My thanks to J for pointing me towards this matter. I’ve just signed the petition (link below) and would ask you to do the same, and to ask others to do so too. It takes only a few seconds. Thank you. Gender bias in the media is a continuing scandal globally, and this petition will be sent to the executive producer of an American TV programme, 20/20, which regularly has over 50 million viewers. The remainder of this post consists of the material sent to me by J.
“In just 17 days we’ve generated almost 1,200 signatures in protest of 20/20’s continued portrayal of men as abusive, aggressive and ‘deadbeats’ in their biased news stories. A huge Thank You for signing the petition and for standing up for gender equality in media.
Our goal is to reach 2,000 signatures before printing the letter and signatures and sending it to David T. Sloan, executive producer of ABC’s 20/20. With your help, we can reach that goal in just a few more days. Please consider copying and pasting the statement and link below, and emailing it to 5 other people – or simply forward this email to them with a short request that they participate.
Petition Background: We are offended by 20/20’s repeatedly offensive reporting of men as violent, as aggressors, as ‘deadbeats’ and as the oppressors of women. We are boycotting the television show until they start to present the facts as they are. Men want to be with their children. We suffer most of domestic violence. There are nearly no systems to support us. We are underrepresented in research, in mental health services, in education, and in families.
Please also consider posting the link on your Facebook timeline and the pages that you frequent, or Tweeting the link. This petition has already gotten responses from nearly all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries. I am very confident that with your help we will have a great success story to report when the petition is delivered.
All the best,
Todd L. Bottom, M.A.
Chicago, IL”