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By Kent Larsen
LDS Church Criticizes CNN Reporter for Story
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- Bruce L. Olsen, Managing Director of the
Public Affairs Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints sent a letter Friday to CNN.com Senior Writer Jamie Allen,
criticizing Allen for violating "the most basic tenet of journalism
ethics -- objectivity." Olsen was responding to an article posted on
CNN.com Thursday which suggested that the LDS Church's dominance of
Utah led some to leave.
Olsen claimed that Allen's article was biased from the beginning. He
said that the Church first became aware of the article when Allen put
a query on PR Newswire's ProfNet looking for someone "moving from
Utah because of the
Latter-day Saints." Olsen says that this approach was biased from the
beginning, "Any journalist worthy of the name
would have asked for people's experience in doing business in Utah,
and then allowed the research to drive the story. Instead, you had
made up your mind what story you wanted to write." He also noted that
Olsen's sources were all critics of Utah and the LDS Church, except
for a late call to the Church's Public Affairs Department.
Olsen also objects to Allen singling out Latter-day Saints. "I wonder
how comfortable you would feel if you replaced the phrase Latter-day
Saints with other religious groups. For example, "moving from New
York because of the Jews" or "moving from Atlanta because of the
Baptists." When did it become politically correct to disparage
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? This is
not an issue the Church takes lightly." As a result, he claims that
the article was insulting to LDS Church members. "It is not a
journalist's prerogative to pass judgement on a religious faith,
especially one whose members founded Salt Lake City."
Allen's article came in the wake of several criticism's of the LDS
Church's role in the state. Iomega CEO Bruce Albertson and Salt Lake
City Mayor Rocky Anderson have both claimed recently that Utah's
strict liquor laws harm business within the state, and some observers
have blamed the liquor laws on the LDS Church. And users in a high
tech forum recently debated Utah's business client, with some saying
they would not live in Utah because of Church members there.
Sources:
The Following Letter Was Sent Today in Response to a Story on CNN.com, To Which The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Takes Strong Exception
PRNewswire 9Mar01 N1
By Bruce Olsen
Church and career: The debate in pre-Olympic Salt Lake City
CNN 8Mar01 S1
By Jamie Allen: CNN.com Senior Writer
Olympic 'Identity Crisis' in Salt Lake City says Christian Science Monitor
Church's Role in Utah Criticized on SlashDot.org
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