The Press, Wrong?

By now, I am sure most of us have heard about the abomination in Texas with the FLDS sect, and the children who were taken away into foster care.  It's a pitiful, heart wrenching scene, to imagine any child being yanked from a loving mother's arms, but it is even more pitiful when there is suspected abuse going on in the loving household.  Just what the heck was happening there? 

I was reading Norma's blog, and found some slovenly journalism.  No, not in her blog, (tee-hee!), but in a reference to an article on cnn.com .  It had to do with the FLDS fiasco, and mentioned foster children in a negative manner.  The author of this article portrayed the FLDS children as sheltered and innocent, which may or may not be true, but went on to note that, "In contrast, many other children in foster care have a certain worldly swagger, and are there because they have used drugs or committed other crimes".  "Many" foster care children may be just as described, but when left in that context, especially when prefaced with the innocent FLDS children as described in the article, it is an insult to foster children in general.  Using the descriptive, "many" does not negate the author's intended picture for us, in my opinion.  "Many" is not "all", and while the story might not have been written with bad intentions,  I still believe the author certainly came across with little understanding of foster children. I think the author was more interested in a flowery pen than a factual story.

See the Orphan Foundation of America's blog, and the article, When the Press Gets it Wrong.  If you are so moved, scratch off a quick e-mail to CNN and Associated Press (AP), voicing your displeasure of the above comment, which some people could construe as a blanket statement about children in foster care.  I'm not being overly sensitive; I hate that, when people overreact to a comment.  The entire FLDS gives me the creeps, and if there was abuse going on, I am glad people are writing about it.  But pegging foster children as swaggering does not help the foster children who don't swagger.  Nor does it help the funding for organizations like The Orphan Foundation of America.  Thanks for nothing, CNN.

Comments

[Marta]

Oh, you are so right to be angry! Thanks for bringing this up, and for the links.

Marta