[The Newspaper Guild] reaffirms a woman's fundamental
constitutional right to make private and confidential decisions
regarding reproduction ... We oppose any re-examination of the Court's
decision at attempts to restrict these rights by the federal, state or
local governments of the United States.
Pro-abortion resolution of the Newspaper
Guild, adopted during its 1986 National Convention.[1]
Anti-Life Philosophy.
You know who else I can't stand, is them people that are
anti-abortion. F_ck them, I hate them ... They're horrible, they're
hideous people. They're ugly, old, geeky, hideous men ... They just
don't want nobody to have an abortion 'cause they want you to keep
spitting out kids so they can f_cking molest them.
Rosanne Barr.[2]
Pro-choice groups are tired of listening to anti-choicers snivel
about unfair media bias. This is a ridiculous notion and a typical
anti-choice red herring. Since the media are admittedly very liberal,
they must therefore be open-minded and very even-handed in their
approach to all subjects, even volatile ones. All of the branches of our
media treat the abortion issue in a fair and impartial manner.
Introduction.
The media has been our best friend in this fight. They claim
objectivity, but I know they're all pro-choice.
Susanne Millsaps, executive director of the
Utah Chapter of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL).[3]
The proven extreme bias of the media powers-that-be is reflected in
the standard violence- and sex-saturated programming dished out all day
on network television. Although some news stations strive to be fair,
the vast majority will interview pro-abortion spokespersons and accept
their allegations without question. Any pro-life person who attempts to
speak his or her piece is grilled mercilessly off-camera and is either
made to look a "fanatic," or is treated in a condescending
manner, if he or she is lucky enough to get on camera.
The media concentrate the majority of their attention on a few clinic
bombers, and deliberately paint the entire pro-life movement in terms of
'violent, judgmental fanatics.' Of course, they did not do this with the
civil rights movement, even though it was fraught with incandescent
rhetoric, bombings, and even deliberate murders. In the case of the
civil rights movement, the press took great pains to carefully separate
in their reporting the violent fringe from the main body of civil rights
activists.
Even more aggravating to pro-lifers is their status as "media
niggers;" their events simply are ignored by the press.
None of this is particularly surprising, in light of the fact that
the media are almost uniformly pro-abortion. As described in Chapter
124, "Sources of Media Biases," the officially suppressed
Lichter-Rothman studies revealed the following fascinating information
about the 'movers and shakers' of the media;
Motion picture leaders are 95% pro-abortion.
Television leaders are 97% pro-abortion.
News media leaders are 90% pro-abortion.
The Primary Weapon: Media
Censorship.
The New Ms. Magazine will unfailingly treat a woman's right
to an abortion as sacrosanct. There will be no dissent on that in our
pages.
Ms. Magazine Editor Robin Morgan, quoted
in the March 5, 1990 Washington Post.
Introduction.
The greatest weapon that a communicator can use against his enemy is
simple but effective censorship. Chapter 124, "Sources of Media
Biases," describes how media personnel overwhelmingly describe
themselves as 'liberal,' and how they perceive that they have a social
duty to change our society for the better in their view.
This can best be accomplished by giving lavish and sympathetic
coverage to liberal causes and by simply ignoring or condemning
conservative causes.
The following paragraphs describe just a few of the hundreds of
examples of outright and indefensible censorship committed against the
pro-life viewpoint by every branch of the communications media: The
media news, television, theater, and particularly the 'arts.'
"Sorry, Too Graphic ..."
When the Southern-California based pro-life group Circle of Concern
attempted to purchase a 30-minute time slot to show the motion picture
"Eclipse of Reason" in April of 1990, they were turned down
flat by KTLA, KCAL, and KTTV in Los Angeles. The fourth station, KCOP,
offered them a good time slot but, after viewing the film, station
manager Rick Feldman (who admits he is a pro-abortionist) reneged on his
agreement and changed his offer to a 12:30 AM slot for $25,000. Feldman
alleged that the movie was "too graphic."[4]
Yet the four stations had, in the last year, featured specials on the
effects of the Hiroshima atom bomb on human beings; the slaughter of
Kurds and Jews with graphic close-ups of scorched, gassed, and piled-up
bodies; the slaughter of various animals in vivid bloody detail; and
thousands of murders.
Champions for Life.
In 1990, the American Life League produced a video entitled
"Champions for Life," which featured professional athletes
speaking out for the preborn. These stars included New York Giants tight
end Mark Bavaro, who was instrumental in helping his football team win a
tightly-contested game with the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV.
The reaction from the pro-abortion press was even more vehement than
pro-lifers expected. Sports Illustrated went to the trouble of
printing a special column to snivel about Bavaro's stand.[5] Moreover,
even though Bavaro had five pass receptions in the Super Bowl, including
three in the drive for the winning touchdown, the magazine did not
even mention his name in its 7-page article on the game!
Law professor Laurence Tribe wasn't satisfied with Bavaro being
reduced to the status of an invisible person. Tribe threatened legal
action, asserting that "It is ethically dubious to use a film of
fans who came to see a game, to support one side of a political
issue."[5] Strangely, Tribe and his half-blind cohorts saw no
problem with a dozen female movie stars cavorting in the pro-abort's
1989 March for Death in Washington, D.C.
Abortion is the absolute, unquestioned number one priority of the
entertainment industry's two most powerful lobbying organizations, the
Hollywood Women's Political Committee and the Hollywood Political
Foundation. These sent to the March for Death a galaxy of 'Bimbos for
Choice,' including Anne Archer, Polly Bergen, Ellen Burstyn, Glenn
Close, Judy Collins, Mary Crosby, Jill Eikenberry, Shelly Fabares,
Morgan Fairchild, "Hanoi Jane" Fonda, Bonnie Franklin, Terri
Garr, Whoopi Goldberg, Lee Grant, Jennifer Grey, Veronica Hamel, Valerie
Harper, Amy Madigan, Melissa Manchester, Penny Marshall, Kelly McGillis,
Donna Mills, Susan Sarandon, Cybill Shepherd, Marlo Thomas, and Daphne
Zuniga.
Social Issues?
