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BuzzFeed Targets HGTV Hosts for Attending Christian Church
Joanna and Chip Gaines, hosts of “Fixer Upper” on HGTV.
So Buzzfeed reporter Kate Aurthur wrote a post about popular HGTV hosts Chip and Joanne Gaines which informed the world that the Gaineses’ have a pastor who is opposed to same-sex marriage. This post had one purpose and one purpose alone: to harm the couple. The post served no news purpose—even Aurthur concedes she never learned the Gaines’ view of same-sex marriage. The post cannot be termed “activism” since it fails at every level to persuade readers of the rightness of the same-sex marriage cause. Even the most generous alternate topic of Aurthur’s post, “Texas pastor opposes same-sex marriage,” is as dog-bites-chew-toy as a news item can be. The only conceivable purpose of targeting the popular television couple in this manner was to cost them viewers and, perhaps, their jobs.
To forestall the protestations, there can be no serious doubt that Aurthur specifically targeted the Gaineses as the object of her post. The headline, subhead, and first, second, third, and fourth paragraphs were solely about the Gaineses, their popular HGTV show “Fixer Upper,” and the fact that they are (gasp!) openly Christian. Only in the fifth paragraph does Aurthur wander into the question of whether gay people will appear on their television show (like with other HGTV programming), and the rest of the piece is about the Gainses’ pastor’s views.
The word for Buzzfeed publishing this garbage is “harassment.” Even as Aurthur (and her boss) hide behind a pretense of journalistic standards, there is no journalistic content in the piece. The Gainses cannot be blamed for declining to volunteer themselves as victims for Aurthur’s bullying. After years of contemptuous boycotts and Twitter outrage storms directed at individuals and companies over their views on same-sex marriage, harassers like Aurthur have taught many of their victims — reasonably! — to hunker down and say nothing.
Worse, harassment will never be a good tool of persuasion. Aurthur presumably supports same-sex marriage and would like more people to join her side of that cultural split. But by targeting the Gaines’ livelihood this way, without even knowing the couple’s views of marriage, Aurthur has made her own cause appear mean and and her publisher petty. Bystanders, watching this little drama can learn but one thing: a perfect stranger with a media platform can try to ruin your livelihood because of religious beliefs she imputes to you, and there isn’t a darn thing you can do about it. Perhaps people have a good reason not to respond to requests for comment from Buzzfeed reporters.
At the end of all this, Arthur has harmed the Gaineses, harmed her own cause, harmed her colleagues, and harmed her own reputation. And we still don’t know the Gaines’ view on marriage or why it is important to know the religious beliefs of reality television hosts. Given the month-long outcry over “fake news” swaying a presidential election, one would hope Buzzfeed takes more care in the future not to publish more fake news of its own.
A Ricochet welcome to a new contributor! Gabriel Malor is an attorney and writer in Washington, D.C. Follow him on Twitter.
Published in Entertainment, Religion & Philosophy
I adore Chip and Joanna and watch nearly all their shows. Not too long ago I believe they did a house for a gay couple. Their whole family is wonderful to watch, and Chip is totally zany. That a writer could pick on these sweet people without even knowing them just makes me ill. It’s so unfair!
I think I agree with you, I’m just not sure what this means.
And up against the wall with you if you won’t conform.
Yes, well. I suspect that BuzzFeed, like the rest of us, understand that their higher god is the Democrat Party and they will trim and shape their religious views as necessary to conform. Seems bass-ackwards to me, but then I’m deporable*.
*My spelling is especially deplorable.
They are solid, extremely competent, strong family people, good humored, attractive, extraordinarily successful based on their own talents so of course the left hates them. It has nothing to do with a pastor who believes in the things his church teaches. Won’t this help ratings?
Isn’t Friday morning when AoS Podcast comes out? Malor is on that. AoS Podcast is not Ricochet C0C compliant. (I listened up to the last few months so things might have changed.)
Seawriter
Your post was linked on Challies. The influence of Ricochet continues to spread.
