021074 Pro-abortion media

What we know is that television, radio and newspapers willingly give attention to any disruptive demonstration that comes along.

A couple of dozen people, demonstrating against the government, a business or an institution can expect full television coverage and generous space in the newspapers.

Last fall when the U.S. Bishops met in Washington a half dozen people showed up at the hotel to make a protest and they got almost as much space as the meeting of the bishops in the newspapers and their protest was recorded by television.

So what happened when thousands of people demonstrated against the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion and in favor of an amendment to protect all human life? They were almost ignored by the news media.

Five years ago when a handful of National Association of Laity dissidents protested at the U.S. Bishops' meeting, it was a front page story in the New York Times. But the demonstration of thousands of people against abortion made only the back page of the first section of the same paper.

The Washington Post, in the city where the biggest demonstration took place, carried a story on page six and gave equal space to those who favor abortion.

The Chicago Sun-Times, which openly supports abortion but as a newspaper should be expected to report the news, the day after the nation-wide demonstrations carried a photograph of anti-abortion demonstrators but accompanied it with a long story in which all the space was devoted to advocates of abortion. Among those quoted was a priest, Father Carl Lezak, who is without assignment in the archdiocese of Chicago, in favor of abortion. This man not only advocated abortion but denounced Cardinal Cody for supporting an anti-abortion amendment as offering "an insult" to those trying to deal with abortion.

Lezak, of course, is a good example of what happens when the Church is hesitant to excommunicate those who proclaim themselves as the enemies of the Church but the significant thing is that a newspaper should seek out a man like this for comment, should show such bias in its news columns.

The day of the anti-abortion demonstrations, NBC's Today show offered what was supposed to be a debate on the issue. But in the closing, Barbara Walters asked each to summarize their views. The pro-abortion speaker did so. The anti-abortion speaker started to, got a sentence in and Barbara Walters interrupted to turn the camera back to the pro-abortionists. The next day the Today show totally ignored the Washington demonstration, gave a pro-abortion speaker an opportunity to state a position, then showed scenes at a Mass of Reparation in Chicago and a few brief excerpts from the Cardinal's homily.

NC News Service reported there were 15,000 people in the demonstration at Washington, an estimate confirmed by the sponsors of the rally who said they had 15,000 bus reservations. But the Associated Press in a roundup story on the day, which gave the major space to pro-abortionists, said that "hundreds" of people demonstrated in Washington.

Why is it the news media did such a biased job on the coverage of the anti-abortion demonstrations? Since they have in the past given given much space to even minor demonstrations you have to conclude that in this case they acted out of pro-abortion bias.