When contemporary Christian singer Kenny Marks released a video
entitled "The Party's Over," which dealt with the more
sobering aspects of teen pregnancy, the major music television networks,
including MTV and Nickelodeon, refused to play it because, as their
spokesmen alleged, "We're not in the business of promoting social
issues."[6] This was despite the fact that Marks' publicist
demonstrated that the stations commonly show videos that deal with every
other imaginable social issue, including drug use, apartheid,
hunger, nuclear war, and crime.
"Unacceptable Proselytizing."
WBBM-AM Chicago, a CBS-owned station, pulled a series of eight
'inspirational' Lenten talks by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin in 1989,
allegedly due to its policy of not broadcasting 'proselytizing'
messages. According to the CBS Standards and Practices department,
Bernardin's message was "unacceptable." Naturally, when asked
exactly what this meant, the CBS media moguls refused to answer.
However, all mentions of prayer are apparently not entirely
"unacceptable" or "offensive" to CBS: One of its
press releases, touting a drama featuring a farm wife with an impotent
husband, Jonathan, included the statement "The devoutly religious
Jonathan, after fervent prayer, decides on a solution: Mary should
become pregnant by his younger brother, Aaron!"[7]
As always, religion is OK on the networks just so long as it is cast
in an unfavorable light.
It is interesting indeed that WBBM-AM gladly sold air time to Planned
Parenthood so that it could advertise during the show "Muppet
Babies." The message of the PP ads was essentially: "Don't
trust your parents. If you have a problem of any kind, come to Planned
Parenthood first!"[8]
By the way, Planned Parenthood tried to force Laurel Cablevision of
Torrington, Connecticut, to give up plans to show of Dr. Bernard
Nathanson's film "The Silent Scream" by complaining that it
would "spur violence against women's health clinics."[9]
Other Examples of Network Censorship.
There are literally hundreds of other obvious examples of network
television bias against the pro-life position. The shows
"20/20," "West 57th Street," "Donahue"
(Phil is another "good Catholic" just ask him), and others
have ridiculed every aspect of pro-life activism, from crisis pregnancy
center work to rescue missions.
Interviewers are utterly merciless towards pro-life activists and
fawn constantly over the pro-abortion guests. This seems to be a
standard talk show format, with the exception of "The Morton Downey
Show," which itself probably did more harm than good to the
pro-life movement in light of the moderator's abrasive personality and
methods.
Even Art Has Its Limits ...
During the intense debate surrounding Congressional funding of the
National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) in 1990, a parade of artists
testified that there must never be any limits placed upon
their freedom of expression. In other words, "art" that is
shackled or limited in any way is really not art at all.
However, this is not true. Art, like every other form of expression, does
have its limits and these limits are imposed with an iron fist, not by
the legendary "Baptist Bluenose Brigade," but by the
Neoliberal artists themselves!
Take for example the use of fetal remains in artwork. Several artists
during the time period 1985 to 1990 "created" earrings and
other forms of adornment that featured small preborn babies encased in
plastic or plexiglass. These "works" were widely praised by
art critics.
In 1989, the "Degenerate Art Show" received a symbolic $500
NEA subgrant from "Artist Space." This show featured Shawn
Eichman's "Alchemy Cabinet," which displayed her own
dismembered second-trimester aborted baby next to the obligatory twisted
wire coat hanger.[10] Eichman proudly described her 'work' as
"Degenerate with a capital 'D,'" and it was displayed at New
York City's Black and White in Color gallery at a show entitled
"The Helms Degenerate Art Show/Protest."
These displays were defended by the Art Establishment because all of
the artists were pro-abortion and were transmitting a Neoliberal
message.
But when a pro-life artist attempted to incorporate a preborn baby in
her works, the door of plurality was immediately slammed in her face.
Mary Cate Carroll's "American Liberty Upside Down" featured
a large canvas of a family scene showing a man and woman sitting on a
sofa and holding the dotted outline of a missing child. In the center of
the child was a little door, which, when opened, revealed a
second-trimester aborted preborn baby that Carroll had obtained from her
college's biology department.
In 1987, the Maryland Institute of Art's Alumni Art Show asked
Carroll to display five of her works. When presented with her proposals,
the art department objected to "American Liberty Upside Down"
and pulled it the day before the show opened. Professors from the art
department also accused her of violating Federal law by transporting
"human remains" across state lines to the Virginia show.
Carroll exposed the raw hypocrisy of the art department when she said
that; "It's semantics by not defining it [the baby], it makes it
legal to murder it, but then, after it's murdered, you redefine it, make
it a human, and then it's illegal to take it across state lines. Is this
or is it not human?"[11]
The chairman of the art department hypocritically whined that
"Had we allowed the flagrant and crass exploitation of this
pathetic form, we would have flouted a moral as well as a legal
obligation to treat it with dignity ..."[11]
This was a familiar line to pro-life activists. In other words, the
art department had no objection to the act of abortion, just the
display of the results.
Curious how Eichman and her buddies were never suspected of violating
Federal law by transporting "human remains," isn't it? Perhaps
the pro-aborts can simply define the dead preborn baby out of existence
just as they can do with live preborns.
So, why are fetal remains allowed in some artwork but not in others?
Why is it a crime to place a fetus in a jar in the middle of a canvas,
while at the same time it is not a crime to display them in earrings?
The answer is always the same: It depends entirely upon your
political views. "Alchemy Cabinet" transmitted a
"pro-choice" message (remember the wire coathanger)? As such,
it was Politically Correct. "American Liberty Upside Down"
attempted to convey a pro-life message. This was not Politically
Correct, and so it was suppressed.
National Council on the Arts member Jacob Neusner had previously
proposed that the NEA adopt language prohibiting the funding of works of
art that "utilize and part of an actual human embryo or
fetus," he was basically laughed at, and his proposal was defeated
by the lopsided score of 10 to 2. Three council members privately said
to him that "You can make beautiful earrings out of pieces of
fetuses."[10]
You can also make beautiful lampshades out of human skin.
The legend of unlimited free expression in art is just that a
legend.
But There's Still Hope ...
It may come as a shock to many pro-life activists that not all
Hollywood celebrities are foaming-at-the-mouth pro-abortion fanatics.
