Purposeful Media Ignorance

Jun/02/10 11:29 AM
The Wall Street Journal had an illuminating opinion piece yesterday highlighting the media’s refusal to acknowledge America’s evolving stance on abortion. The piece examines the seemingly unexplainable inconsistencies in the American attitude towards abortion. While the majority of Americans respond in polls that they wish to see abortion remain legal, more Americans identify themselves as pro-life as opposed to pro-choice (47% vs. 45%). Additionally, 50% of Americans view abortion as morally unacceptable, while only 38% view it as morally acceptable.

Thus, American’s views on the subject are both more complicated and more pro-life than the mainstream media would like you to think. The author openly admits that he doesn’t write claiming that America is a pro-life nation. Instead, he simply writes to draw attention to the fact that the nation’s mind is not set one way or the other.

A statement by the author towards the end of the piece really hit home for me on the double standard. The author writes:

‘In news reporting, it’s not unusual to encounter constructions such as this AP dispatch from the presidential campaign about Sarah Palin: “She has worshipped at a nondenominational Bible church since 2002, opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and supports classroom discussions about creationism.”

That’s fair as far as it goes. Just once, however, wouldn’t it be interesting to see a leading newspaper write something like, “Nancy Pelosi, who opposes any restrictions on abortion, even in cases where a pregnant minor is taken across state lines without a parent’s permission or where the fetus is halfway out the mother”?’

Wow, can you really imagine a media that routinely highlighted the extreme positions of liberal leaders with as much enthusiasm as it does conservative ones?

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