Soledad O’Brien And CNN Tell Gay Parenting Story For Next In America

Q&A

by Steve Krakauer | 12:35 pm, June 24th, 2010

» 18 comments

CNN has looked at Black In America and Latino In America, but tonight the network and series takes on a new direction. The latest in it’s Soledad O’Brien-reported series is Gay In America – with the first installment telling a very specific, and personal, story.

We talked to O’Brien this week about the special, CNN’s expensive commitment, whether ratings matter and more.

Gary and Tony Have a Baby takes just one story of a gay couple looking to have a child through a surrogate and tells it from beginning to end. It’s a differentiating factor from past installments. “The survey pieces are a great way to cover a lot of ground, but the challenge is realizing you cannot tell every story,” O’Brien told Mediaite this week. “From a storytelling perspective it’s not the best way to tell the story but does cover a lot of ground. This particular story just tell a single theme.”

CNN continues to put the resources into the series, and it will continue to more in the Gay in America series and beyond. “I think CNN has been really good, a really big supporter of our In America unit,” said O’Brien. “We do stories under-covered in the media. We don’t tend to bump into a lot of people who are doing our stories.”

And while many will look at the ratings to judge the special’s success, O’Brien said that’s only part of the equation. “It both matters and it doesn’t,” she said. “The reality is if you only judge shows on ratings, truly only on what numbers you get, you cannot possibly program a network that way.”

During discussions both internally and externally (from the audience at Q&As), other possible subjects have emerged – Asian in America, Biracial in America, Pakistani in America. “We’re not in danger of running out of stories in the next 50 years,” said O’Brien.

• Related: Tom Shales, Washington Post: The doc is “poignant and captivating” and “offers an intimate and affecting portrait of what happens when partners in a same-sex marriage set out to secure for themselves a blessed event.”

The special premieres tonight at 8pmET. Check out the trailer below:

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CNN, Gary and Tony Have a Baby, Gay in America, In America, Soledad O'Brien

notsofast

YAWN!
marigrace

Geez …When are they going to do a special on “White and hetrosexual, ” in America.
TfT

Soledad and CNN keeps up with segregation in america; I find their “in america” series quite divisive.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Vik-Sidhu/122608564 Vik Sidhu

Yes Tina, because Fox’s programming is so inclusive and welcomes everyone with open arms……..
TfT

Uh Vik – I thought this article was about CNN and it’s “in america” series. As far as I know, CNN is the only network to segretate pockets of people into these categories and spends a ton of money on reporting from a certain perspective. If Fox programming has a similar segment or series, please let me know.
stevor

I can hardly wait until the have shows on:
“Murderers in America”
“Molesting Priests in America”
“Politicians in America”
“Dog catchers in America”

The point is that people are Black or Latin by birth. People are NOT gay by birth but CHOSE it. If you don’t agree with that, were murderers born with a condition to kill people too?
am_underground

Let me guess, the next one will be “Mulatto gays and their Transgender love slave-IN AMERICA’. Follow by “Liberal News Media Readers and their Animal Love Toy’s-IN AMERICA”.

When will you people learn they are a minority and only you who have a channel, on cable, keep trying to sell the whole GAY thing to people who really don’t care they’re gay. Except when they, their spokespersons, media, Hollywood, Broadway, Fashion, Hair, Cosmetics and every other gay industry say’s it only natural because we’re born that way.
Sean68

CNN’s “race in America” series is pure light-weight garbage, but I happened to catch this documentary last night and was quite moved by it.
http://www.karlspensen.blogspot.com Karl Spensen

I am LOVING the comments here!!1 YES YES YES gays are gay because they CHOOSE to be!!1 That has been ESTABLISHED many times over not only by SCIENCE but, more importantly, the BIBLE which was written by King Jesus himself!!1 It is refreshing to see REAL comments by REAL Right-Thinking Americans – they remind me of the comments on my favorite site FOXNATION.COM (The Most Powerful Name in News Websites)!!!1
http://www.thefoxnation.com/business/2010/06/24/home-depot-hammered-gay-pride-kid-deal
http://www.thefoxnation.com/boy-scouts/2010/06/23/boy-scouts-win-gay-rights-case
badr

It’s their headline on CNN.com.