Although most of them tend to keep their pro-life stand concealed
because they fear a vicious backlash from their "open-minded"
colleagues, the following "big-name" stars have publicly
stated their respect for life: Mia Farrow, Woody Allen, Charlton Heston
(who narrated Dr. Bernard Nathanson's film "Eclipse of
Reason"), Pat Boone, Mel Gibson, Dick Gregory, Kirk Cameron, Brooke
Shields, Robert Blake, Patricia Neal, Jordan Knight (New Kids on the
Block), Kate Mulgrew, Kevin Costner, Merle Olson, Tom Selleck, Jack
Nicholson and (gasp!) Madonna.[12]
Of course, there are probably many more pro-life Hollywood stars, but
they value their careers and therefore do not speak out for life.
Other Devices of Bias.
I was asked to come to Chicago because Chicago is one of our 52
states, and the mandate we've now been given on the pro-choice
abortion issue is that we have to pick up the pieces ... in 52 states
across the nation, we have to bail water now out of the boat.
Raquel Welch, on CNN's "Larry King
Live" talk Show.[13]
Introduction.
The greatest weapon used by the media bosses against pro-lifers is
simple but effective censorship. However, the biases of media writers
can show up in an almost subliminal manner when they crank out articles
dealing with abortion, as shown in the following examples. There is
great disparity in reporting similar activities or events by pro-aborts
and pro-lifers, depending upon which side will benefit from the
coverage.
Perhaps the writers of such articles are not even aware of the
organic and ingrained bias of their work, as some media spokesmen claim.
The following paragraphs describe eight of the devices used by
pro-abortion media reporters for the purpose of subtly undermining the
pro-life position in the public eye.
These devices are listed below.
DEVICES USED BY THE MEDIA TO UNDERMINE THE PRO-LIFE MESSAGE
(1) Selective coverage
(2) Ignoring inconvenient facts
(3) Beatification of pro-abortionists
(4) Bestowing of progressive 'awards'
(5) Doomsday predictions
(6) Slanted labeling of events
(7) Unstated implications of violence
(8) Unilateral emphasis on personal views
Device #1: Selective Coverage.
Selective coverage is, of course, the pro-abortion media's most
potent weapon. When Catholic Archbishop Rembert Weakland roundly
criticized the tactics of the pro-life movement, the virulently
pro-abortion Milwaukee Journal published the entire 21-page,
8,000 word text of his message. When the American Archbishops all met to
declare that there was "... no such thing as an authentic
pro-choice Catholic" in November of 1989, the Journal
lavished exactly two sentences of coverage on the event.
A lawsuit filed by a corporation or public entity against a
special-interest group for the purpose of chilling freedom of expression
is called a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP.
Such lawsuits have been filed against environmental groups that have
been engaged in purely Constitutional speech, and against individuals
for acts as trivial as authoring a letter to a local newspaper that
opposed a specific land development.
The major networks devoted at least three half-hour television news
programs to SLAPPs in 1990. The commentators strenuously denounced the
use of litigation against protected speech. Although the shows dealt
with a variety of examples, not a single word was mentioned about the
use of the RICO statutes against pro-lifers, a classic SLAPP if there
ever was one.
When federal racketeering (RICO) statutes were being used against
Wall Street white-collar criminals, New York Times and Los
Angeles Times editorials strongly opposed the statutes themselves
as "unconstitutional." But these major newspapers were utterly
silent on the use of RICO and police brutality against numerous
nonviolent pro-life rescuers.
This is not surprising in light of the fact that the press admits
that it is heavily pro-abortion. In other words, the networks oppose
lawsuits brought for the purpose of suppressing free speech but only
if it is free speech that they agree with.
Device #2: Ignore Inconvenient Facts.
The media are pro-abortion enough to be totally dishonest, even when
reporting the results of abortion-related scientific studies. For
example, numerous papers published lavish reports on a book written by
American psychologist Henry P. David and several Czechoslovakian
scientists.
This book, entitled Born Unwanted, supposedly demonstrated
that women in Czechoslovakia who were denied abortions by review
committees had children who had more educational, vocational, and
personal problems than children who were brought up in homes with
parents who "wanted them."
But a similar study that produced precisely the opposite conclusion
was completely ignored, though the study was performed much closer to
home: In Canada. The 1984 study was published in the Journal of the
Canadian Medical Association, and found very few ill effects among
children of several thousand women who were denied abortions in
Europe.[14]
Device #3: Beatification of Pro-Aborts.
The manner in which the media grovels at the feet of pro-abortionists
is sometimes sickening enough to empty the strongest stomach.
One excellent example of this craven toadying was the December 1989 Time
Magazine profile of former Planned Parenthood president Faye Wattleton.
The article was evenhandedly entitled "Nothing Less Than
Perfect." The writers described Wattleton as "imperturbable,
smoothly articulate," "imperially slim and sleekly
dressed," and "a stunning refutation of the cliche of the
dowdy feminist."
By vivid contrast, the same article described one of her primary
opponents, rescuer Randall Terry, simply as "a former used car
salesman."
The New York Times, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times,
Washington Post, and Newsweek Magazine have all
characterized Terry in this manner, attempting to discredit him by
capitalizing on the public's image of used-car salesmen as sleazy,
shifty-eyed cheats. It is quite obvious that these publications would
never have dared mention Wattleton's background if she was, say, a
former drug addict or prostitute.
Device #4: Progressive 'Awards.'
"Newsy" periodicals represent liberal causes as mainline
and moderate by bestowing various awards and honors upon their
activists. The tactic of "exclusionary labeling" is used
concurrently to convince readers that Neoliberals or
"progressives" are really "just plain folks" like
you and me. By implication, the total lack of conservative
representation in these awards tells readers that such people are
"outside the mainstream" or "out of touch."
For example, the Esquire Magazine "Register"
consists of a listing of the people whom the publication's editors
believe best reflect the values of this country. In its December 1989
issue, the magazine listed as current and previous honorees
"political activist" Faye Wattleton, Janet Benshoof of the
American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Freedom Project, and Sarah
Weddington, the lead pro-abortion attorney on the Roe v. Wade
case.
