Alani Letang

Alani.letang@yahoo.com
March 3, 2016
734-277-7742
Slug: Story Stance Assignment
Ruth Seymour offers four points of view for covering diversity: neo-traditional, inner-sanctums,
services stories for the smaller group, and Were watching you, too stories. She said these four
stances are sometimes published or broadcasted in U.S. media.
1. Neo-traditional
Seymour claims that this stance is often common amongst most newsrooms, without even
thinking. This stance works by examining the community, and a newsroom notices an individual
or group of people who are different. Seymour said the newsroom then, attempts to fairly, fully,
accurately, and authentically explain the difference.

Each foster home has its pros and cons, and some foster families take foster care a step
further. This news story recognized a foster family in Colorado for its difference in how
they foster the children in their care. The story talked about two foster parents who have
taken in dozens of children and prepared them for life such as: budgeting for groceries;
teaching them to cook; applying for college; starting savings accounts, etc. Cheryl
Preheim, anchor at 9NEWS in Colorado, presented this story fairly by providing all
voices in her story, the parents and the current foster child. She also reported the story
fully by getting sound bites that acknowledge all aspects of foster homes like, sadness
when children leave, why foster care, how the child feels about the foster home, etc.

http://www.9news.com/life/moms/parents-have-fostered-more-than-40-kids/64480558
2. Inner-sanctums

Inner-sanctum stories are about issues and event and people that come to existence within an
undercovered community, Seymour said. In addition, she said, the only way to get these types
of stories is by linking up with friends or close friends of these issues, events, and/or people and
then a journalist is able to access into their private place or inner sanctums.

There is a large number of children nationwide who are waiting to be adopted. In Iowa,
there is a disproportionate amount of minority children in foster care. The KCCI TV
station in Des Moines, Iowa reported that according to data from the Iowa KidsNet, an
organization that works with the Department of Human Services to support foster
families, there is a disproportionate number of children who identified as something
other than Caucasian in foster care in Iowa. This story fits this stance because it has
linked with a foster parent who is a part of this issue, and can gain access to the inner
sanctums or viewpoints towards this disproportion. KCCI reported that Monique Clark, a
foster parent, looks at this problem as concerning. Clark says that there is no need for
discussion on the topic anymore, there needs to be action and more people/families
stepping up to become foster parents.

http://www.kcci.com/news/disproportionate-number-of-minority-children-in-fostercare/38118658
3. Service stories for the smaller group
Seymour described this stance as, stories that address your nonmainstream communities as
people you want to serve.

Separation from siblings are common and can be hard on foster children as they move
through the foster care system. Within the adoption culture, foster children with siblings
are a sub-group. This article illustrates this stance because it addresses foster-care siblings

as an important connection that should be upheld and/or a group people want to serve.
When foster children are separated from their siblings in the system, this is seen as part of
the threefold trauma, which can be detrimental for the childs well being during the
stressful time of separation. According to the article, some abused or neglected children
suffer threefold trauma. The first comes abuse of a parent or guardian, second is
separation from home and into foster care, and the third, sometimes, is separation of
siblings. Often times siblings get separated while they are in the system, due to the
amount of siblings. It is sometimes difficult for a foster home to take in all four or five
siblings. The Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is working with the
Washington County Department of Social Services to start a program called Sibling
Connections, aimed at strengthening the links among brothers and sisters who have been
separated in the foster-care system. CASA is a national association that works with its
state and local programs to support and promote court appointed voluntary advocacy so
that every abused or neglected child in the United States can be safe. There are 1,000
CASA programs in 49 states and the District of Columbia. The article reported that
research has shown that maintaining a relationship with siblings can be important as they
move through the system and through adulthood. Sibling Connections will be responsible
for transporting the child to and from visits, supervising activities and monitoring visits
and relationships.
http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/local/program-to-strengthen-sibling-bonds-for-fosterchildren/article_4b46076e-d9e7-11e5-8f47-e7ac6dcc1bea.html

http://www.casaforchildren.org/site/c.mtJSJ7MPIsE/b.5301303/k.6FB1/About_Us__CASA_for_
Children.htm
4.

Were watching you, too stories

This stance refers to viewing the majority or mainstream community for the other side. For
example, Seymour said, How do Hispanics view their new American neighbors? of How do
gay men view straight men?

Gay adoption/parenting is a controversial issue, is it acceptable? Ethical? or fair? The

legalization of same-sex marriage does not always mean equality in joint adoption.
Therefore, the mainstream community in parenting, as seen in this article, is heterosexual
couples, because laws allow it. The Atlantic reported that one gay couple wanted to be
parents, yet not have a biological child. So they decided to foster children in Detroit, and
were in the processes of adopting two girls. This article included the voices of same-sex
couples, advocates, and workers who are in support of LGBT parenting. One of the issues
associated with same-sex parenting is the lack of legality of joint adoption in several
states. The article reported that Gary Gates, research director of the Williams Institute at
the UCLA School of Law, said that married gay couples have greater resources available
to support stable families than their unmarried peers. This article took the view of
parenting from the side of the LGBT community.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/equality-in-marriage-may-not-bringequality-in-adoption/393806/