{"id":857356,"date":"2021-10-07T17:29:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T21:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=857356"},"modified":"2021-10-07T17:29:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T21:29:18","slug":"media-bias-101-pro-life-restrictions-vs-pro-abortion-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-bias-101-pro-life-restrictions-vs-pro-abortion-protections\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Bias 101: Pro-life \u2018Restrictions\u2019 vs. Pro-Abortion \u2018Protections\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmedia-bias-101-pro-life-restrictions-vs-pro-abortion-protections%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=857356&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-07-at-4.12.52-PM.png?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>In a matter of weeks, the <a href=\"https:\/\/legiscan.com\/TX\/text\/SB8\/id\/2395961\">Texas Heartbeat Act<\/a> has become one of the most covered news stories of the year; unfortunately, much of that coverage has been biased from the moment of its conception. The level of partisan journalism rose even higher on Thursday night, as an Obama-appointed judge issued an order <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/obama-appointed-judge-issues-order-blocking-texas-law-that-protects-unborn-babies\">blocking<\/a> courts from enforcing the Texas law, which protects unborn babies with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/chris-cuomo-suggests-babies-dont-have-a-heartbeat-at-6-weeks-heres-what-science-says\">fetal heartbeat<\/a> from being aborted.<\/p>\n<p>The legacy media\u2019s attempt to manipulate the narrative through the use of language became clear, as nearly every story on the subject includes the exact same words \u2014 or more specifically, one word:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>NPR\u2019s \u201cMorning Edition\u201d told its listeners (at your expense), \u201cA federal judge has temporarily blocked the state\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/live-updates\/morning-edition-2021-10-07\">restrictive abortion law<\/a>\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>The New York Times describes the \u201cstrict Texas law\u201d as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/10\/06\/us\/politics\/texas-abortion-law.html\">the most restrictive in the country<\/a>\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>USA Today reported, \u201cFederal judge blocks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2021\/10\/06\/federal-judge-blocks-texas-restrictive-abortion-law\/6030311001\/\">Texas restrictive abortion law<\/a>,\u201d working into the headline that the judge said the law could cause \u201cirreparable harm\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>The world\u2019s largest news service, the Associated Press, issued a breaking news bulletin that read, \u201cFederal judge orders Texas to suspend <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ap-news-alert-texas-health-f63093db3db3fb2d93cae0d02f4a7ad8\">the nation\u2019s most restrictive abortion law<\/a>, which banned most abortions statewide\u201d;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/judge-orders-texas-to-suspend-new-law-banning-most-abortions\/2021\/10\/06\/2a06f548-2709-11ec-8739-5cb6aba30a30_story.html\">The Washington Post<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Health\/wireStory\/federal-judge-orders-texas-suspend-nations-restrictive-abortion-80446503\">ABC News<\/a> both published an AP story that begins, \u201cA federal judge ordered Texas to suspend the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/abortion-us-supreme-court-business-texas-courts-5eb085acee67615da3623212953220c9\">most restrictive abortion law in the U.S.<\/a>\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>CNN\u2019s Don Lemon called the Texas Heartbeat Act \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/transcripts.cnn.com\/show\/cnnt\/date\/2021-10-06\/segment\/01\">restrictive<\/a>\u201d five times in <a href=\"https:\/\/transcripts.cnn.com\/show\/cnnt\/date\/2021-10-06\/segment\/02\">two hours<\/a>; and<\/li>\n<li>The U.S. media\u2019s parrot-like press coverage has affected foreign outlets, as state-run media entities like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-58507206\">BBC<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20211007-us-judge-temporarily-blocks-restrictive-texas-abortion-law\">France 24<\/a>, and Germany\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/us-supreme-court-allows-restrictive-texas-abortion-law\/a-59055111\">Deutsche Welle<\/a> call the law \u201crestrictive.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The continual use of the same adjective reveals more than the legacy media\u2019s lemming-like conformity and lack of imagination. Their word choice proves that the mass media have already accepted one side of the abortion debate, and their stories exist to promote their preexisting biases.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What to notice<\/strong>: The legacy media always refer to pro-life bills that protect human beings from being aborted as \u201crestrictions,\u201d \u201crestrictive,\u201d or \u201cstrict.\u201d On the other hand, they call laws that remove protections for unborn children \u201cprotections,\u201d because they \u201cprotect\u201d abortion and its practitioners.<\/p>\n<p>This bias is not restricted to just the Texas bill, nor to one or two reporters, but appears in the language surrounding&nbsp;<em>every <\/em>pro-life bill, in <em>every <\/em>news outlet, <em>every <\/em>time.