Headlines
Journal, Inc. Board Meets, Discusses CEO’s Ban on Publication of Same-Sex Wedding Announcements
Members of the Journal, Inc. Board of Directors did not reach an agreement at a regular board meeting Thursday on how to handle Journal, Inc. CEO Clay Foster’s decision to ban the publication of same-sex wedding announcements in the North Mississippi Daily Journal and its affiliate weekly newspapers following the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to legalize gay marriage.
Clay Foster
The Huffington Post reports that two days before writing a column condemning the Supreme Court’s ruling, Foster – a Church of Christ lay minister – held a meeting with the company’s top leaders to inform them of a policy to not accept same-sex wedding announcements for publication. The article also reports that Foster sent an internal email to the company’s weekly publications prohibiting them from writing editorial positions independent of the company’s position on the matter.
CREATE Foundation President Mike Clayborne said that CREATE “holds the stock of the Journal,” and that he was unaware of Journal, Inc.’s new policy until after Foster’s announcement.
Mike Clayborne
“This was a management decision and not a board policy,” Clayborne said in an email. “There is a separate board and management team for the Journal. CREATE relies on the Journal board to set policy for the Journal.”
Clayborne also added that all policies at CREATE are the same regardless of race, religion, creed or sexual orientation.
According to Journal, Inc. Board Lead Director Aubrey Patterson, the Board has decided to take under advisement all matters pertaining to the issue and will review and discuss all of the ramifications of the issue over the next 10 days.
Aubrey Patterson
“We will look at all of the pertinent issues and come forth with a rational and thoughtful, community-centered, review,” he said.
Several members of the Board of CREATE also serve on the Journal, Inc. Board. Currently, Foster serves as Chairman of the Journal, Inc. Board while Patterson, a distinguished former banker and chair of the Board of Institutions of Higher Learning, represents outside board members.
HottyToddy.com Staff Report
Photos courtesy CREATE Foundation
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| Sat, Sep 14 |  | @ Wake Forest | W, 40-6 |
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| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Kentucky | L, 20-17 |
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| Sat, Nov 30 |  | vs Mississippi State | W, 26-14 |
Karen Dieckmann
July 24, 2015 at 12:55 pm
I hope those considering this policy will consult journalism professionals about this issue. They will learn that management of the business side of media should not make decisions about content. I also hope they will consider how the decision will affect our image as an all-American city when our paper does not serve all segments of the population equally. Individuals and industry will not find the paper’s position to be welcoming.
ChucK Ho;;aday
July 24, 2015 at 4:06 pm
You guys need to man up and bring George McClains Journal into the 21st century and join the rest of the nation in welcoming same sex couples with equal rights without getting your dumb asses sued by a good ambulance chaser some folks are just not very smart.
Bob Spencer
July 24, 2015 at 7:56 pm
The imposition of Mr. Foster’s fundamentalist christian beliefs on the editorial policy and news content is nothing more than censorship. The Daily Journal is the only daily paper we have for local news and I resent my access to local events being censored. I am ready to cancel my subscription and cancel my church ads if this is not resolved in favor of a free press. I am also preparing to urge all advertisers in the Daily Journal to withhold their advertising as well. Tupelo Spirit is not being demonstrated by Mr Foster’s behavior. He should recant, repent or resign.
Larry Huey
July 24, 2015 at 9:46 pm
If you want a left-leaning, liberal newspaper that prints an anti-Christian viewpoint, look around you, they aren’t hard to find. Good for Clay Foster for not turning the Daily Journal into a tabloid.
John Forsyth
July 25, 2015 at 1:19 pm
Mr. Foster’s view of censorship is quite amusing. There are so many religions in the United States, maybe he should consider covering ALL of them. The Baptist Record is a religious newspaper. The Tupelo Journal should report free and unbiased news. If this policy don’t change, I suggest advertising move to another paper. I will no longer buy the paper until the policy changes.
Anonymous
July 25, 2015 at 2:09 pm
Larry Huey July 24, 2015 at 9:46 PM
If you want a left-leaning, liberal newspaper that prints an anti-Christian viewpoint, look around you, they aren’t hard to find. Good for Clay Foster for not turning the Daily Journal into a tabloid.
Do you even hear yourself? By deciding to turn his paper into a biased rag, he’s going head first into turning it into a tabloid rather than a newspaper.
Anonymous
July 25, 2015 at 2:12 pm
Larry Huey, do you even hear yourself?
By deciding to turn his paper into a biased rag, Foster is going head first into turning it into a tabloid rather than a newspaper.
E. P.
July 25, 2015 at 9:10 pm
I’ve read the Daily Journal since childhood. I’m 60 now have now unsubscribed as because I do not wish to read a paper censored by a bigoted publisher.
Eric White
August 3, 2015 at 9:36 am
We urge the executive team for the Daily Journal to reconsider their current stance on the publishing of same sex wedding announcements. We are tax-payers, members of this community, subscribers to your publications, and purchasers of advert space. Please make the right decision and reverse the bigoted rules that demand silence amongst the NEMS Daily Journal employess and allow the publications of same sex wedding announcements, or we will have no other option than to come together as a community and protest the Journal by pulling all of our funding, subscriptions and future advertising purchases. Thank you for your consideration of running an unbiased publication.
Eli7777eli@hotmail.com
August 4, 2015 at 5:31 am
Is this the same gentleman at the Journal that uses language when speaking to his employees that a “lay minister” should not be using.