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| Written By Rick
Ellis, Monday, November 14th, 2006 I am not exactly a sports fan. In fact, I could most accurately be described as "sports impaired," since my main source of knowledge on the subject is confined to whatever I glean from passing by ESPN on my way to the Food Network. And yet, I really enjoy watching HBO's "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel," because it's a show that highlights great stories that just happen to be about famous sports figures. I had a similar reaction to watching the latest episode of "The Advocate Newsmagazine," which premieres this week on Logo. I'm a straight, married white guy with a kid and a house about two blocks from a corn field. I'm not exactly the target audience for the show. But the stories are strong enough that the lifestyle preferences of the viewer isn't really a factor. The hour-long show begins with an interview with Augusten Burroughs, the author responsible for the book "Running With Scissors." He discusses the book, his life and why he waited so long to agree to let the book be made into a movie. It's an interesting segment, and while I'm not sure there were any great revelations, it was a good way to kick off the show. Segment two was a story about the controversy surrounding a bed-and-breakfast in Meade, Kansas. The story is a bit convoluted, and that complexity did make the segment harder to follow than it should have been. The story is simple enough. The owner of the Lakeway Inn had recently moved to the town from California, and had at some point began flying a rainbow flag in front of his building. That didn't seem to be an issue with townfolks, until the local newspaper ran an article noting that the flag was generally considered a flag related to gay pride. That sparked a collapse in business to the Inn's restaurant, as well as a couple of bricks being thrown through a window. There were also protests, led by followers of the infamous Rev. Phelps. Like all good investigative pieces, the story had a twist. As it turns out, the owner of the Inn isn't gay. In fact, he's married and the flag was a present given to him by his son, who is mildly autistic. Flying the flag didn't have anything to do with gay pride, it was a reflection of a father's love for his son. But after watching the segment, I was left with more questions than answers. There is a throw away comment by one person that the root of the problem might have been a dispute between the owner of the Inn and of the local newspaper. There were also some comments that implied that some bad blood had sprung up between the family and the town over the way their autistic child had been treated by the other children. All of which made me wonder just how much of the anger and bitterness was about the flag, and how much was due to typical small-town pettiness. I was also troubled by the protest footage shown as part of the segment. While the voice-over did note it was a group of Rev. Phelps supporters, it wasn't at all clear that he and his supporters don't live in town at all. And if the news coverage of the event I read was any indication, many of the townspeople were embarrassed and appalled by the protests. In the end, the segment left me with more questions than answers. While it was a compelling story, I'm not sure that frustration is the emotion the producers of the segment were going for with the story. Segment three was a much better story, in part because it had a much sharper focus in the reporting. The piece began with a profile of a former inmate turned talk show host in Houston. Ray Hill is a longtime gay activist and a man who has devoted his life to both gay rights issues and those of the local prison population. But when those two worlds collide, he manages to anger just about everyone on both sides. I won't give away too much more about the story, but it's well-reported, and has several real twists and turns along the way. It's a piece worthy of "60 Minutes," which is high praise indeed. The episode ends with a piece on the connection between real estate, the creative class and the gay population centers in the U.S. It's not a bad story, but it's a bit fluffy at times. It does, however, serve as a good wrapping up point, which is an important factor in any news magazine. Despite my grumblings, I did truly enjoy the show. There were some real compelling stories here, and if the reporting was a bit haphazard at times, it's a problem common on all newsmagazines. Watch the show and enjoy, it's a nice antidote to those dry episodes of "Dateline." The Advocate Newsmagazine 4 premieres on Logo on Monday, November 13th, 2006. |
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