<\/p>\n<p>First, let\u2019s look at the pro-life policies the media consider \u201crestrictions\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Not forcing taxpayers to fund U.S. abortions<\/em>: NBC News referred to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/fact-check-do-most-americans-oppose-the-hyde-amendment\">Hyde Amendment<\/a>, which protects taxpayers from funding most cases of abortion-on-demand, as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/congress\/democrats-promise-biden-era-abortion-showdown-over-hyde-amendment-n1251619\">Hyde restrictions<\/a>.\u201d The policy is favored by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kofc.org\/en\/resources\/news-room\/polls\/kofc-americans-opinions-on-abortion012021.pdf\">58%<\/a> of Americans;<\/li>\n<li><em>Not forcing taxpayers to fund overseas abortions<\/em>: The Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2021\/03\/09\/bide-schakowsky-abortions-helms-amendment\/\">reported<\/a> that President Joe Biden lifted \u201crestrictions\u201d on taxpayer funding of foreign abortions, including the 1973 Helms Amendment; 77% of Americans, and 55% of Democrats, oppose using taxpayer funds to pay for abortions in foreign nations;<\/li>\n<li><em>Not forcing taxpayers to fund abortion advocacy and referrals<\/em>: When President Donald Trump announced that those who receive U.S. taxpayer funding may not refer women for an abortion, the Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/e0bf2658969c482bb9addf40eb5bd667\">reported<\/a>, \u201cTrump abortion restrictions effective immediately\u201d;<\/li>\n<li><em>Protecting babies from being aborted based on their race, sex, or cognitive delay status<\/em>: The Washington Post complained that \u201cIndiana, which already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation, made it illegal to abort a fetus because it is diagnosed with Down syndrome or because of its race or gender\u201d;<\/li>\n<li><em>Requiring abortionists to meet standard surgical requirements<\/em>. CBS News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/supreme-court-louisiana-abortion-law-striken-down\/\">described<\/a> a Louisiana law requiring abortionists to have the right to admit patients to a nearby hospital in the (all-too-frequent) event of a <a href=\"http:\/\/therightswriter.com\/2014\/07\/james-garners-mother-died-of-a-botched-abortion-like-too-many-other-women\/\">botched abortion<\/a> as a restriction, although <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/32-medical-societies-support-admitting-privileges-abortion-advocates-fighting\/\">admitting privileges are<\/a> required for virtually every other form of surgery; and<\/li>\n<li><em>Just about anything else<\/em>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2019\/05\/09\/which-states-are-blocking-abortion-and-which-are-enacting-protections\/\">The Washington Post<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/07\/09\/1014475875\/abortion-rights-laws-states-record-conservatives\">NPR<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/05\/18\/us\/abortion-laws-states\/index.html\">CNN<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/1\/22\/10814834\/roe-v-wade-anniversary-restrictions\">Vox News<\/a> refer to all pro-life laws as \u201crestrictions.\u201d For example, NBC News\u2019 list of \u201crestrictions\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/these-texas-women-struggled-get-abortion-new-law-it-would-n1280196\">included<\/a> any \u201cwaiting period, state-mandated counseling, an ultrasound and a requirement that minors get permission from a parent or guardian or receive a judicial bypass.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, consider the things the media describe as \u201cprotections\u201d in the abortion debate.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>On September 29, Andrea Mitchell of NBC News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbusters.org\/blogs\/nb\/brad-wilmouth\/2021\/10\/01\/andrea-mitchell-plots-strategy-radical-abortion-guests\">said<\/a> that the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/house-to-vote-on-measure-codifying-roe-v-wade-decision-into-federal-law\">Women\u2019s Health Protection Act<\/a>,\u201d which would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/kamala-harris-defends-abortion-birth-woman-should-paul-bois\">strike down<\/a> nearly every pro-life law nationwide, \u201ccodified protections against challenges with threats to <em>Roe&nbsp;v. Wade<\/em>\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>When New York state passed its own version of this bill in 2019, the AP\u2019s David Klepper <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/d9c56babf0a14593bae804e841249937\">wrote<\/a> that the Empire State had \u201cenacted one of the nation\u2019s strongest protections for abortion rights. \u2026 Nine other states including California, Washington and Oregon have already put protections for abortion rights in their state statute.\u201d; and<\/li>\n<li>CNN produced a map of states \u201cprotecting the right to abortion\u201d The Washington Post did one better, producing a color-coded map of the United States that graphically depicts which states have \u201cmore restrictions\u201d and which have \u201cmore protections.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The opening line of a CBS News story perfectly encapsulated the state of the legacy media\u2019s reporting: \u201cThe Supreme Court reaffirmed abortion protections on Monday, striking down a Louisiana abortion restriction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This laden word choice is deeply important, because only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanpressinstitute.org\/publications\/reports\/survey-research\/how-americans-get-news\/\">40%<\/a> of people ever read a news story beyond the headline, according to a study from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the American Press Institute. Shallow knowledge and outrage also drive social media, where <a href=\"https:\/\/hal.inria.fr\/hal-01281190\">59%<\/a> of Twitter users share stories without ever reading them.