Frustrations with the Media

At the end of a long hard day of work, after the little people in our house have new diapers on and are sleeping soundly in their beds, my wife and I like to relax to a little bit of television. I like to watch my sports and my nerdy science documentaries while she prefers to watch 16 and Pregnant or other reality shows. We usually compromise on something we both like, which often ends up being an action drama of some sort. A funny thing happens within our little human brains as we watch the same type of show over and over again- we start to think that what we’re seeing is “normal”. In reality, if television shows reflected normal everyday life, would we watch? I mean, how entertaining are… [more]

In my last post, I wrote about my personal frustrations with the media when reporting on adoption and how we should educate the media. A great way to educate the media is to email or write a letter regarding a story or the way they reported it, that has upset you. No matter how angry you are at the media outlet that has done a poor job of portraying adoption, the number one rule in writing a letter to a reporter or someone else in the media is to be polite. You can still be angry and you can still convey your point while being polite. You are more likely to get further with a well written polite letter than with a letter that is… [more]

One of my biggest pet peeves in the world of adoption is the way we all (not just birthmothers but adoptees and adoptive parents too) are portrayed in the media. You know what I’m talking about. Birthmothers just gave away their children, adoptive parents rescued them, poor adoptees were just abandoned, and expectant mothers considering adoption are referred to as birthmothers. Journalists often use the wrong terms or negative language while reporting the news. Often times, they will bring up adoption to describe a person when it’s not really appropriate to the story. No matter what part of the adoption triad we represent, we all have seen poor and shady articles. So, what can we do about it besides complain? Educate the media! If we, the… [more]