FLDS: Does the media get it yet?
 
By Joel Campbell
Mormon Times
 
It’s been a month and a half since the LDS Church asserted its right for exclusive use of the term "Mormon" and asked the media to distance it from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On July 10, a few pro-polygamy groups said they also had a historical right to use the moniker as well. The Mormon Media Observer finds out whether reporters and editors at news organizations across the world have paid any attention to the LDS request.

A search of an online news database of global English publications for the term "Mormon fundamentalist," "Mormon polygamist" and similar terms only turned up 28 references in the past month. Between May and June, there were more than 200 such references. Admittedly, there was much greater coverage in May and June, but the trend appears to be toward less inaccuracy.

Some of the most recent articles were Associated Press stories about the LDS Church laying claim to the term "Mormon" and fundamentalist polygamists countering that they could use the term too. At the same time, the term "polygamist sect," used when describing the FLDS, was cited in more than 280 articles.

The Associated Press, which bylines most of the national coverage about the FLDS, appears to have been careful to honor the LDS request and respect its own stylebook, which says splinter groups formed after the death of Joseph Smith are not properly called "Mormons." At times, the news cooperative has used the term "self-described Mormon fundamentalist" to try to balance the usage.

"Mormon polygamists" and "Mormon polygamist sect" has lessened in U.S. news, however, but other terms such as "renegade Mormon sect" and "breakaway Mormon sect" are still popular. "Mormon polygamist" or "Mormon fundamentalist" terms are more likely to turn up in newspapers and Web sites based outside the United States. There are some exceptions.

In the United States, the Washington Post parroted the "Mormon fundamentalist" label from author John Krakauer when reviewing a new book, "The 19th Wife." Another new book, "When Men Become Gods" with the subtitle "Mormon polygamist Warren Jeffs, his cult of fear and the women who fought back," isn’t helping clarify the differences.

The New York Times misused the term "Mormon polygamist" in referring to Warren Jeffs in writing about a indictment, as did its partner, the International Herald Tribune. United Press International made the same mistake.

The Salt Lake Tribune has allowed the term "Mormon fundamentalist" to appear in some of its recent news stories, including the front-page story about a home for fundamentalist grandmothers. The story was picked up by the Contra Costa Times and San Jose Mercury News, which ran the inaccurate headline "Mormon sect finds a home for its grandmothers." The Trib also included the "fundamentalist Mormon" label in stories about the United Effort Plan Trust and Congressional hearings.

ABC News reporter John Stossel at least tried to clarify in a "20/20" broadcast about polygamy. "People think polygamists are all Mormon, but that's a myth. Polygamy was banned by the Mormon church years ago. There are polygamists today who call themselves fundamentalist Mormons," Stossell said.

Abroad, the media still makes little effort to differentiate between the LDS and FLDS. The Montreal Gazette described the FLDS as a "fundamentalist Mormon denomination." The French newspaper Le Monde reported Jeffs was a "guru of a Mormon sect."

The Age, in Melbourne, Australia, reported about the accuser in the Warren Jeffs case, Elissa Wall. "She is blonde and bright and welcoming. But her eyes are prone to welling up when she reflects on life in the fundamentalist Mormon sect that made her an unwilling teen bride to her first cousin, Allen Steed," a journalist wrote about Wall.
 
MormonTimes.com
Originally published Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008
 
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