This Didn't Appear From Nowhere

I'm always bothered when a story seems to just "discover" some item of interest. Take, for example, this story, an AP report printed on the front page of the Commercial Appeal about a newly "married" gay couple in Chattanooga. If you skim the article, it seems like this couple were just living their lives, not drawing any attention. Somehow, the difficulties they faced got discovered by the reporter and became a story. There seems some effort to make them poster children for the gay marriage movement in Tennessee.

How did Bill Poovey find these guys? Did he know them? Did they come to him? Did they do something, not reported in the story, that brought notice? I suspect the latter, as a close reading of the article leads to this passage:

The gay couple said they have encountered no ugly reactions to their Feb. 23 marriage or the publicity that followed, including interviews with Chattanooga news outlets."

Ahhhh...publicity. What kind and of what nature? Why did some news outlets interview them?

See, more going on than we are led to believe. Something else is afoot. Always read closely and ask the questions.