Never on a Sunny Day – 2014 Rose Parade TV coverage omits arrests, gay marriage

Never on a Sunny Day
2014 Rose Parade TV coverage omits arrests, gay marriage
OPINION
By Terry Miller
Sometimes I wonder about this profession we call journalism. Luckily some newspapers, including Beacon Media’s family of papers, hold true the edict that suppression of the facts equals censorship.
If you were one of those watching the broadcasts live New Year’s morning you will probably have missed 19 people getting arrested for interfering with SeaWorld’s float. In fact there’s no national television footage I have seen ( only YouTube). You’d also not have been able to see the historic marriage of two men atop a float – even though same sex marriage is now legal in California, per Supreme Court ruling last year overturning Prop. 8.
How backward can we get?
KTLA, one of the oldest stations in L.A. had the most syrupy script driven broadcast I’ve ever heard while omitting the some of the more “uncomfortable” issues dealing with the SeaWorld float and PETA’s widely promoted objection to the float due to the assertion that SeaWorld mistreats Orcas.
Most of the major networks simply turned their cameras away from the gay marriage of Aubrey Loots and Danny Leclair which took place atop a float devoted to HIV awareness: For the third year in a row, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, took part in the Rose Parade. Following a United States Supreme Court ruling in June that allowed same-sex marriages to resume in California, AHF’s float this year celebrated same-sex marriage and the role it can play in helping to reduce new HIV infections among gay men. As part of its ‘Love is the Best Protection’ theme, AHF’s float included what is believed to be a first: a same-sex wedding performed live during the parade. In 2013, the Rose Parade attracted approximately 700,000 attendees, aired live nationally on eight networks to 56 million viewers, and was televised in 174 countries for an additional 28 million international viewers. However, this was left out of most TV coverage.
While we understand the TOR is an old institution in Pasadena, the fact that they are becoming more progressive should inspire the conservative television stations covering the parade to follow the TOR’s more progressive attitude.
Fear of losing advertisers/sponsors creates out of touch producers who attempt tell us what we ‘need to know’ and not what is actually happening. It is all about money.
Some will argue that it is a “family” event and controversy should be kept out. Hogwash!
The younger generation needs to know what struggle is for human beings human rights and the ever growing battle for animal rights. We should praise those who take a stand against injustice and bigotry as we did in the 1960’s.

In one video clip we saw on YouTube, one can hear people blasting those arrested with comments like “ Orca go home…” and then applauding the LASD and Pasadena PD for arresting the protesters who are simply trying to enlighten the world about some seriously alarming practices in a certain theme park in San Diego.
We should be applauding the courage of PETA and the AIDs Healthcare Foundation for enlightening an otherwise extremely conservative, intolerant populous.
The Tournament of Roses has a dictum that says “ Never on a Sunday” meaning if Jan I falls on a Sunday, the parade will be held on the following day so as to not interrupt local worship. This year, however, Jan. 1 wasn’t on a Sunday but fell on an extremely sunny California Wednesday. However, the dark cloud of censorship fell on an otherwise sunny day in Pasadena.

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