Tom Marquardt, the editor of the Annapolis newspaper The Capital, had planned to publish an offensive apology over this story about a pair of lesbian moms that ran on Mother's Day. The story apparently generated dozens of hateful comments.
The newspaper's staff spiked the editor's apology, but that hasn't stopped it from seeing the light of day.
Romenesko has the whole scoop, but here's just one bit of the apology:
There is an old saying in journalism that, adjusted for modern times, goes something like this: Architects cover up their mistakes with vines, attorneys send theirs to jail, businesses write them off, and doctors put them 6 feet under. But a newspaper publishes its mistakes for all to see. And that we did on May 8 with a Mother's Day story on a lesbian couple raising two baby boys born to them through artificial insemination. The reaction among our readers was swift and damning.
***
In previous years we have written about single moms, poor moms, foster moms and handicapped moms — as well as the traditional moms with big families and heavy workloads. This year was different but difference is not what our readers wanted on a day when dad and kids shower love on the family matriarch.
Unfortunately for us, we lost sight of what the readers want to read: feel good stories about people who reflect their values. Newspapers need to mirror its readers — all of them perhaps, but inclusion not at the exception of the majority.
Mother's Day story about lesbian couple creates controversy at Annapolis paper [romenesko]
(via kenneth)
