.
It’s an exciting year for our community, with 22 openly LGBT superdelegates and the first-ever transgender community member, Diego Sanchez, appointed to a Standing Committee by a DNC Chair. With the many unprecedented opportunities of the 2008 election, we want to see media improve their coverage of LGBT issues this year. We hope you’ll join us as we continue to scrutinize and respond to LGBT representations in media as the presidential race unfolds.
Rashad Robinson is Senior Director of Media Programs
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Several questions:
1) Why are there 8 posts about Barack Obama on this blog but only 3 on Hillary Clinton?
2) Why is the blog so dull?
3) How are you exactly going to "hold the media accountable"? Issue dozens of press releases that get zero attention?
Just curious...