“All the news that is (if politically correct) fit to print” seems to be the new motto for American journalism.
Take the coverage by the Philadelphia Inquirer of the huge March for Life in Washington on Jan. 25 compared to much smaller rallies or marches for gun control within days of it. Both causes make valid points in the view of a great many people.
Saturday, Jan. 26 the Inquirer ran a three-column-wide picture at the bottom of page 2 with a headline “Antiabortion rally marks 40 years.” The photo, which showed the lead banner “March for Life,” included a two-line caption that simply read, “Antiabortion demonstrators make their way to the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington for a rally Friday to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the landmark ‘Roe v. Wade’ decision legalizing abortion.”
No mention made that the size of the crowd (in the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands depending on who is counting) was so large, spilling over to the sidewalks of Constitution Avenue and it and other streets were shut down to traffic for the day. As always, the throng was so great it literally took several hours to pass a single point. When the first people reached the Supreme Court others hadn’t yet left the National Mall where the rally was held. It is the same every year.
Often as not the picture selected by mainstream media is of the dozen or so pro-choice demonstrators who stand by at the Supreme Court, and an equal amount of pro-life advocates, giving the false impression both groups were of equal size.
Come forward to Jan. 27. Now the Inquirer story is “Thousands march in D.C. for gun control” spread across the top of page 3, with a picture and a substantial article five columns wide. How big was the crowd? “It stretched at least two blocks along Constitution Avenue” the Associated Press writer stated, probably with a straight face.
That sounds like less than the 3,000 or so who went to Washington from Philadelphia alone the previous day.
Let’s not beat up the Inquirer too much. It is no worse than most of the rest of the mainstream press when it comes to objectivity in regard to reporting on life issues.
Let’s not even get started on The New York Times.
***
(Editor’s note: Catholic News Service reports that various media outlets put the estimate for this year’s March for Life crowd at between 500,000 and 650,000. An official crowd estimate has not been provided by police since about 1995. )
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Why should the media take the March seriously, do the bishops of the Catholic Church take abortion seriously, I think not. They give lofty speeches, for 40 years now, smile and take lots of fun pics, like it is celebration. 55 million innocent babies dead and they are all smiling and having a good old time. Do you think politicians that are catholics think the Catholic Church is serious about abortion? I think not. You know who the abortion pushing Andrew Cuomo got communion from, a catholic bishop. How many priests presided over the abortion pushing Ted Kennedy’s funeral? Wasn’t it about 5 or six? You call that taking abortion seriously? I think the media sees the March for Life as minimal because they see the Catholic Church’s leaders, the US bishops, playing lip service and thats about it.
No it’s not right when the Media concentrates only on issues “they” deem important. However, as Catholics aren’t we doing the same thing when we call it the “Respect Life” Movement and focus soley on life in the womb while not including/advocating for those who are also the most vulnerable among God’s offspring: those children and adults with disabilities and the elderly. The Obama Admin. has made major cuts in the funding of Medicare and Medicaid that won’t pay for many health services (less than before). and many health practitioners are no longer accepting Medicare/caid.This will force the poor (or their families) to pay out of pocket. Many cannot afford the added expenses, thus, many will suffer more than ever. Many will die because of Obamacare. Almost daily we hear stories (from some the media) of the disabled being disrespected through brutal crimes, and lack of employment (though many disabled, are willing and eager to work). These statistics were around well before the job shortages. Where are the voices of the Church on these life and death issues!
Fortunately we now have social media to spread the word (and pictures) of the real size of the March. The newspapers still have a lot of influence, but at least we have other outlets now!
-Jim