Below is the email I just sent to TV 7&4, the local Traverse City NBC Affiliate.  If I receive a response (and I doubt I will) I will post it here.

Dear Program Manager,

I am writing to express my concern over your choice to air the “Silencing Christians” propaganda piece from the American Family Association shown on your network Saturday 2/7/09 at 7PM.  I am well aware that it was a paid advertisement for which your station received monetary compensation and while you offered your station’s general disclaimer prior to the program disassociating your station from the message and content, I feel your station has made a serious error in judgment with your decision to air the program.  The piece was filled from the start with carefully crafted speech designed to sound professional and appeal to as wide an audience as possible but it was in reality nothing short of a poor reflection on your network for the following reasons:  There was very little in the way of factual information presented in the piece and it strongly relied on material that is significantly dated and historically and factually inaccurate.  The material was derived from “professionals” whose work has been thoroughly discredited by every major public health organization in the country as well as by many media organizations who concern themselves with social issues such as the one presented.  A media organization such as your own, certainly understands the importance of fact, not fiction, as critical in delivering a message to your viewers.  This program contained very little in the way of journalistic honesty and even less in the way of facts.

The small town of Traverse City has had it’s share of problems with poor media relations and coverage of LBGT issues and causes however in general it has always done a decent job of reporting factual and honest information in at least a mildly neutral tone.  Your affiliate in Grand Rapids (where I am originally from) would not receive the same compliment from me.  I do hope that your station will consider the real impact these types of programs have on the entirety of the community you serve and that you will consider using better judgment in the future when deciding which paid advertising to air on your network.

As a gay citizen of this small town and of this country, I have come to expect certain marginalized treatment from a variety of sources throughout this area including media outlets however, having lived and worked here now for 5 years with no intention of leaving, this is the first time I have truly been impressed enough to take the time to write an email expressing my concerns.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my viewpoint with you and I would like to extend my hope that further evaluation of any future programing will be done by your station prior to making a decision to air a program.

Regards,
David Clark