Scare stories

Something often pointed out by bloggers, such as at Box Turtle Bulletin, are the scare stories put out by media outlets (particularly anti-gay conservative evangelical media) about the terrible price that gay people pay for, well, being gay. While the preponderance of scariness may normally reside within people like AFA, CitizenLink, and others, sometimes it hits mainstream. For instance, a recent "gay plague" scare was at fever pitch in January 2008 regarding MRSA. Reported in Reuters and other normally reputable news outlets (with quotes like "Once this reaches the general population [read: the straight population], it will be truly unstoppable"), it turns out the scare was just that: a scare. Having been debunked, it quietly disappeared and now nobody thinks anything of it.

So every once in a while it's nice to see people go back through the archives and show just how wrong media can be. Some of this is perspective: when you're living in the midst of what you're reporting, you may become myopic and just follow the crowd. Some of this is selling news: you have to . And some is just, well, dumb. So here it is: the top 10 Time covers that got it wrong. (Thanks to 101 Lost Theses for the link.)

(Day 393)