So sad what they’ve become.
notsofast

Libs won’t be satisfied until every man, woman and child in America has been corn holed!
notsofast

Sean68 says:
June 24, 2010 at 5:34 pm Sean68(Quote)
Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1

CNN’s “race in America” series is pure light-weight garbage, but I happened to catch this documentary last night and was quite moved by it.”

Yes, I was moved too ——————- in my bowels!
notsofast

CNN’s “race in America” series ” was unintentionally revealing in that it showed that racist Michael Dyson of GW University conversing with his brother who was a convict.

Gees, how enlightening: You stay in school, don’t break the law and you succeed. vs. breaking the law, doing drugs= Don’t succeed.

This is the secret that whites have hidden from blacks all these years.
funny-farm.net

Karl Spensens says :

Who cares!!! My Horse thinks the same with me. He- is a black Stallion thorough bred. We met online at FUNNY-FARM.net a nice and free place for singles- to interact with SHEEP – GOATS -WILD BOARS and brown CHICKENS !!!!!!!Maybe you wanna check out or- tell your friends. !!!!!
libra blue

I am not a fan of O’Brien’s “In America” specials, but I thought “Gary & Tony Have a Baby” was an excellent program. Sometimes reports on gay couples don’t present them as human beings with the same feelings as everyone else, but this one was sensitive and thoughtful. I would like to see OBrien follow up on this family in the future. I wish them the best of luck.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Helen-Nordo/100000884291530 Helen Nordo

Airing of such a “special” will cause more bad publicity for CNN,, who is already suffering in their ratings. What kind of news commentator is O’Brien to even suggest that the public would be interested in such bad taste. Two men, obviously in love, should never use their sperm to help create a child that would be raised in an environment with other men of similar traits. Gays are trying desperately to fit into every facet of the American way of life and want desperately to do, whatever is necessary, by pretending they are capable of raising a child in such an environment, sounds like a movie I saw starring Robin Williams…only that was a COMEDY! I have bad feelings about this due to personal experiences I have been exposed to in the past…and the whole idea just makes me sick. Soon we will have a country like Afghanistan and the “Dancing Boys”. How sad!! Helen Nordo
http://www.facebook.com/people/Helen-Nordo/100000884291530 Helen Nordo

Airing of such a “special” will cause more bad publicity for CNN,, who is already suffering in their ratings. What kind of news commentator is O’Brien to even suggest that the public would be interested in such bad taste. Two men, obviously in love, should never use their sperm to help create a child that would be raised in an environment with other men of similar traits. Gays are trying desperately to fit into every facet of the American way of life and want desperately to do, whatever is necessary, by pretending they are capable of raising a child in such an environment, sounds like a movie I saw starring Robin Williams…only that was a COMEDY! I have bad feelings about this due to personal experiences I have been exposed to in the past…and the whole idea just makes me sick. What are these people thinking, why can’t they just be happy with each other, don’t destroy a young life…This is a totally selfish act that can only result in sorrow!! Helen Nordo
derickwade

“I have bad feelings about this due to personal experiences I have been exposed to in the past…and the whole idea just makes me sick. Soon we will have a country like Afghanistan and the “Dancing Boys”. How sad!! Helen Nordo”
Finally, Helen, we are privy to the root of your psychosis. A personal experience that fragmented your probably already shaky psyche and formed a defensive and hate-filled complex regarding homosexuals. Why are you so frightened to retrieve your shadow projections, take them back into yourself (that’s really the only place they exist anyway) and come to the realization that any highly charged emotion that is produced in us is just that, OURS, FROM US. You are much too old to still be so mentally stunted. Get Help or Get hell.