Yet another development in my seemingly ceaseless NYT dismissal story.
The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association has barred me from appearing at their Plenary on Journalistic Objectivity, scheduled at the June Convention in NYC.
The plenary session was created and organized by CNN journalist Rose Arce.
A month ago, Rose invited me to sit on this panel. She felt my case strongly reflected the current debate over journalistic objectivity. She plans to have the two SF Chronicle lesbian journalists on the panel, who were reassigned from the gay marriage beat after becoming hitched.
However, when Rose gave her list of panelists to NLGJA's Executive Committee, she was told I could not sit on the panel.
Why? NLGJA felt my problem with the NY Times was a "personnel matter" between employer and employee ... and NOT an issue of journalistic ethics. This was the same reasoning they gave me in March, when they refused to support my case.
(I had been in touch with them since my January 12 dismissal, and for two months they suggested they would help me. In the end, they decided not to. Please note that NLGJA Board President Stephen Petrow spoke out against the reassignment of the SF Chron reporters at the time it happened.)
NLGJA member and NBC-TV producer Barbara Raab asked NLGJA officials several times for an official reason why they would not take my case. So did journalist Michelangelo Signorile. Both were told that NLGJA would release a statement explaining their decision. However, they never did.
I received a telephone machine message from NLGJA's President Pamela Strother on April 17, saying they wished to talk to me about my "concerns" about NLGJA. (Passive-aggressive or what?) I replied by e-mail, asking for a written explanation for censoring me. I have not received it. Perhaps they are savvy enough to know they should not commit any incriminating information to paper.
jbb
Filed under: Blotcher Blog