Media, Ethics And Outing
Dave Kopel, writing in the Rocky Mountain News, make a strong argument against the practice of some activists to "out" homosexuals. Referring to the Haggard outing just before the election (which I strongly criticized for its complete violation of basic journalism rules). Kopel's argument is more fundamental: why does the media cooperate with this basic violation of human privacy?
Was the Colorado media acting ethically when it "outed" the Rev. Ted Haggard? Is outing usually ethical, as long as the media have sufficient evidence? I suggest that the answer to both questions is "no."
One justification for the Haggard outing is that it involved not just homosexuality, but also crime, because Haggard was both patronizing prostitute Mike Jones and using him to procure drugs.
But does anyone really believe that if methamphetamine was still legal in Colorado, and if Colorado had Nevada-style legal prostitution, the media would have ignored the Haggard story?
Homosexual journalist Michelangelo Signorile is the ayatollah of outing. He asks "How can being gay be private when being straight isn't?" Rejecting Signorile's neo-Maoist argument that no one has privacy rights, gay writer C. Carr responded: "Everyone - gay, straight, and in-between - has an absolute right to decide that their intimate lives are nobody's business" (Village Voice, March 19, 1991).
Signorile writes, "by outing we do not discuss anyone's sex life. We only say they're gay." Actually, on Signorile's radio show, and on Peter Boyles' talk show on KHOW, the hosts encouraged Jones to provide explicit information about particular sexual acts with Haggard. Properly, the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post refused to repeat Jones' tales.
Today, threats of outing are used as blackmail, and might amount to criminal extortion, depending on the jurisdiction. Last year, Washington, D.C., homosexual blogger Mike Rogers warned that a vote for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito would result in the outing of a senator. Several weeks ago, Rogers followed through on his blackmail, although the claim was so bereft of evidence that it received little attention from most media, other than Air America's Ed Schulz.
Read the whole thing, it is a strong condemnation of this execrable activity and of the "justifications" used to explain it.
By Vigilante, Saturday, 18 November , 2006 @ 9:53 am
Always out the hypocrites, is what I always say. And the more public they are, the more sooner is better than later.
By Arlo, Saturday, 18 November , 2006 @ 1:04 pm
I’m not comfortable with rules that keep some kinds of personal behavior protected. Felt the same way about Clinton back in ‘92 when the Gennifer Flowers story came out. Let them know that someone will out them and they can live accordingly.