You'll Never Guess What's Getting 'Both Sides'-ed This Month
The author wearing his own merch. Credit: via Zazzle
June 16, 2023

Big news from WOOD-TV, your Grand Rapids, Michigan news leader!

Via Oliver Darcy's Reliable Sources Newsletter (and congrats on outlasting Chris Licht, Oliver):

Nexstar on Thursday said that it is conducting an investigation after a leaked memo at a Michigan station said journalists need to "get both sides" on LGBTQ issues when covering Pride events because of their "polarizing" nature in the local community.

So the real headline is, somebody there had the presence of mind to leak that internal memo. Instructing journalists to "get both sides" on LGBTQ issues. When covering Pride events. Because of their "polarizing" nature in the local community.

Thank you, leaker!

WOOD-TV's parent company, Nexstar, took time away from owning and operating [check notes] 197 television stations across the U.S. to promise to look into the situation because that nonsense "is not consistent with Nexstar's values, the way we cover the news or the respect we have for our viewers," Nexstar said in a statement. Nexstar added that it "will take appropriate action as necessary to address this situation" and apologized for offending the LGBTQ community and WOOD-TV's viewers.

I imagine that Nexstar's press release went through several drafts to remove all the swears because there is nothing senior media corporation executives like better than having to stop everything and clean up some try-hard David Brooks wanna-be's mess at some rinky-dink affiliate the senior execs were barely aware existed until now.

And sadly, whoever wrote the leaked memo can't even take home a Both Siderist Bingo win as a going-away prize. Sure, they mentioned "both sides" and "polarizing," but where was the stern lecture on the evils of "tribalism"?

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