Suburban Polygamy
July 13, 2007
Our recent package on suburban polygamists was widely read. A polygamist family (three wives, 21 children) living in the Salt Lake Valley agreed to let us into their home to get a view of how families like this live.
The story first appeared online as a multimedia presentation that has recorded thousands and thousands of hits. Then the story was posted and the comments started pouring in. Right now, there are 120 comments about the story on our Web site and a handful of letters to the editor have been published.
While we did receive positive feedback, the published letters to the editor were all negative.
Some of those letters complained that the package was a pro-polygamy piece, that we were glorifying a practice that most of society disapproves of. They pointed out that polygamy is an illegal lifestyle and wondered why the Tribune was giving it “publicity.”
My feeling is that our package was fair and objective. We were providing our readers with an exclusive look into a society that lives in secret. We showed you what we saw in that home, and reported the subjects explaining their lifestyle in their own words.
Did this specific piece report on polygamist men facing jail time for various crimes? Or did it report on polygamist men who have served jail time for sexual crimes? Did it mention accusations of child abuse or welfare fraud?
No.
Have we done stories on all of those topics?
Yes. Repeatedly. And we will continue to do so. We cover all facets of polygamy. This was just one story, one piece of the puzzle.
If you read our polygamy coverage day in and day out, you’ll find stories about crime, sex offenders, and shady characters. But you’ll also read about what polygamists believe and how they live in today’s modern world.
The Salt Lake Tribune is probably the only place you will find these stories being told.
The Suburban Polygamist story is just one part of the giant polygamy puzzle. It provides a look into a very unique home. These are the people who could be living on your street, and you’d probably have no idea.
The multimedia piece is here: http://166.70.44.68/multimedia/pluralfamily/
The story is here: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6276887
Brooke Adams’ Plurallife blog: http://blogs.sltrib.com/plurallife/
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Comments
2 Comments to “Suburban Polygamy”
Got something to say?
If I understand all this correctly, the online article got 128 comments, of which one is valid. The other 127 are an outrage, showing how far off course we are as a society.
Could you tell me which is the correct one so that I don’t have to read them all?
That’d be great. Thanks.
I am not a polygamist but let me get this straight, a homosexual marriage is ok and becoming legal all over the world and is an alternative lifestyle but polygamy is not ok and is also an alternative lifestyle, also there are so many single parents with different fathers and most never even meet there fathers but polygamy is an abhorrent lifestyle, this world needs serious help.