Not a single pro-lifer appeared on the Esquire
"register." Furthermore, of the hundreds of names listed, only
about two percent could remotely be identified as
"conservative" in any way and then only when they were
connected with social issues that most 'progressives' could agree with,
such as environmentalism or work for the homeless.
This incredible degree of bias is not hard to believe if one attempts
to imagine the probability of Joe Scheidler, Phyllis Schlafly, or Joan
Andrews being favorably written up in Esquire Magazine.
Device #5: Doomsday Predictions.
Whenever pro-lifers achieve a victory, however small, many newspapers
and television stations immediately try to throw a huge scare into the
public by making dire predictions of impending doom and destruction.
These predictions never have even the most tenuous connection with
reality.
Immediately after the Supreme Court's Webster decision, many
newspapers went ballistic. For example, the Boston Globe wrote
that "a majority of states" would be expected to "ban
abortion in all but extreme circumstances." "No more than five
states would retain the liberal guidelines" that existed before the
decision was handed down, according to the paper. The U.S. News and
World Report published a map showing that it expected only five
states to retain "liberal" abortion laws.
The reality was far different, of course. Two years after the Webster
decision, pro-lifers still had made very little progress in the state
legislatures.
Many newspapers make such hysterical predictions that even those
members of the public who are nominally 'pro-choice' shake their heads
in despair. On April 9, 1989, Los Angeles Times reporter Marjorie
Miller did a story on a Mexican woman who had been arrested and beaten
by police for allegedly obtaining an illegal abortion. Miller then
stated as fact that this is what American women could look
forward to if Roe v. Wade were overturned.[15]
Device #6: Slanted Labeling.
The Associated Press, Washington Post, Boston Globe, New
York Times, and Time and Newsweek Magazines refer to
those who oppose abortion "even in the cases of rape and
incest." However, we never see an article referring to those
who support abortion "even in the last trimester and for sex
selection."
The written media commonly describes abortion-related events in a
very biased manner. You will read of a "major setback for abortion
rights," never "a major victory for abortion opponents;"
you will see "a stunning defeat for women's rights," not
"a great victory for unborn children;" the articles will read
"rights of the woman," never "rights of the unborn;"
and "harsh (or restrictive) laws," not "laws protective
of the unborn."
The media often uses the word "baby" when writing a story
about preborn children that has nothing to do with abortion say a new
intrauterine surgical procedure but it invariably uses the words
"fetus" or "embryo" when dealing with an
abortion-related story.
This propensity towards labeling is pervasive even when applied to
entire movements. A 1989 study by Washington's Center for Media and
Public Affairs showed that networks used the terms
"pro-choice" or "abortion rights supporters" in every
one of their thousands of references to pro-abortionists, but
employed the label "pro-life" in only six percent of
their references to abortion opponents. This study examined 118
social-issue programs aired from January 1 through August 31, 1989 by
ABC, CBS, and NBC.
Pro-life individuals or groups are routinely labeled as
"militant," "strident," "radical," or
"extremist." Pro-abortionists are generally referred to as
"mainline," "centrist," "moderate," or
"representative of the majority."
Device #7: Implications of Violence.
When covering a peaceful and legal pro-life picket, the media almost
always tacks on the comment "No arrests were made," as if such
arrests were commonplace. In a similar vein, it reports that "There
was no violence" when covering peaceful rescue missions. The
implication, of course, is that there often is violence at such
activities.
This is the same as a ship's First Officer writing in the log of his
teetotaler Captain, "The Captain was not drunk today," or a
politician claiming of his peaceful opponent, "He did not beat his
wife today." Of course, the media never treat pro-abort pickets or
civil disobedience in this manner. In fact, when there is
widespread violence committed by pro-aborts, such as the burning of a
Right to Life office, the event is utterly ignored by the media.
The news media also uses selective coverage to discredit pro-lifers
at street events. When television news cameras cover rescue missions,
they zoom in on police beating up or dragging away rescuers, thereby
making the action-packed scenes look violent, even if rescuers offer no
resistance. The cameras studiously ignore screaming, cursing, spitting
pro-aborts assaulting pro-lifers.
Device #8: Weighted Importance of Views.
When pro-abortion politicians win a tight race, their stand on the
issue is portrayed as contributing substantially to their victory.
However, when an outspoken pro-life politician wins, the event is either
downplayed, or abortion is painted as "irrelevant" to the
contest.
Direct Media Participation
in Pro-Abortion Events.
As far as I'm concerned, it's just a bunch of Catholics making
a__holes of themselves again.
Reporter commenting on abortion clinic
picket.[16]
Introduction.
One of the most glaring examples of Neoliberal doublethink is
displayed by pro-abortion newspaper executives. For these people, it is
a very serious matter indeed for a media employee to participate in
pro-life activities even on his or her own free time! Such participation
is deemed to fatally compromise the employee's objectivity.
On the other hand, media employees at the same newspapers or
television stations are allowed and even encouraged to
participate in pro-abortion events, with no repercussions whatsoever.
The Newspaper Union is Pro-Abortion.
Bias pervades every level of the newspaper media. The Newspaper
Guild, the nation's newspaper employee's union (consisting of 200
newspapers and 34,000 employees), adopted a resolution at their 1986
convention favoring unlimited abortion. It reads;
[The Newspaper Guild] reaffirms a woman's fundamental
constitutional right to make private and confidential decisions
regarding reproduction. That right, supported in the Roe v. Wade
Supreme Court decision 13 years ago, holds that freedom of choice in
abortion decisions is a matter of constitutional right, protected,
secured, and guaranteed by the 4th and 14th Amendments. We oppose any
re-examination of the court's decision at attempts to restrict these
rights by the federal, state or local governments of the United
States.[1]
Anna Padia, the Guild's alleged "human rights coordinator,"
defended this resolution by saying that "Reporters are professional
enough to cover events without injecting personal opinion into their
stories."[1]
And, if you believe this, we have a lovely little bridge in downtown
Manhattan for sale.
Cockeyed Thinking.
