The Secular Coalition for America announced Monday that they had named The Daily Caller the “most unethical news publication” after receiving what they described as “numerous discriminatory and unethical emails” from Christopher Bedford, an associate editor at the publication.
“The ethical foundation that we are talking about is the journalism code of ethics that is based on truth, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, and fairness,” Lauren Youngblood, communications manager for SCA, said.
In a press release, the coalition quotes Bedford as saying in an email sent May 3: “I’m not sure what y’all believe in beyond annoying America, but if it’s what most atheists believe, I hope it comes true: I hope you live a long, happy life surrounded by friends and family, and when, in many years time, it is your turn to rejoin your earth mommy, you become one with her, growing into a majestic and beautiful tree that some hardworking American fells, turns into paper and prints a Bible on.”
“Bedford has responded to at least five SCA press releases with escalating rhetoric over the course of the last year. The majority of responses espoused negative sentiments toward the nontheistic viewpoint, but one, sent [to] the Secular Coalition’s female communications manager, read ‘Here’s a Dick pic.’ Only after scrolling to the bottom of the email was a picture of Dick Cheney visible,” said the press release.
When asked by The Daily Caller why she would open and scroll through an email with such a subject line, Youngblood said that that question “is kind of like blaming the victim.”
After Bedford’s latest email, enraged SCA chief and former lobbyist Edwina Rogers contacted several senior Daily Caller editors, including editor-in-chief Tucker Carlson, to discuss the TheDC’s supposed bias against militant atheists. The SCA leader also told Carlson’s father, who has no editorial ties to the TheDC, about the incident.
“That’s not ‘hate.’ It’s disagreement. I’m confused by what strikes me as your disproportionate outrage,” Tucker Carlson responded in support of Bedford.
Rather than ignoring one of these “numerous” biased responses to a press release, Rogers threatened to tell everyone from Grover Norquist to Prince Michael of Liechtenstein about Bedford’s emails.
Later in their email chain, an SCA employee known as “Dave” said that he thought that they should not complain about “this guy’s lack of professionalism” because that “would be giving him way too much respect. He would relish it.”
Dave went on to say that he did not want his organization to seem “uptight” or “whiny,” so he thought they should respond with “good, witty mockery.”
After two weeks of what can only be assumed to be a prolonged strategy session, the Coalition decided that they needed to tell the world about Chris Bedford’s hurtful emails.
“I love those guys! And I’m honored to receive their award. First off, I’d like the thank God, but also my manager, my parents, and all the teachers who never gave up on me,” Bedford told TheDC when reached for comment.
The SCA “is a national advocacy organization whose purpose is to amplify the diverse and growing voice of the nontheistic community in the United States,” according to their website.
“”The coalition is quite the prestigious organization, who have many accomplishments in their own right! On top of hating babies, kids and God, I’m gonna go ahead and add ‘being tattle-tales’ and ’employing the most sensitive person ever named Youngblood’ to their list of accolades,” said Bedford.
Read the whole release here.