Media Boycott of Westboro Baptist Church Spurs Controversy

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SATIRE (http://thedesperateblogger.com/2011/01/media-boycott-of-westboro-baptist-church-spurs-controversy/)

The planned media boycott that would effectively eliminate widespread coverage of members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketing funerals in order to promulgate their anti-gay agenda has surprisingly, to some, come under fire. In spite of the controversy, boycott organizers claim that the coalition of major media outlets who have pledged their cooperation remains committed and that the boycott will proceed as planned.

At issue is what some opponents describe as, “a concerted effort on the part of the media to refrain from exercising its First Amendment rights in order to discourage others from exercising theirs.” One prominent critic, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (who has already expressed support for the repeal of the 14th and 17th Amendments to the Constitution), was quoted by an editor of Conservapedia as saying, “If the liberal media elites are going to pick and choose when to exercise their freedoms granted under the First Amendment, perhaps a discussion regarding either repeal or modification would be in order.”

Proponents of the boycott claim that it will remove the incentive for church members to picket the funerals of fallen military service members and others, preventing compounded grief and suffering on the part of otherwise innocent bystanders during their period of mourning. The Westboro Baptist Church has, for some time, garnered media attention for its anti-gay crusade by picketing soldiers’ funerals with signs reading, “God Hates Fags” and “Pray for More Dead Soldiers” among others.

According to Newton Toomey, Professor of Modern Media Studies at Pueblo State University, “What has some people concerned, in my view needlessly, is the potential for a powerful group — in this case the mainstream media — to exercise its power to limit the impact of a less powerful group — in this case a tiny group of insecure White tax-exempt homophobic fear mongers with small penises. Nobody is denying anybody else of any rights, they are merely making a policy decision as to whether what they consider ‘newsworthy’.”

The boycott, which is already under way, is slated to be closely scrutinized. A swarm of both the television and print media has descended upon the church’s headquarters in Topeka, Kansas, where they will follow the boycott’s impact on the church and its membership through interviews and ‘human interest featurettes’. Elsewhere, reporters are already starting to appear at military funerals across the country and are expected to also be present in Tucson, Arizona at the funerals for the six victims of last Saturday’s tragic shooting to get reaction from mourners on the picketers’ absence.

All three major broadcast networks plan prime-time specials to air in the coming weeks to draw attention to the boycott and illustrate the message that would have otherwise been more widely exposed to the public. ABC will air an exclusive ‘Barbara Walters Special’ which will feature interviews with members of the Westboro Baptist Church, family members from funerals they have picketed, and House Speaker John Boehner. When asked about Speaker Boehner’s role in the discussion, a network executive responded, “There is none. But there is a clause in Barbara’s contract that stipulates at least one interviewee must cry on camera at some point during their interview. Booking Speaker Boehner provides the producers with strong a safety net.”

Additionally, Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps will co-host a special edition of Fox News Channel’s ‘Fox and Friends’ next Monday. The entire episode will be dedicated to a discussion of possible collusion between the mainstream media and ‘Communo-Fascist forces’ within the Obama administration as part of a broader conspiracy to repress dissenting opinion.

January 12th, 2011 | Tags: Fred Phelps, John Boehner, Jon Kyl, Westboro Baptist Church | Category: Media, Satire