It's funny how the newspapers consider themselves competent enough to
participate in partisan events, while never allowing the same latitude
for pro-life judges and legislators. When a judge or lawmaker
participates in a pro-life event during their spare time, the newspapers
rush to be the first to condemn them for "injecting personal
opinion" into their jobs! Naturally, there is no problem if a judge
or legislator speaks at a pro-abortion rally.
Of course, this tender solicitude only extends to pro-abortion
newspaper personnel. If any reporter or journalist dares to participate
in any pro-life activity on their own time, they are liable to be
fired from their jobs.
The Diane Dew Story.
This happened to Diane Dew, a newsroom secretary, who was fired from
her job at the Milwaukee Journal on July 21, 1989 for the high
crime of participating in legal pro-life protests. Sig Gissler is the
editor of the virulently pro-abortion Milwaukee Journal. He and
his wife are both major contributors to Planned Parenthood, and have
been designated "Patron Donors" (the highest possible
classification) by the organization.
The editorial board gave Dew an ultimatum: Agree in writing to give
up her Constitutionally-protected rights of free speech by promising to
cease all of her pro-life activities (including writing any pro-life
stories, picketing and counseling women), or give up her job. She
refused to give up her rights, and Gissler fired her on July 21, 1989
because, as the paper alleged, her off-duty pro-life activities
"compromised the paper's objectivity."[17]
Dick Williams, the paper's vice-president in charge of employee
relations, stated that Dew violated company policy because " ...
metro secretaries are part of the news-gathering process."[17]
The 1989 'March for Death.'
The April 9, 1989 "March for Reproductive Choice" was
trumpeted by the press for weeks before the actual event itself.
Nightline devoted an hour to extolling its virtues and showing
how people could get involved. US,A Toady, The New York Times,
and The Washington Post gave the event lavish pre-march coverage,
including front-page stories.
The Post published five major stories on the event in the five
days before it took place. On the day of the march, the paper's magazine
featured a 6,550 word story on it and included a map which showed the
march route, all road closings, lost and found information, and how to
sign up and get there by subway or bus.
The paper featured no less than five stories on the march the next
day, including a front-page color picture and 7,000 words of total text,
equivalent to three full pages of newspaper space.
As if this were not enough, in an acknowledged violation of
self-imposed journalistic ethics, reporters for the New York Times
and the Washington Post actually participated in the march in
support of abortion 'rights.'[18]
It is interesting to see how the Post handled a similar
pro-life event by comparison. The paper ran a single short story on the
next year's April 1990 pro-life march, which had three times as many
participants as the "March for Death." The story, which had no
accompanying pictures, maps, or promotion, was buried in the middle of
the paper's "Metro" (local) news section.[19]
When criticized for this glaring disparity in reporting, Post
reporters whined that they were "just tired of covering
demonstrations." Talk about threadbare excuses! Would they simply
ignore all types of news events that they were 'tired' of? Would they
cease covering the 1990-1991 Gulf War after a couple of months because
they were 'tired' of war coverage?
Some astute pro-lifers pointed out that the paper had lavishly
covered the "Earth Day 1990" week-long demonstration just one
week earlier, printing five stories and 11 photos over three days. The
"Earth Day 1990" event was one-third the size of the pro-life
march.
This case was not only a reflection of media bias, but a direct
participation by the media in a pro-abortion event. In fact, the
Hollywood Women's Political Caucus showed up in farce for the
"March for Death." The pro-abort "stars" included
Morgan Fairchild, "Hanoi Jane" Fonda, Cybil Shepherd, Marlo
Thomas, Donna Mills, Whoopie Goldberg, Veronica Hamel, Susan Sarandon,
and dozens of other "Bimbos for Choice."
Examples of Bias in the
News Media.
NBC News does not use the term "prolife," which it
regards as loaded, but if someone wanted to use 'pro-choice,' I'd say
that was fine.
NBC News Editor Gilbert Millstein.[20]
Introduction.
The news media correctly sees itself as a powerful agent of social
change, and therefore many of its members slant their news coverage of
social issues in such a manner that it is almost unrecognizable to
conservative activists. The great danger lies in the fact that many (or
most) American viewers accept this coverage as unfiltered truth.
The major national news media have always pushed abortion, even
before it was legal. Following are just a few examples of their
pro-abortion activities.
Before Roe.
Newspaper bias before Roe v. Wade was even more pronounced
than it is now, if such can be imagined. Newspaper editors encouraged
readers to sign up on pro-abortion petitions and showed how they could
obtain them for general circulation. Some newspapers presented artsy
full-page 'how-to' abortion guides, including how to obtain legal
abortions in neighboring states. Others gave Planned Parenthood abundant
free advertising and repeatedly listed phone numbers for abortion
referral services, even in states where prenatal killing was still
illegal.[21]
But when pro-lifers attempted to gain a forum, they were ruthlessly
shut out many veteran pro-lifers report that newspapers, almost
universally, would not even accept their paid advertisements!
There's Offensiveness, and Then There's Offensiveness ...
The major television networks routinely display graphic scenes of
human brutality in order to advance their agenda, such as;
American 'atrocities' in Vietnam, including naked and
roasted napalm
victims;
Soviet butchery in Afghanistan and gassed Kurds;
Vivid footage of Nazi concentration camp victims;
Hundreds of bodies bloating in the sun after the Jim Jones
slaughter;
Headless Chinese students stacked like cordwood after the
Tianenmen
Square massacre;
Savagely battered wives and hideously abused children;
Blood-splattered Panamanian opposition political candidates;
Rotting elephant corpses and dead, oil-soaked seals,
but they will not even show pictures of live and healthy
unborn babies! For example, both NBC and CBS refused to air an American
Cancer Society public-service ad that depicted an unborn baby smoking,
while the voice-over warned of the dangers of smoking while pregnant.
Both networks labeled the spot "too graphic" and
"potentially offensive."[22]
Selling the Abortion Pill.
Perhaps the best example of a recent widespread media pro-abortion
campaign involves the abortion pill RU-486.
Marie Bass, former political director of the National Abortion Rights
Action League, and Joanne Howes, former Planned Parenthood chief
Washington lobbyist, assembled a five-fold media strategy to get the
media to accept RU-486. They formed an explicitly pro-abortion lobbying
and propaganda organization entitled the Reproductive Health Technology
Project, whose purpose was to collect and distribute only favorable
information on the abortion pill. They developed and disseminated a
high-powered press kit that included sample charts and graphs and
photos.
