Bobby Ross Jr. said in a column last week that the Associated Press unfairly omitted comments from the American Family Association about its prayer rally held in Louisiana this month.
The all-day prayer rally in Baton Rouge, La. was sponsored by the American Family Association and featured Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is hoping to make a run for president in 2016.
The AP story said that critics had protested outside of the rally, arguing that the American Family Association advocated discrimination against non-Christians and gay people.
The Southern Law Center classifies the association as a hate group, according to the AP story.
The AP did not seek out the American Family Association’s comments about the protests, Bobby Ross Jr. says in his column.
“The AP story doesn't say, although that information is readily available on the association's website,” he said.
That AFA statement says: “The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) calls the American Family Association (AFA) a “hate group” because AFA promotes traditional Biblical views on homosexuality and marriage. SPLC does not have a standard for who they label as a “hate group.” They apply the label to whomever they want to dehumanize and attack. Surprisingly, President Obama stated the same position on homosexual marriage that AFA holds when he first ran for President, but SPLC did not call him a hater.”
Ross Jr. adds that the AP also released a blog last week called “What to expect when you’re interviewed by AP,” where Tom Kent, an editor, says they’d “look to obtain (other points of view) and include them in the story.”
Said Ross Jr.: “Unfortunately, the story on the prayer rally headlined by Jindal fails to live up to that high standard.”
Publication date: February 2, 2015
