Will the Media Cover THIS Story?

On September 30, a Sunday – the Lord's Day in the Christian church – San Francisco will host the Folsom Street Fair, perhaps the most hedonistic event held in public in America.  The fair is the San Francisco homosexual community's annual celebration of promiscuity, sadomasochism and debauchery.  The ad for this year's fair mocks Da Vinci's The Last Supper, with a half-naked beefcake Christ and disciples bedecked in all manner of leather and chains.  The bread and wine of The Last Supper are replaced with sex toys.  Many Christian groups have expressed outrage.

Will the national media cover the story?

When it comes to the media treatment of Christian issues, you never know what you'll get.  For instance, in the October 1 issue of Newsweek, Lisa Miller's “Beliefwatch” column tsk-tsks over the outrage felt by Christians over comedienne Kathy Griffin saying “Suck it, Jesus” at the Creative Emmy Awards.  The outcry was loud enough that E! deleted Griffin's remarks during their broadcast of the awards show.  Miller's sarcastic tone in reporting the story reveals her complete lack of regard for the offense felt by followers of Jesus.     

Twenty-two pages later in the same issue of Newsweek is a two-page spread on how Democrats are wooing evangelical Christians. This is a story the media like.  Three pictures accompany the article.  One is of Sen. Barack Obama praying with Pastor Rick Warren, another is of Hillary Clinton in front of the word “Faith.”  The third is of a very disappointed-looking James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, with the caption “Dobson isn't supporting Thompson.”  The article paints a very hopeful picture of the Democrats' chances (the subhead to the story says “their efforts may have a prayer”) of winning the younger evangelical vote, because “many younger evangelicals are worried about issues beyond the traditional struggles over abortion, school prayer and gay marriage.”

There it is, the G word.  The mainstream media are, shall we say, selective in their coverage of homosexuality as well.  They collectively went nuts when Senator Larry Craig's solicitation of 'gay' sex in a Minneapolis airport bathroom became public knowledge.  However, they typically turn a blind eye to nudity and sexual acts occurring in broad daylight during “pride” parades.  Public nudity is commonplace, as is sadomasochism, at the Folsom Street Fair.  The fair's Web site proudly promotes pictures of past events to prove the point. 

According to Concerned Women for America, “The most unimaginable and vile acts of debauchery are commonplace during the fair. Senator Larry Craig was arrested and driven out of the Senate for allegedly soliciting public 'gay' sex, yet during this event the city of San Francisco suspends the law and allows 'gay' men and women to parade the streets fully nude, many having sex – even group orgies – in broad daylight, while taxpayer-funded police officers look on and do absolutely nothing.”

And so we ask again:  Will the mainstream media cover the Folsom Street Fair?

For the media, it must be like being caught between a rock and a hard place.  The media love the Democrats.  The Democrats are courting evangelicals as well as gays.  The Folsom Street Fair pits one against the other – in a brazen and profane ad – for a taxpayer-supported event that flouts just about every moral precept upon which this country was built.  Will the media cover THIS story?

Kristen Fyfe is senior writer at the Culture and Media Institute, a division of the MediaResearchCenter.