Global Courant
The general manager of a TV news station in western Michigan has apologized after staff received a memo asking reporters to cover fewer LGBTQ+ events during Pride Month, saying the coverage could be “polarizing.”
The memo to WOOD-TV staff in Grand Rapids asked them to “do some work to discern the news value” of Pride events, according to the Detroit Free Press, which obtained a copy of it.
“We know that West Michigan is a conservative area in many ways,” the memo said. “We must recognize that some stories related to LGBTQ issues will be controversial and polarizing in our community.”
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WOOD-TV is owned by Texas-based Nexstar Media, which said in a statement Friday that the memo was inconsistent with the company’s values, the way it treats news or the respect it has for viewers.
“WOOD-TV is committed to diversity, equality and inclusion and to covering and reporting the news of the day in a comprehensive and inclusive manner, consistent with these values,” said Julie Brinks, general manager of WOOD-TV Friday. in a statement.
Brinks said Nexstar “will take appropriate action to address this situation as necessary, and we apologize for offending members of the LGBTQ community and the viewers of WOOD-TV.”
WOOD-TV’s general manager has apologized for a memo advising against excessive coverage of Pride events. (AP Photo/Kristen Norman, File)
Opposition to Pride events and pro-LGBTQ+ literature has galled some US Republicans and conservatives in national and local politics. When a western Michigan library refused to remove LGBTQ content from its shelves, residents launched a successful campaign to block some of its funding, in an episode set in other states.
The backlash also affects the bottom line for news outlets.
“When covering Pride events, we need to consider how to balance the story and highlight both sides of the issue,” the WOOD-TV memo said, the Free Press reported. “We’re also starting to hear reactions from viewers who aren’t happy with those Pride-related stories.”
The memo added that while staff may disagree with a particular point of view, “people are entitled to their opinion and they are our viewers,” the Free Press reported.
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Grand Rapids, Michigan is located in Kent County, where nearly 52% of voters voted in the 2020 general election for President Joe Biden, a Democrat, compared to about 46% for then Republican President Donald Trump.
But in neighboring Ottawa County, nearly 60% of the votes cast were for Trump, while Biden got about 38%. Ottawa County is in WOOD-TV’s coverage area.
In January, a conservative Christian group known as Ottawa Impact claimed a majority on the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners and made several controversial decisions, including immediately closing the Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Department. The board also decided not to send money to support the country’s largest Pride festival, in the Netherlands.
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But an inaugural Pride festival in Ottawa County’s Grand Haven drew thousands of people last weekend.
