Kevin Naff at the Blade is reporting that Baltimore Maryland’s television station WBFF FOX45 is helping anti-gay activists gather signatures for a voter referendum on marriage equality by having a link on its banner on same sex marriage that links to another WBFF FOX45 page which in turn links to MD Petitions and the site which is/will gather signatures to get a referendum placed on the ballot at Maryland’s next election to overturn the new law that Governor O’Malley plans to sign today.
So much for “fair and balanced.” I wonder what the gay employees of Fox News and its affiliates — like anchor Shepard Smith — think about the company endorsing this referendum.
A WBFF employee who works on the website told me that the link did not originate with the local web staff and was posted by “corporate.” The number for that office is 410-568-1500. The person who answered that number referred me back to the local station.
Back2Stonewall did indeed go to the site and follow the links and it is true. WBFF is actually helping anti-gay activist recruit support.
Asked about the links FOX45 replied.
“As part of our effort to drive viewers to our website, we frequently tag our stories with an invitation to get more information on a subject. We take every opportunity to engage the viewer in this interactive process. The link for the petition drive against same sex marriage is just one of many examples of this interactive engagement. This is by no means an endorsement. All of our stories on this topic have been thorough and fair. Our objective is to inform our viewers and make them aware of the latest development with this piece of legislation. If our viewers want to have a voice in this debate, they can take action. We are only making them aware of the movement to fight the legislation.”
It is far beyond time that we as a community start challenging and fighting back against the networks And not just FOX but supposedly “friendly” stations as well who continue to host hate group leaders such as Tony Perkin’s and his likes as experts. It’s time to stop being lazy and start letter writing campaign and to boycott station sponsors. All broadcast stations must meet basic requirements of service to the community they serve. We need to fight back and challenge licenses with the FCC and make noise about returning to the “Fairness Doctrine” and “Equal Time” laws that strike fear into the hearts of the broadcast media because it holds them accountable for their actions.