SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
Daily Herald
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY -- A week of focused attention on the search for Warren Jeffs, the fugitive leader of a southern Utah-based polygamist sect, has The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints calling for more accurate reporting from news agencies worldwide.
In a statement issued Thursday, the LDS Church said references to polygamist groups as "Mormons" or "Mormon sects" are "misleading and confusing to the vast majority of audiences who rightfully associate the term 'Mormon' with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
Church spokesman Dale Bills said the public affairs office has fielded numerous media requests after the FBI added Jeffs to its Ten Most Wanted list.
"There is no reason why the church would wish to comment about a legal action concerning a group with which it has no affiliation or connection," Bills said in a statement posted on the church's Web site on Thursday.
The statement cites two examples of media confusion, including a report by CNN on Tuesday that superimposed the face of Jeffs over an image of the church's Salt Lake Temple, implying a connection between the two.