Reporter Charles Durran described the press packet: "Those press
kits were impressive. In fact, they were a lazy reporter's gold mine.
Everything you needed for a really fantastic story or a series of
stories was right there at your fingertips. I don't think I've ever seen
anything like it."
The five-part Bass & Howes strategy is outlined below.
FIVE-PART BASS & HOWES STRATEGY TO ENCOURAGE MEDIA ACCEPTANCE
OF RU-486
(1) "Emphasize the possibility that the drug could very well
end the whole public abortion struggle by making clinic protests
obsolete.
(2) Emphasize the dearth of other contraceptive options available
particularly in comparison with what is available in other parts of
the world.
(3) Emphasize the issues of privacy, ease, safety, choice, and
freedom, rather than of abortion and politics.
(4) Emphasize the possibility of other medical benefits of the
drug, such as treatment of breast cancer and Cushings Syndrome.
(5) Emphasize the threat to the freedom of ongoing medical research
that a rejection of the drug might bring."
Reference. This strategy is described in
George Grant. "Media Bias and Abortion." Legacy
Magazine, October 1991, page 1. Newsletter of Legacy Communications,
Post Office Box 680365, Franklin, Tennessee 37068.
This set of instructions to the media apparently worked very well. A
survey of more than two hundred magazine and newspaper articles on
RU-486 during the time period 1989-1990 showed that only 9 percent
mentioned any of the pill's numerous and serious complications or side
effects; just 8 percent quoted any pro-life experts or sources; and a
full 96 percent cast the pill in a very favorable light. Bass said that
"Press coverage really is good, if you think about it sometimes I
worry that it's almost too good."
The Bass & Howes strategy is not the only example of trickery
used by pro-abortionists in their attempts to garner public support for
the killing pill. The pro-aborts, acknowledging the power of doctored
public opinion polls, are taking advantage of biased questioning in
their headlong pursuit of favorable results that can then be quoted in
subsequent propaganda campaigns. The National Abortion Federation, in a
guide entitled "Successful Strategies: Managing the Media,"
says that
When polls have been conducted on RU-486, the new French Pill, the
results vary depending on how the question is asked. If RU-486 is
referred to as an "abortion pill," it has significantly less
support than if it is called a new form of birth control. In many
polls, the description can change support by as much as 15-20 points
and determine if a majority of those polled are in favor of the
pill.[23]
For further information on how pro-abortionists conduct biased polls
and then lie about the results, see Chapter 76 of Volume II,
"Public Opinion Polls."
Examples of Bias on
Television.
There would be a revolution in this country if people ever saw who
supported abortion rights.
Cameraman's excuse for not filming
screaming, kicking, spitting pro-aborts in Buffalo during 1992 rescue
missions.[24]
Introduction.
The television news may be bad, but it is a pro-life paradise
compared to some of the scheduled TV programming produced by the major
network studios over the past fifteen years.
The following paragraphs review just a few of the more blatant
instances of outright pro-abortion propaganda foisted off on the public
by the networks.
"Cagney and Lacey."
The most outstanding recent example of this biased programming is a
"Cagney and Lacey" episode entitled The Clinic. The
network announced this as a "careful and unbiased" look at the
pro/anti-life struggle.
The episode predictably opened with a person being killed in a clinic
bombing (ignoring the fact that nobody has been killed or even
injured in such an event). This act spurred long dissertations by Lacey
as to why abortion must remain legal. Her partner Cagney remained
'neutral' on the issue all through the show. The only defense of the
pro-life position came from an old stereotypical Catholic man who said,
"I'm against it, because better men than me have thought it
out."
What an eloquent defense of the pro-life position!
Several indications of how 'unbiased' the show was occurred in the
weeks just before and after its airing. Producer Barney Rosenzweig
enlisted the help of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL)
in his publicity campaign. Rosenzweig is so blindly pro-abortion that he
worried about the 'negative, anti-choice statement' being made by the
mere fact that Tyne Daley (Lacey) was pregnant in real life on a later
"Cagney and Lacey" episode entitled "The Pregnant
Detective." In other words, he didn't even want a pregnant woman on
his show!
Talk about discrimination!
He got around his worries by having Lacey state that she was
pro-choice and had previously endured a horrible illegal abortion.
After "The Clinic" aired, NARAL and other national
pro-abortion groups applauded the show and showered 'prestigious' awards
upon the actresses. According to the CBS Entertainment Division, 94
percent of the more than 3,600 calls they received on the show believed
strongly that the show was blatantly biased in favor of the pro-abortion
side.
The ACLU honored executive producer Barney Rosenzweig and writer
Barbara Corday with their 1986 Bill of Rights award. Previous recipients
of this award included Norman Lear and Ed Asner.[25]
"St. Elsewhere."
Another popular television show, "St. Elsewhere," is a
series about a fictitious Catholic hospital New York City. The January 8
and 15, 1986 episodes of "St. Elsewhere" were carefully timed
to air just before the annual Roe v. Wade anniversary. The
producers did everything they possibly could to make pro-lifers look
violent and irrational.
In the first episode, a pro-life couple enters the Boston Women's
Clinic (an abortion mill), called a doctor, and then soaked him with red
paint and screamed "murderer!" at him. Another scene shows
compassionate clinic personnel cleaning up the mess after vandalism
(destroyed files and "murderer" painted on the walls in red
paint), discussing all the while how they have been terrorized
personally by pro-lifers and how terribly important it is that abortion
must remain legal.
Later, a flood of injured people descend on the hospital after an
enormous explosion at the abortion mill which kills numerous people. A
doctor asks, "Who set off this bomb, pro-lifers?"
At the end of the first episode, the bomber creeps into St.
Elsewhere, spouts a few lines Scripture to nobody in particular (just to
let viewers know that he is a religious nut), and plants another bomb,
which explodes. He turns himself in to one of the doctors and says
"I was doing God's work. Sometimes the born must die to save the
unborn."[26] This, of course, ignores the fact that nobody has ever
been killed or injured in an abortion mill bombing.
