Blogging from the polygamy beat

For a show this week, we're preparing to interview Brooke Adams, who may be the only reporter in the country to exclusively cover the polygamy beat.

She reports for the Salt Lake Tribune and, not surprisingly, her paper quickly dispatched her this month to Eldorado, Texas, where the removal of 416 children from the compound of a polygamist sect is creating one of the major news events of the moment (at least if you watch CNN, which seems to have an update every five minutes or so).

Brooke has been blogging from Texas, and it adds a fascinating new dimension to the coverage. While the newspaper articles explore the big ins-and-outs of the court case and broken community, the blog allows for pulling out threads like:

* What's with the bed in the temple?
* What's with the clothes? And is it right that we even care?
* Why, despite objections from Mormons, are these groups called "fundamentalist" Mormons?

The best thing about the blog is that each item becomes a true conversation. Outsiders and insiders weigh in with opinions and the more-than-occasional helpful fact.

We're told Brooke rarely if ever does media interviews, so we're lucky to talk more with her about her unusual assignment.

The movement to free the children is growing.

A conservative blog has suggested formation of FreeTheChildren.org. See:
http://miraclesdaily.blogspot.com/

A Mormon blog has suggested the LDS church not look the other way, and has also pointed out widespread abuse in the Texas Foster Care system. See:
http://dayofpraise.blogspot.com/

Connor Boyack’s petition to free the children now has over 1,700 signatures. See:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/free-the-innocent-flds

If there are criminals, prosecute them. But free the innocent children.

I'm concerned that the polygamy segment on the podcast was one sided. The reporter claimed that she was trying not to voice an opinion, but it seemed to me that her opinion -- that there is nothing bad happening within these communities and that the authorities are persecuting these communities collectively without any good reason -- came through loud and clear.

I hope that if you are able to address this topic again that you can find someone who can speak more to alleged abuse, the impregnation of teenage girls, and so on. I've heard accounts from former members of some of these communities, and from what I can tell it is not all holding hands and singing hymns.

Are you kidding Anonymous? This is MPR we're talking about here. When they suck up to power they put some extra tongue in it don't ya know. MPR has been completely absorbed into the corporate media structure and as such they will never represent you. Stop supporting them. Stop listening to them. There are plenty of other places to get your news. It's a big world out there.