SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
The Salt Lake Tribune
By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Already riled by the HBO series "Big Love," the LDS Church this week faced a new public relations problem as the story of fugitive polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs became worldwide news.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Salt Lake City, criticized media outlets from CNN to Fox News for not adequately distinguishing between the mainstream LDS Church and polygamist groups, particularly the sect led by Jeffs.
Jeffs is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has historically occupied by the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. He made the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list last Saturday, triggering a week-long deluge of media coverage on the FLDS and polygamy in general.
"Too often news reports refer to these groups as 'Mormons' or 'Mormon sects,' the statement posted on the church's Web site said. The reference is "misleading and confusing" because it implies an association with the LDS Church, the statement continues.