Oh, well, sometimes the facts must be bent just a little so that
social progress may be made.
The show moralized for its entire two hours on the necessity of
abortion and the violent nature of anyone who is 'anti-choice.' Only one
doctor in the entire hospital opposed abortion with weak and flawed
arguments, but his real purpose was to be an inept foil (a la
"Cagney and Lacey"), so that all of the other main characters
could lecture him at great length on the merits and necessity of
"safe and legal" abortion.
On another show, a "St. Elsewhere" doctor provides a
quickie abortion for another doctor's daughter so she can concentrate on
an important examination at school, ignoring the fact that abortions are
banned at all Catholic hospitals in the United States. Naturally, the
abortion comes as a great relief to her, and everything turns out just
fine. Abortion is just what she needed, and anyone who showed the least
uneasiness about her decision is derided mercilessly.
"Babies Having Babies."
This 1986 NBC production consists primarily of four pregnant girls
discussing with each other their reasons to abort or not to abort. The
girls are totally stereotyped virtual caricatures. The two who decide to
abort are the kind of person that girls can identify with: (1) a bright,
ambitious, college-bound "tennis anyone?" type and (2) a
punk-rocker with a tough exterior but the inevitable heart of gold. The
two girls who decide to keep their babies are (1) an ignorant, bumbling
14-year old Black girl who didn't kill her child because "I can
always go on welfare," and (2) an appallingly ugly Irish Catholic
girl who doesn't really like boys but who slept with one just to be
noticed.
All through the show, the following ideas are verbalized and
reinforced;
(1) sex is fun;
(2) abortion must always be an individual's free choice;
(3) abortion is moral and ethical;
(4) abortion is no big deal; and
(5) if you don't abort, "the kid" will ruin your life.
Naturally, the media moguls did not see the irony in the title of
their show "Babies Having Babies," although the concept that
they were pushing was essentially "babies killing
babies."
Examples of Bias By
Cartoonists.
Cartoonists in general, and especially political cartoonists, are
unrestrained by even the minimal limits imposed upon others who
influence the public through the media.
Take for example Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury," which
relentlessly uses the tools of distortion and ridicule to deride
conservative positions and public figures. One week-long series of comic
strips, deleted by many newspapers across the country, makes fun of Dr.
Nathanson's movie "The Silent Scream."
"Doonesbury," of course, is not the only offender. Bloom
County's penguin "Opus" proclaims for all the world to see:
"Reagan Sucks!" in a summer 1988 strip. Imagine any cartoonist
daring to say "Jesse Jackson Sucks!" or, better yet,
"Molly Yard Sucks!"
Even the generally innocuous (and crushingly trivial)
"Cathy," produced by Cathy Guisewite, carried on during the
entire week just before the 1988 Presidential elections about how the
United States desperately needed Michael Dukakis, how the Republicans
have destroyed the economy, and the fact that the next president will
appoint "... at least three Supreme Court justices whose positions
on women's issues (read: abortion) could shape the future of our
children for another 30 years."
Examples of Bias By
Syndicated Columnists.
Another source of great influence on the American public is
syndicated columnists such as Ann Landers, "Dear Abby," Ellen
Goodman, and Coretta Scott King. All of these columnists, and many
others, relentlessly push the whole range of anti-life viewpoints:
Abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, living wills, and so on. Anyone who
dares to write a conservative letter to Ann Landers or Dear Abby, of
course, is mercilessly pilloried as a "judgmental, close-minded
lout." The twins routinely ignore the facts and ridicule the very
existence of third-trimester abortions, post-abortion syndrome, and
fetal experimentation. In fact, they ignore the existence of the
opposing view entirely.
For example, on October 1, 1991, a letter signed "Confused in
St. Paul" and asking for church positions on abortion appeared in
Dear Abby's column in hundreds of newspapers nationwide. In response,
Abby listed quotes supporting abortion from 11 churches and a
wishy-washy quote from a single neutral church. No mention whatever was
made of the position of any of the more than 120 pro-life churches,
including the Roman Catholic Church.
The reply ended with the address and phone number of the 'Religious'
Coalition for Abortion Rights, but no contact for any of the more than
30 pro-life religious organizations. It is obvious that "Confused
in St. Paul" and anyone else who wanted to know the facts would not
be confused after contacting RCAR they would think that every church
denomination was pro-abortion!
References: The Media's Pro-Abortion Bias.
We report news, not truth. There is no such thing as objectivity.
Any reporter who tells you he's objective is lying to you.
Linda Ellerbee.[27]
[1] Todd Ackerman. "Newspaper Union Support of Abortion Spells
Trouble." National Catholic Register, September 10, 1989,
page 1.
[2] Rosanne Barr, quoted in TV, Etc., October 6, 1992.
[3] Susanne Millsaps, executive director of Utah NARAL, quoted in the
Washington Times, March 13, 1991. Also quoted in Voices for
the Unborn (Feasterville, Pennsylvania), October 1991, page 4.
[4] Joseph Farah, Editor of the New York City Tribune.
"Pro-Life Groups Hit Opposition in Efforts to Buy Television
Time." American Family Association Journal, April 1990.
[5] The Mark Bavaro incident is described in an American Life League
fundraising letter dated March 1991.
[6] "MTV Will Not Air Christian Singer's Video." American
Family Association Journal, January 1989, page 7.
[7] "CBS Censors Cardinal Bernardin, Calls Religious Content
Offensive." American Family Association Journal, May 1989,
page 14.
[8] Catholic Twin Circle, March 26, 1989, page 14.
[9] As described in "RTL and Cable TV." National Right
to Life News, September 5, 1985, page 6.
[10] "Some Praise 'Fetus Earrings:' NEA Council Defeats
Commonsense Reforms Inside Washington." Action News
[Pro-Life Action League, Chicago], December 1990/January 1991, page 15.
[11] "American Liberty Upside Down Aborted Fetus As Art is
Censored." ALL About Issues, February 1984, pages 28 and 29.
[12] Feminists for Life of America. Sisterlife, Summer 1990.
[13] Raquel Welch, on CNN's "Larry King Live" talk show.
Quoted in the National Review, March 5, 1990, page 20.