<\/p>\n<p>The impact of media bias is obvious: When readers read a headline saying that a state passed a new \u201crestriction,\u201d it produces a negative connotation. When they read that a state passed a new \u201cprotection,\u201d it produces a positive connotation. So, what lies behind this editorial choice?<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWords matter\u201d<\/strong>: The stark contrast in media coverage of pro-life and anti-life laws is certainly not because journalists do not appreciate the importance of language. On the contrary, they are keenly self-conscious about the way word choice affects their coverage. For example, the Associated Press ran a <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/donald-trump-capitol-siege-riots-media-8000ce7db2b176c1be386d945be5fd6a\">lengthy<\/a>, navel-gazing story by David Bauder about whether the January 6 Capitol Riot should be called a riot, a protest, or an insurrection, because \u201cwords matter.\u201d And the media certainly believe words matter when it comes to abortion. In 2019, NPR issued an official \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/memmos\/2019\/05\/15\/723678750\/guidance-reminder-on-abortion-procedures-terminology-rights\">Guidance Reminder<\/a>\u201d&nbsp;that its employees should never use the phrase \u201cthe unborn\u201d and adding the scientifically dubious and self-refuting sentence, \u201cBabies are not babies until they are born.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press is right about one thing: language matters. Americans would not describe a bill that outlaws dog-fighting \u201charsh,\u201d \u201cstrict,\u201d or \u201crestrictive.\u201d The media did not describe their proponents as \u201czealots\u201d or \u201cfanatics,\u201d nor did they call <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newbernsj.com\/news\/20180227\/michael-vicks-case-highlights-cruelty-of-dogfighting\">Michael Vick<\/a> a \u201csporting rights advocate\u201d for taking part in such bloody, abusive spectacles. \u201cCertainly mainstream reporters, who weren\u2019t in the bag for criminal franchises that sponsor vicious dog-fights, wouldn\u2019t use such language,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/stream.org\/i-dont-favor-strict-laws-banning-abortion-dog-fighting\/\">wrote<\/a> John Zmirak at The Stream. \u201cNor would we speak of \u2018harsh\u2019 laws banning spousal rape, domestic violence, or child porn\u201d:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"9\">\n<p><em>But news organizations whose staff overwhelmingly favor legal abortion, from bottom to top, use such language about laws intended to protect unborn children. \u2026 Not only do most journalists agree on abortion; most of them don\u2019t even have any pro-life friends.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In fact, journalists use this wording with the full knowledge that it <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/supreme-court-abortion-15-week-ban-5d066a9dc0030a4f8297711f341c9f5a\">mimics the language<\/a> of the abortion industry. Yet they employ this formulation, because they have decided that abortion is a positive good, an unalienable right, and that any law seeking to override the unrestricted right to abortion in any case and for any reason is harmful. Their stories\u2019 content follows their word choice. With these ideological presuppositions, they produce pieces of advocacy rather than works of journalism.<\/p>\n<p>Zmirak says the first step toward reality is to refuse to perpetuate inaccurate language about pro-life protections:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"14\">\n<p><em>Don\u2019t speak of \u201cbanning\u201d abortions. Talk about \u201cprotecting unborn Americans.\u201d Hence we should say that a law \u201cprotects unborn Americans starting at 20 weeks after conception.\u201d Or that a law \u201cdenies protection to unborn Americans conceived by rape.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Don\u2019t call a good law \u201charsh\u201d or even \u201cstrict.\u201d Call it \u201cprincipled\u201d and \u201ccomprehensive.\u201d Don\u2019t call a weak law \u201cliberal\u201d but \u201clax.\u201d Describe our current situation, where a child may be aborted for any reason all through the nine months of pregnancy as \u201cchaotic.\u201d It\u2019s a \u201cWild West,\u201d \u201cDarwinian\u201d legal climate where women and doctors have \u201cthe power of life and death over every unborn American.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Until the legacy media \u2014 or even some <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/5896949\/donald-trump-not-pro-life\/\">self-proclaimed conservatives<\/a> \u2014 get this right, the least informed media consumers can do is notice the game being played.<\/p>\n<p><em>This is the second in a collection of articles dissecting the ways the media bias news stories. Read <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/how-the-media-use-and-abuse-interviews-to-push-their-narrative\"><em>part one<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a matter of weeks, the Texas Heartbeat Act has become one of the most covered news stories of the year; unfortunately, much of that coverage has been biased from &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-857356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}