Letter: No big deal until media blitz began

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 1999 | 11:47 a.m.

Nobody that has donated their two cents to this argument seems to have thoroughly read the actual article in the National Liberty Journal, nor have they reviewed Jerry Falwell's own press release about the issue.

For example, in a recent Washington Post editorial, Hanna Rosin wonders what was "the tip-off" that initiated Jerry Falwell's "parent's alert" in the NLJ. First of all, the "parent's alert" was written by the NLJ Senior Editor J.M. Smith, not by Falwell.

Smith wrote a very short piece with a simple theme that he summed up in one sentence: "These subtle depictions (of gay traits) are no doubt intentional and parents are warned to be alert to these elements of the series."

And the answer to Rosin's question is, in part, her very own newspaper. In Falwell's press release dated Feb. 10, he quotes three sources used by Smith, the Washington Post, Time magazine and People magazine, as original sources of the gay Teletubby debate.

He simply states that "As a Christian, I believe that role-modeling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children."

He further explains that the article in the NLJ intended to encourage parents to be informed. That's all. He has not been ranting like many in the media would have you believe.

He did not conjure this whole thing up out of thin air. You can agree or disagree with Jerry Falwell's views, but responsible journalists, as well as ordinary citizen letter writers such as myself, should always get the facts straight before expressing an opinion.

James Sundstrom