A small town Mississippi newspaper is taking a stand against marriage equality… by banning any same-sex wedding announcements from publication while forbidding employees from expressing support for the cause.
Earlier this month, employees of Mississippi’s third-largest newspaper, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, plus several other smaller weeklies owned by the same publisher, received an internal memo from Charlotte Wolfe, the company’s associate publisher, informing them of a new company policy.
Related: This Private Christian College Confiscated Every Copy Of Their Newspaper For Being Pro-Gay
“Journal, Inc. has made a policy decision to not accept wedding/engagement notices from samesex [sic] couples,” Wolfe wrote. “Please communicate to anyone else on your staff who would be taking this information from walkin [sic] customers.”
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Wolfe then went on to say that employees were not allowed to share their feelings about marriage equality in their columns or on social media.
“A decision has been made that the Journal’s editorial board will not take a position on the recent Supreme Court decision,” she wrote. “Because the company is not taking an editorial position on this, we need to follow suit, and not take positions editorially or in personal columns.”
Related: Missouri Newspaper Owner Refuses To Cover, Promote Or Encourage Gay Events
She continued: “We need to remember that we and our employees all are representatives of Journal, Inc. 24/7. Our job is to report the news objectively and we can’t do this if we’re also on social media sharing our opinions. We have a right to our opinions, but because we are so tightly connected to our newspaper products, we don’t need to vocalize this on social media … whether we realize it or not, people see that as the paper’s opinion.”
But apparently the new censorship rule didn’t apply to the newspapers owner, Clay Foster. Because two days later, he published a column about why gay marriage is “contrary to God’s Word.”
“There’s not enough room in this column to cover all that God says about homosexuality,” Foster wrote, “but note a few passages…”
He then quote passages from Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26, 27, and 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
How’s that for “objectivity”?
Related: College Employee Caught Throwing Out Stacks Of Local Gay Newspaper
h/t: The Huffington Post
Brian JC Kneeland
That is why we need to have non-discrimination laws!
Ladbrook
So in other words, it’s not really a “news”paper at all, right? It’s a propaganda rag for homophobes. I’d bet my next paycheck that they also think Obama was born in Kenya and that the K-K-K is just a charity for poor whites who need better trailer parks. Nice.
Louis Lance
The more businesses to “come out” as discriminatory, the more we know which ones to boycott financially. Got to get them where it hurts.
Robert Hillyer
Please, please, please, can’t we all just leave Mississippi? Let them have it. Within twenty years, they’ll all shoot each other, crash in stock car races, or overdose on crystal meth, and we can rush in to the welcome arms of whatever survivors remain, and the Kinsey Scale three-through-sixes, and redecorate.
Randy Kilbourn
Newspapers are a thing of the past! Just like their beliefs! So just sit back and watch the advertisers pull out and hurt their pocket book!
Uncv1
Typical for the conservative right, say one thing and do another. Ugh!
Atrius
Petty bigotry is bullshit.
Tim Grogan
Our local conservative paper has had a few wedding announcements.
Atrius
Clearly a case of sour grapes. They can’t stop us from marrying, but they think they’ll get us back by refusing to announce our marriages. Petty petty petty.
Giancarlo85
Nothing objective about this opinion conservative paper. They talk about being objective about reporting the news, but I bet you they don’t even objectively report that either. Even Fox Shit News claims they are “fair and balanced” when they are anything but that.
Maxie Grant
Hiding won’t make it go away people.
Justin Weeks
one paper that’s getting out of business now
Louie Mars
Newspapers are dead, just like the old people that read them- who cares?…
Dave Hildebrand
Sounds like they are taking a position to me…
Jeff Franklin
Oh these sad, demented people. Imagine owning a string of newspapers and banning……banning, wedding announcements for a couple just married to share the joy and happiness with their family and friends!!??…….and also……GAGGING……their employees from having their own opinions!!??…….Yeah, religiously, delusional, hateful, people are in much need of PYSCHIATRIC HELP.
GayEGO
This is not a newspaper it is a bigotpaper.
Luis H. Lopez
The haters going too hate move on and FY too them !!!
Gus8519
Time to boycott that newspaper.
Scott Haltom
Yes, the only way to fight them, financially. They want our money, but not us. They do have competition and they are giving their potential clientele to them.
jwtraveler
There’s a difference between journalism and editorials. The former is supposed to be unbiased, the latter isn’t. Almost all newspapers take editorial positions on social and political issues. This is perfectly acceptable in the U.S. media system. If the owner of this paper wants to print editorials expressing his opinion on same-sex marriage, he is entitled to do that as long as his reporters are free to report on the NEWS in a responsible and unbiased manner.
As for the wedding announcements: I don’t understand why gay people insist on emulating every stupid ritual that heterosexuals engage in.
Kenneth Fallows
Just another Mississippi back bayou Old Testament town!
mcflyer54
I’d like to see these fools start rejecting ads from companies that fully support marriage equality. It would certainly be interesting to see how long the survive won’t their bottom line started showing evidence of these discriminatory practices. Although it is Mississippi after all and unlikely that many of their readers get past the funny pages and the pretty pictures and actually do any reading. Newspapers are already dying across the nation and this kind of bogoted and narrow minded crap certainly won’t help them grow their circulation.
Michael Lepper
Who reads newspapers nowdays ? Probably the old narrow minded bigots………
Auxifur Wolfgram
Lotta Yadayada
Come on Ms. Get your head(s) out of your ass(es)
Giancarlo85
@jwtraveler: And nobody can quite understand your inane stupid rants.
Jared MacBride
@Kenneth Fallows: In the future will you please express your ignorance in fewer words. Thank you.
Jared MacBride
@Jared MacBride: @Jared MacBride: Sorry Kenneth – wrong guy. I meant to write that to @jwtraveler.
jamesthomas
And they’re not even a ‘religious’ organization…. and they also wonder why newspapers in general are going away, People can boycott business’ and get their news and much more of it online… News is supposed to be impartial and report the facts…ya I know I live in a bubble….Boycott this publication and all their subsidiaries, won’t do any good to complain in letter to the editors, they not allowed to think about the issues…. Love companies and business’ that tell their employees what the can or cannot feel and think! With the new nationwide anti discrimination law “cannot discriminate against employees on sexual orientation” How many of their employees are gay…and if those gay employees will continue to be abused emotionally…. ranting done…
Misty Bolling
Give me a break
aliengod
WTF!!! There are gay people in Mississippi?!?!?! You’ve got to be kidding.
NSB2244
Typical of the repatards…do as I say not as I do..time to boycott this newspaper or any business that advertises with them…time for these hypocrites to learn a lesson!
jwtraveler
@Giancarlo85: You really need to grow up.
captainburrito
Seems easy to knock down. Use religious freedom laws to say it is an unwarranted intrusion to prevent you from expressing an opinion.
Robert Gomez
So much for Journalistic Integrity.