I know I shouldn’t be vindictive or desire vengeance, but . . . man wouldn’t it be great to see someone bring a lawsuit against Buzzfeed for this, given that the obvious goal of the piece was to personally destroy and harm the Gaines’ livelihood?
Nice to see Ricochet stealing good writers from The Federalist, rather than the other way around! ; )
And speaking of The Federalist, I think this piece goes hand-in-hand with Kate Aurthur’s piece:
Don’t Let Chip and Joanna Gaines Destroy Your Marriage!
@exjon was all over this yesterday in Twitter and it was hilarious.
Gee, I wonder how many Muslims’ careers Kate Arthur has tried to destroy because their religion forbids same-sex marriage?
Waco and its environs seem the epitome of flyover country which is another reason for the Left to hate the show.
That’s the thing, leftists LOVE the show. Which is why The Gaines’ must be destroyed because they are conservative (even if not politically per se but hey Christian, small businesses owner. They at least live that way) and the left can’t have their doctrine that “all conservatives are evil bigots” to be shattered. The church of the left cannot allow this kind of heresy. They must be destroyed
Caught this on RealClearPolitics and was half-way through before I realized I had clicked over to Ricochet. I think the rate of Ricochet’s appearance on RCP is a barometer into it’s impact on the conversation at large. Nice job.
I see what you did there.
I just left her a comment. The dumbass.
I know it has been mentioned in other places, but I eagerly await the Buzzfeed article on Nancy Pelosi’s church and Keith Ellison’s mosque holding the exact same views.
Very funny and the perfect way to turn the table on Buzzfeed and the author of the article.
Speaking of inconsistency, Rep Ellison’s imam is in the news, sort of:
…and the crickets are now louder than your tinnitus.
Gabe, Welcome to Ricochet. I miss the podcasts on Ace and the last few without you and then without John lost a little luster but were still fun and periodically eye opening. I am looking forward to reading more from you!
Does Kate Arthur know that ALL Muslims have Imams that oppose same sex marriage? What are her views on ALL Muslims?
BuzzFeed has strong political agendas. Lets hope this doesn’t make it to the MSM and this couple gets fired for having incorrect political views.
It seems to be an exclusively right leaning story du jour so far (Federalist, PJ Media etc), much like the North Dakota pipeline protests for the left.
If you read the comments almost everywhere this story has appeared, it’s clear the public is incensed over the deliberate attempt to destroy this highly respected couple and their show. The backlash is amazing and will probably result in a huge upswing in viewership.
If it doesn’t result in the firing of Kate Aurthur and the destruction of Buzzfeed, I will be a bit sad.
Didn’t Buzzfeed publish a similar piece on the TLC show All-American Muslim?
Of course not.
Welcome Gabriel! I’m another (occasional) ‘ron and (somewhat less occasional) Ricochet participant.
Also, what’s Buzzfeed? Is that like Rolling Stone — one of them “fake news” places that has everybody so wee-wee’d up?
It’s the same on all the Yahoo “News” hit pieces. You see the story and get so mad, but then when you read the comments, you realize people are on to them and you feel better.
I can imagine Chip and Joanna being kind and forgiving to this malicious journalist.
Perfect example of this verse from Genesis:
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done…”
Mary Katharine Hamm wrote a lovely piece about Chip and Joanna Gaines on Election Day which made me smile and seemed, frankly, like an excellent idea… 7-reasons-we-should-just-give-america-to-chip-and-joanna-gaines-after-tuesday
I’m a Fixer-Upper fan. Flimsy, mean-spirited ‘news’ like this says way more about the writer’s narrow view than the subject — and it smells like mildew and dry rot to me.
That’s precisely how I, an agnostic and more or less socially libertarian conservative, view religious opposition to same-sex marriage. My great-grandfather’s family actually disowned him for marrying my (divorced) great-grandmother, yet unlike the Left my mother’s family managed not to lose their minds over tens of millions of Americans having different beliefs on this issue. The social totalitarianism that this is but one small example of is simply disgusting.