cm744511@ohio.edu
Gosnell Case
Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell was accused of killing seven newborn infants and one mother, a story that was largely unreported by media outside of Philadelphia. Despite having all elements of a great news story, it was widely overlooked and the bulk of the story, as seen in The Atlantic, was centered on the fact that it wasn’t being given attention from national media.
Media Bias?
Did the media pass up this story because it went against their usual support for abortion rights? I don’t think so. As Tim Graham, Media Research Center’s director of media analysis stated, “It’s bias by omission.” I would agree. Not reporting on the story at all does make it appear unimportant or not worth reporting on and therefore shows the bias of the news organization that passed it up. However I do believe there is a lot more at play here.
While this story gives abortion a bad face, it in no way reflects all abortion procedures. In fact, it represents exactly why many abortion rights supporters feel the way they do. They want to give women a safe, sanitary and ethical means to carry out their decision to abort their fetus. So if the media is largely viewed as pro-abortion, wouldn’t this be a story they would immediately want to cover?
 |
| Courtesy of feroniaproject.org |
What Goes Into the Decision?
A lot more goes into the decision about whether to consider something worthy news than simply disregarding it because it could poorly represent the beliefs of those reporting it. First of all you must ask the questions, "Is this news and is it relevant to our viewer demographic?" As sick as it sounds, what makes these seven fetuses and one woman any different from the large amount of other cases that occur yearly?
Also, if your demographic is primarily made up of middle-aged, wealthy men, this story will be less relevant to them, as the problem is largely an issue for poor women. Forty-two percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes below 100 percent of the federal poverty level ($10,830 for a single woman with no children). While it certainly shouldn’t be this way, ratings are obviously a big factor, and running a story that is irrelevant to your viewers will not get the ratings and can turn away advertisers.
As we have spent most of our time discussing in class, there are also many ethical factors that go into the decision to run a story or not. One of which is centered around the premise that internal or external pressures should not affect your obligation to the truth. The ratings or advertisers should not weigh on your ethical decision to run this story.
This is Important
In my opinion it is disturbing that so many national media outlets chose to widely ignore this story yet gave time to tabloid worthy stories such as Miley Cyrus twerking. While it may not be relatable to their viewership, there is a great opportunity to address the nationwide or worldwide problem of illegal abortions and the dangers they represent. They could have looked at the big picture and had an important problem to expose.
Isn’t that what journalists do? Aren’t we supposed to inform citizens about problems that occur in our nation or around the world? Last time I checked, 47,000 women dying annually worldwide because they don’t have the means to receive a safe abortion is a bigger story than Miley Cyrus making an embarrassment of herself and arguably trashing her reputation.
No comments:
Post a Comment