[14] As described in Richard Doerflinger. "Media Seek Out Data
Supporting Abortion." Catholic Sentinel [Portland, Oregon],
November 3, 1989, page 5.
[15] As described in Glenn Ellen Duncan. "Objectivity? On This
Issue, Forget It!" National Catholic Register, May 14, 1989,
page 5.
[16] Comments made by a reporter outside the Henry Morgentaler
abortion clinic in Toronto, Canada. Quoted in Michael W. Cuneo. Catholics
Against the Church: Anti-Abortion Protest in Toronto, 1969-1985.
University of Toronto Press, 1989, page 65.
[17] Todd Ackerman. "Prolife Secretary, Canned By Milwaukee
Daily, to Sue." National Catholic Register, September 17,
1989, page 1. Also see Cynthia McKnight. "Milwaukee Journal
Editor's Pro-Abortion Hypocrisy." National Right to Life News,
November 2, 1989, page 5.
[18] "Pro-Abortion Journalists." News in Review, Catholic
Twin Circle, April 30, 1989, page 19.
[19] Joseph Sobran. "The Post's Kind of People." The
Wanderer, April 20, 1989, page 5.
[20] NBC News Editor Gilbert Millstein. Quoted in Burke Balch.
"The Enormous Power of Language." National Right to Life
News, December 22, 1980, page 5.
[21] Marvin Olasky. "How the Press Short-Circuited the Abortion
Debate." American Family Association Journal, January 1989,
page 13.
[22] "Networks Censor Out Pro-Life Ad." National Federation
for Decency Journal, April 1985, page 11.
[23] National Abortion Federation. Abortion: Moral Choice and
Medical Imperative. "Abortion Practice Advancement, Sixteenth
Annual Meeting Workbook, April 13-14, 1992, San Diego, California."
Page 133, "Successful Strategies: Managing the Media."
[24] Paul Likoudis. "Buffalo Rescue Overcomes Propaganda
Campaign and Awakens Christians." The Wanderer, May 14,
1992, pages 1 and 9.
[25] "ACLU Honors Pro-Abortion Television Producer."
National Federation for Decency Journal, February 1987, page 16.
[26] "NBC Series Downs Pro-Lifers, Pushes Abortion."
National Federation for Decency Journal, February 1986, page 10.
[27] Linda Ellerbee and Geraldo Rivera, quoted in George Grant.
"Media Bias and Abortion." Legacy Magazine, October
1991, page 1. Newsletter of Legacy Communications, Post Office Box
680365, Franklin, Tennessee 37068.
Further Reading: The Media's Pro-Abortion Bias.
Objectivity was invented by journalism schools. It has very little
to do with real life.
Geraldo Rivera.[27]
Judie Brown. Pro-Life Media Handbook.
Order from American Life League, Post Office Box 1350, Stafford,
Virginia 22554. How to use the media effectively to promote the pro-life
message.
Journal of the American Family Association.
Formerly the Journal of the National Federation for Decency,
this excellent monthly primarily addresses pornography in the media and
the arts and the many instances of media pro-abortion, pro-homosexual,
and anti-Christian bias. To subscribe, write to the American Family
Association, Post Office Drawer 2440, Tupelo, Mississippi 38803.
Telephone: (601) 844-5036.
Carl Landwehr.
(1) "Changing Attitudes on Abortion: Pro-Life Education that Works.
How to use the media, advertising, publicity, and displays to reach
large numbers of people with the pro-life message.
(2) "Keep the Pro-Life Issue Alive: Use Media Events."
How to stage newsworthy events in order to keep the American
Holocaust in the eye of the American public. These are two of a set of
nine booklets that outline an effective, unified strategy for stopping
abortion on a local level. Order separately or as a group from: National
Right to Life Educational Trust Fund, 419 7th Street, NW, Suite 402,
Washington, D.C. 20044, or from: Life Issues Bookshelf, Sun Life,
Thaxton, Virginia 24174, telephone: (703) 586-4898.
Bernard M. Nathanson, M.D. The Abortion Papers: Inside the
Abortion Mentality.
Idea Books, Post Office Box 4010, Madison, Wisconsin 53711. 1985,
192 pages. A former leading abortionist exposes the anti-Catholic
bigotry of the pro-abortion movement, discusses the role of the
blatantly biased media in obtaining abortion on demand, and explores
what the science of fetology has revealed about the unborn child. This
enjoyable book is written in George Will's wry and acerbic style. Read
especially Chapter 1, "Abortion and the Media," pages 7 to
109.
Marvin and Susan Olasky. The Press and Abortion.
An historical overview of how the American media have treated
abortion over the last century. Order from American Life League, Post
Office Box 1350, Stafford, Virginia 22554.
David Shaw.
Five-part Los Angeles Times series on the pro-abortion bias
of the news media. July 1, 1990,
"Abortion Bias Seeps Into News." July 2, 1990,
"Abortion Foes Stereotyped, Some in the Media Believe." July
3, 1990.
"'Rally for Life' Coverage Evokes an Editor's Anger." July
4, 1990,
"Can Women Reporters Write Objectively on Abortion Issue?," and
"'Abortion Hype' Pervaded Media After Webster Case."
This outstanding series was originally available from the Los
Angeles Times in booklet form and can now be ordered from American
Life League, Post Office Box 1350, Stafford, Virginia 22554.
Gailfred Boller Sweetland. "Police Brutality: No Press
Coverage."
Supplement to the Newsletter of the Catholic League for
Religious and Civil Rights. Reprints available for 25 cents from the
Catholic League, 1100 West Wells Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233.
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. The Liberal Crack-Up.
New York City: Simon & Schuster, 1984. 256 pages. Reviewed by
Victor Gold on page 35 of the March 1985 Conservative Digest. His
thesis: "New Age Liberalism is no longer the sensible, tolerant,
highly principled body of thought that liberalism was in decades past.
Sometime in the 1960s or early 1970s, it cracked up into a riot of
enthusiasms, usually contradictory, always extremist, often non
compos mentis."
© American Life League BBS 1-703-659-7111
This is a chapter of the Pro-Life Activists Encyclopedia published
by American Life League.
|