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Pew Report: U.S. Media Heavily Support Gay Marriage View

  • Religion Today Religious persecution, missions, Christianity around the world
  • Updated Jun 18, 2013

A new report by the Pew Research Center found that U.S. media largely focused on publishing stories with more supportive views of same-sex marriage than the opposing position between the period of March 18 to May 12, according to the Christian Post. "The findings show how same-sex marriage supporters have had a clear message and succeeded in getting that message across all sectors of mainstream media," Pew summarized. As many as 47 percent of the 500 stories examined from March -- which was a week prior to the Supreme Court hearings on the issue -- had more supportive statements on same-sex marriage than opposing views by at least a 2-to-1 margin. Another 44 percent had roughly an equal mix of both viewpoints, while only 9 percent focused more on statements supporting traditional marriage. In total, news stories with more statements in support of gay marriage exceeded those supporting traditional marriage by a margin close to 5-to-1. Pew identified that most arguments in favor of same-sex marriage tried to paint it as a civil rights issue, while those opposing a change in the definition of marriage noted that it could lead to negative consequences for society. The Huffington Post was identified as one of the news sites that featured a large number of gay-marriage-supporting stories, with 62 percent of its 365 stories filled with statements of support for same-sex marriage, which Pew says is close to the level of support reported on LGBT sites. Social networking outlets like Twitter, on the other hand, displayed a more fair public debate on the issue. Twitter postings on gay marriage were almost evenly split between support and opposition, which Pew says is more closely reflective of public opinion than what the news media suggests.