Alert re Suppression of Freedom of Speech and Opinion In the Media
REAL Women of Canada
“Women’s Rights Not at the Expense of Human Rights”
NGO in SPECIAL consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
October 11, 2006
A L E R T
Suppression of Freedom of Speech and Opinion In the Media
Media coverage of the same-sex marriage issue has been horrendous. The public has been deprived of valuable information as the debate has been deliberately framed in terms of human rights and Charter rights only. Coverage of the Parliamentary Committee that studied the issue was inadequate as the Committee, after hearing over 500 witnesses, dealing with over 250,000 letters from the concerned public and traveling thousands of miles across the country, was not permitted to table its report in Parliament. Concerns for the well-being of children, presented before the Committee by REAL Women, Dr. Margaret Somerville, and others, were ignored.
The traditional position on marriage did not receive fair exposure except for columns by a few stalwart journalists who put their careers on the line to report the facts against the promotion of same-sex marriage. Some columnists were and continue to be harassed by their editors for doing so. Many have received nasty hate mail and threats to their lives and safety. Journalists who dared exercise their right to freedom of expression by opposing the redefinition of marriage were abandoned by their fellow journalists who feared for their own status in the media industry.
Journalists who uphold the integrity of the profession today need our support. When you read their articles we ask that you encourage them personally. Write letters to the editor defending their point of view. These journalists often stand alone, never knowing when the axe will fall to end their employment as a result of a complaint from a reader whose feelings are hurt. We have our own effective network of information on pro-life, pro-family issues but the public at large is often misled if they are not tapping into this network. Brave journalists writing for major media outlets serve their country well during these difficult times for the family, and they need our support.
Whenever a columnist writes in support of life, family and traditional marriage, i.e., a man and woman united together to the exclusion of all others, please write in support of them. We can do no less in these troubling times where freedom of speech and opinion, although being a “Charter right” is being trodden on by media obsession with political correctness.
A.10.06