Instead of covering news about the computer industry, Felton utilized his column to spew anti-gay rhetoric citing the "increasing number of 'gay related' articles in both C/Net (www.cnet.com), and news.com (www.news.com)

Felton writes, "I've never been very interested in gays myself so at first I didn't pay it much attention, and just skipped those stories," but when Felton saw an article about GLAAD's challenge to PlanetWeb (GLAADAlert June 27 and July 11) he had to put his foot down.

Felton wrote, "the gay community wants to be viewed as just another minority like women, or blacks, or others. Well, excuse me but I have a problem with that. Gays are NOT just another minority like women, or Hispanics, or Jews. Gays are a minority like murders, and rapists, and drug addicts. They are another MISGUIDED minority. And they are welcome to the same benefits as other misguided minorities."

Felton concludes, "For those readers who are gay, please understand I did not write this to attack you. I wrote it in favor of protecting children. Rating content SHOULD work. And organizations with hidden agendas should not be allowed to bypass those ratings."

There seems no doubt that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is one of the largest of groupings on the Internet. That is why both America OnLine and CompuServe report their gay and lesbian areas to be among the most popular areas on their respective services. At the same time, more and more openly gay and lesbian people are shaping the new technologies being developed.

C/Net is reporting on the realities of the computer industry and the 'Net. To do otherwise would be both irresponsible and inaccurate. Officials at GLAAD are saying that "if Network Computer News wants to be taken seriously, it should cover the computer industry in an inclusive manner as does C/net."

GLAAD suggests contacting Felton at Network Computer News, explaining politely that he is in dire need of an education. Also, to assist, contact C/net and let its savvy staff know that they are appreciated for balanced coverage.

Contacts:

James E. Felton, "As I See It...", Network Computer News, c/o River City Services, 112 S. Schiller St., Little Rock, Arkansas, 72205, e-mail: jamesefe@concentric.net

Halsey Minor, Chair and CEO, c/net, 150 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, CA 94111, e-mail: halsey@cnet.com.