In an interview about gay marriage last spring, Bob Beauprez’s newly minted running mate Janet Rowland said, “For some people, the alternative lifestyle is bestiality…-do we allow a man to marry a sheep? I mean, at some point, you have to draw a line”
 

In describing Rowland’s quote and other portions of the interview, the Rocky Mountain News reported (Aug. 15) that Rowland was “comparing” homosexuality to bestiality.
 

I heard Dan Caplis on KHOW trying to explain that, really, Rowland wasn’t “comparing” homosexuality to bestiality.
 

Is “compare” a fair characterization for a journalist to use, or was Rowland simply listing sexual acts that she considers beyond the pale?
 

She was definitely comparing bestiality and homosexuality.
 

After all, Rowland implied that homosexuality is heading down a slippery slope to bestiality and other nasty stuff, and though she was not “equating” the two, she was comparing them…-as in homosexuality is closer to bestiality than heterosexuality.
 

To avoid controversies about whether a characterization is fair, journalists should avoid them, whenever possible.

But often journalists must summarize a quotation, due to space or time considerations. Rowland’s quote was accurately characterized by the News.

Reporters should ask more questions about why Congressman Bob Beauprez’s running mate Janet Rowland compared homosexuality to bestiality, polygamy, and incest.

The Beauprez campaign says Rowland is sorry. But we need to hear directly from Rowland on the matter, and some follow-up questions are in order, such as: 

“Ms. Rowland, do you think Mel Gibson should be forgiven for his recent anti-Semitic comments? Do you think your comments are in the same ballpark?” 

“What specific aspects of homosexuality brought up bestiality and incest in your mind? In other words, why do you think you made this regrettable statement?” 

In my Aug. 5 column, I wrote that Denver’s Fox 31 is the only major media outlet that DOES NOT provide email addresses for reporters on its web site.

Other outlets do provide this information, and people should take advantage of it and contact reporters with story ideas or criticisms. The Rocky provides the most detailed contact info.

Click on the outlet below to find the direct contact information for journalists.

Rocky

Denver Post

Channel 2

Channel 4

Channel 7

Channel 9

Fox 31

An electric power cooperative recently paid a global warming critic $100,000 to serve as a consultant.

Intermountain Rural Electric Association general manager Stanley Lewandowski sent a letter July 17 to at least 50 utilities urging them to “stand up” against global warming “alarmists,” according to the Denver Post and, later, the Rocky Mountain News.

The Real Climate blog noticed that Lewandowski’s July 17 letter contained sections that were nearly identical to a June 9 column by Rocky Mountain News columnist Mike Rosen. Colorado Media Matters posted a nice chart Aug. 1 comparing Lewandowski’s memo to Rosen’s column.

So, did Lewandowski crib from Rosen or vice versa?

In a phone interview Wed., Rosen told me that he was unaware of the controversy about the Lewandowski letter, and Rosen said he did not see a draft of Lewandowski’s July 17 lettter prior to writing his June 9 column.