MediaWatch: December 1991
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: December 1991
- "Civil Rights"
- NewsBites: News Fools Tonight
- Revolving Door: To Kennedy's Defense
- Reporters Can't Resist Lumping Republicans With Nazis
- Middle Class Mythology
- DoonesBury's Pet Perjurer
- Abortion Manipulation
- NBC's Hatchet Job
- Janet Cooke Award: Philadelphia Inquirer or National Enquirer
Abortion Manipulation
One-Sided Sneaks
On Halloween night, ABC's Prime Time Live tried to scare viewers about pro-life crisis pregnancy centers pregnancy centers. ABC used hidden cameras to get footage inside the centers, which offer pregnant women advice and counseling instead of abortions. In fact, all three networks used hidden cameras to "expose" the centers by having female staffers walk in and lie about whether they were pregnant. What caused this wave of anti-anti-abortion investigations?
The National Coalition of Abortion Providers Executive Director Ron Fitzsimmons wrote in a September 4 memo: "I went to the ABC program Prime Time several weeks ago and they immediately agreed to do an 'expose' on the issue of crisis pregnancy centers.
Fitzsimmons boasted to MediaWatch about his manipulation of the story. "[Prime Time producer] Ben Sherwood is mad at me about that memo, those words I used. It looked like I was directing that whole show. But I was on the phone every day. I gave him all of that stuff. I gave him all of those names and clinics. Ben would call me every day and ask me about the situation in certain states. This story would not have been possible without the hearing," he said, "and that was my idea." All three networks used a congressional hearing chaired by Rep. Ron Wyden as a news hook for their investigations. Fitzsimmons added: "Certainly I had the sense that they were very sympathetic."
Now that Planned Parenthood's clinics are prevented by law from using their federal money to promote abortion, will the networks now send their hidden cameras into Planned Parenthood's clinics? Don't hold your breath.
