"Palin church burning - 'hate crime' virtually ignored?"

[Jackpine Radical]

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=358476


(One News Now is a Don Wildmon American Family Association propaganda sheet.)

Oh, those poor, persecuted Fundies.

More likely the meth lab in the basement blew up...

Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 12/19/2008 6:00:00 AM

A religion columnist and journalism professor says the mainstream media's coverage of the fire that gutted Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's home church has been thin, but it's hard to say exactly why it's been underplayed. Investigators say the fire that destroyed Wasilla Bible Church in Alaska on December 12 was likely the work of an arsonist, but the mainstream news media, with the exception of The Associated Press, has largely ignored the story.

Terry Mattingly is the editor of the website GetReligion.org, a Scripps Howard columnist, and director of the Washington Journalism Center. He says because the fire occurred in a remote area, major networks may not want to fly reporters in from Los Angeles, Washington, or New York. Mattingly believes a regional bias could be at play, but adds that he Terry Mattingly has no doubt that if a fire occurred at the church of a socially accepted victim group, the coverage would have been more extensive.

"To give you an example: right now in a parallel case down in California, we have demonstrations and some vandalism and stuff at Mormon churches....We're beginning to see some coverage of that," he points out. "Yet I think that if you had some sort of corresponding mirror image situation, say, conservative crowds that were doing vandalism and picketing, say, a congregation in the gay-friendly Metropolitan Community Church, you'd be seeing that on page one of the Los Angeles Times."

Mattingly contends news outlets need to probe whether the fire at Palin's church was a hate crime, considering an Alaska statute "criminalizes destruction of real or personal property belonging to religious or charitable organizations."

[notadmblnd]

1. I place my bet on it being an inside job done for the insurance money.

[tularetom]

2. There are no "hate crimes" - just ask the members of Palin's church

Every time a minority, immigrant or gay person is beaten up, harassed or murdered, these asswipes are always out front denying that there is any such thing as a "hate crime".

Wacko douchebags can't have it both ways - if it ain't a hate crime when a black guy is dragged five miles behind a truck by a couple of inbreds, it ain't a hate crime when some idiot torches a fund-o-mentalist church.

[Political Tiger]

3. "news outlets need to probe whether the fire at Palin's church was a hate crime"

Isn't that why we have cops?

[tanyev]

4. Well, Sarah was right on top of that talking point.

I hadn't even heard that the church had burned down before I heard that she was apologizing in case it had been done by someone who hated her. Nothing like releasing a pre-emptive "apology" before the investigation has even started.

[Obamanaut]

5. Why would reporters be sent in from anywhere? Alaska is the

largest state - Sarah told me so several times. Shouldn't the largest state have it's own reporters?