I would hardly call one quote the big time, but you know, it’s a play on words.
This 700 word piece, “Sex & the Eco-City” on Time’s online addition [spoiler alert/warning to the uber-pious and sensitive souls--reverence for sex is sparse] by Kathleen Kingsbury, 04′ graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and Catholic, is hardly a ringing endorsement for the benefits of natural methods of family planning, but at least it’s on the radar in a fairly positive way instead of the usual condescending and ignorant or halfway correct way.
I’ve read Kingsbury’s other work online at Time and elsewhere, and her work seemed fairly balanced and well written. Objectively, while I’m appreciative for the NFP mention (here’s a solo-feature spot on NFP), I’d hardly say it did NFP any justice. I know there wasn’t space for a full-on explanation, but she described NFP as the sympto-thermal method (fine, but incomplete), never mind that there are several other methods out there, and though the Church strongly endorses it under good circumstances, there are other NFP/FAM users out there. Not to mention the fact that many, many people use NFP to diagnose and treat infertility and women’s wellness issues with a higher success rate than mainstream methods and IVF.
Honestly, when she contacted my old work for an interview after she found the Go Organic brochure online, I received the impression that the piece was on green family planning options, not environmentally friendly sex toys. I probably would have thought twice before doing the interview if the opening pitch had been, “Hey, I’m doing a piece on alternative sex toys. Can I work NFP in, and then I’ll massage the message with unsubstantiated claims endorsing zero population growth?”
My guess is that the editors saw the original piece, and thought “This is too soft–can we sex it up a little, and since I don’t agree with the Catholic Church [never mind that fertility awareness isn't just a Catholic thing] about things, we’ll stick in some stuff on ZPG.”
Did you read the article? What did you think? I’m thinking of writing in (letters@time.com), but I’m not sure if it’ll do any good. Perhaps if they get enough emails. How would have *you* written a “Green Sex” piece?
16 Responses to NFP (and me) makes the big TIME
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that was… abysmal!
you got, two lines? and i am not even sure what you were actually saying vs. what the author made you say!
I don’t think she did justice to NFP. It sounds like you were using “going green” as your whole sales pitch for NFP in Madison, and I really hate how she plugs condoms in the same paragraph where she “explains” the sympto-thermal method.
I didn’t like how she threw in some quotes about NFP but didn’t elaborate. Her flow of the story was horrible. Thanks for posting it!
Well, you know what they say in the biz — there’s no such thing as bad press. It’s not the best of write-ups — her style was horribly frenetic, and while I know she must have been trying to fit it all in a certain number of words, she didn’t have to make it quite as rushed as it was. And I really do have a major issue with how editorialized both the article and the packaging is, but that’s a perennial problem I have with most major news outlets. Why is NFP always followed by a disclaimer that it’s not 100% accurate when they never follow the Pill or condoms with the same statement?
As you know, I also wrote a post on my blog about this same article. It’s certainly a mixed-bag. I also wrote an email Letter to the Editor but never received any response at this point. Congrats on your quote!
All press is good press. I am sitting here thinking, if you are on the other side of the coin compared with those of us who are proNFP – you know they got to the NFP section and it stuck out a 100% more than the other parts. We all read it looking for your section… anyone else read it and when they came to your section thought – WOW, totally didnt expect to see this NFP thing here. Could have gotten those on the other side thinking.
yeah, i think it looks like the story was rewritten at the last moment to have a more “sex toys” feel to it. that’s pretty cool you got a quote.although it definitely looks like they twisted your words
Honestly, I don’t remember saying those words exactly.
You’re right. NFP didn’t receive justice, and while the “Go Organic” brochure was one aspect of our message, it certainly wasn’t the whole strategy.
Yes, the “no such thing as bad press” idiom occurred to me. But I’m glad to have another writer’s opinion that it was on the whole a shabby piece, lacking flow and overall coherence. Had the piece not been largely about sex toys, I’d even suggest you do something for the MCH on the TIME/NFP thing.
Why is NFP always followed by a disclaimer? Because people have drunk the contraceptive Koolaide, and have accepted the status quo. If it weren’t so ingrained in society, I might even suggest such scientific and social slavery to contraceptives is unprofessional, unprogressive and frankly unoriginal.
Thanks, bud. I hope to draft a little something to the editor as well. Thanks for the tip on the article.
What a positive, thinker, Nicole! Let’s hope for some internet searches to lead to discovery of an *actual* description of NFP following the reading of the article.
Indeed, Alison.
You just got some more press…Jay Leno mentioned your TIME article and the only part of it…NFP tonight on his opening segment (10/27). Of course it wasn’t in the best light but I thought it was so bizarre to hear about it flipping channels on a whim. Something about NFP being green and your pregnancy tests being blue….groan.
Crazy! What do you expect??? Jay will be sold some day!
Thanks, Jessica. Still…congrats on a TIME/Leno nod.
Silly article, though. Not clear what the point of the story was. All a bit rushed, scattered, and incoherent.