"If you think interrupting a cartoon show for live coverage of a man blowing his brains out on the freeway is as sleazy as TV news gets, guess again," Goldstein starts. "On Monday [May 11], Fox 5 [in New York City] treated its viewers to hidden-camera footage of men cruising in rest rooms." 

 He notes that the department stores targeted did not give Fox permission to film, and would have refused if asked. "But in the limbo between what is legal and what is proper, the hot hand of tabloid-TV news is free to roam--especially during sweeps month," he writes. Goldstein notes that police surveillance of rest rooms, including filming, ceased for the most part in the mid-1960s, when a number of court cases found it unconstitutional. " 

But it's unprecedented for TV crews to sneak cameras into public toilets," Goldstein states, adding that over the past three months, over 20 affiliates nationwide have done similar stories, "airing lurid reports that focus on the threat to children who might come upon men performing a sexual act."  
(See GLAADAlert 3.13.98)  

Goldstein continues, "The real news here is the ratings race. The wave of rest room reportage first crested in February--at the height of the winter sweeps--and then died down, only to arise again during the spring sweeps in late April." He tracks the story back to KOMO, the Seattle ABC-affiliate that first used the story in its latest incarnation--with an Internet hook about a Web site that gives locations where men gather for anonymous public sex across the country. "Once the media turn up the heat it's hard to know where a gay-sex panic will end," he concludes. "Stay tuned for the summer sweeps."  

GLAAD has actively criticized this kind of gay-baiting and sleazy journalism since late 1996, when KENS-TV in San Antonio aired graphic hidden camera footage during the November sweeps (GLAADAlert 12.6.96).  

It is high time for a larger discussion within the media profession of the social costs of this kind of hardcore hidden camera hype and sweeps month sleaze. The situation has become so bad that the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA), for only the second time in their history, issued a news release condemning the local news affiliates for "exceeding the bounds of journalism standards and taste." In the release, NLGJA President Karen Boothe states, "NLGJA in no way condones illegal sexual activity in public places. But nor do we condone exploitative coverage that panders to sexual curiosity as a way of pumping up ratings." It also adds, "Boothe said such stereotypical stories rarely examine the societal pressures that push people to have anonymous sex. What's more, day-to-day coverage on these stations often fails to present an accurate portrait of gay people living healthy and productive lives." 

Please let Fox 5 know that such shoddy journalism is unacceptable and commend the Village Voice for raising these kinds of serious ethical and professional questions regarding this kind of coverage. Be sure to call your local news affiliates to voice concern on such sweeps sensationalism when it occurs and report it to GLAAD (1.800.GAY-MEDIA or www.glaad.org). 

Contact: 
… Susan Sullivan, News Director 
WNYW-TV, Channel 5  
205 East 67th St. 
 NewYork, NY 10021-6002 
 or call 212.452.5555 and ask to be connected to Viewer Services 

… Doug Simmons Managing Editor 
Village Voice,  
36 Cooper Square 
 New York, NY 10003 
 Fax: 212.475.8944 
 E-mail: editor@villagevoice.com