In Coverage of Planned Parenthood Smear, Partisan Conflict Crowds Out Reproductive Rights
In Coverage of Planned Parenthood Smear, Partisan Conflict Crowds Out Reproductive Rights
By Janine Jackson
Jan 29 2016
“Indictment Deals Blow to GOP Over Planned Parenthood Battle” was the New York Times‘ choice of headline for a January 26 piece reporting that a Texas grand jury—set to investigate the women’s health organization for selling fetal tissue for profit—found no wrongdoing on the part of Planned Parenthood, and instead indicted members of the anti-abortion group that made the deceptive video promoting the allegation.
From the story, you get that this “startling sign that a Republican campaign against the group has run into trouble” might pose problems for a Ted Cruz candidacy, and that the “war on women” narrative is part of the “Democratic playbook.” You even learn, in the 22nd paragraph of the 22-paragraph piece, that Planned Parenthood doesn’t sell fetal tissue for profit.
What you don’t get, really, is any sense that something as vital as a woman’s control over her own child-bearing is at stake.
A new report from the Women’s Media Center gets at part of why that’s so often the case. Looking at a year’s worth of coverage in big papers and wire services, the study found that women journalists wrote just 37 percent of articles about reproductive issues; 52 percent were written by men, the rest unbylined. In quotes from individuals, quotes from men—in articles about reproductive issues—outnumbered those from women 41 to 33 percent. Male reporters tell 67 percent of presidential election stories related to abortion and contraception.
This is all connected to the fact that reproductive rights are still largely presented as political controversies or culture war pawns above all. The study found that female journalists were more likely than males to use quotes that addressed the issues primarily as matters of women’s health.
More:
http://fair.org/home/in-coverage-of-planned-parenthood-smear-partisan-conflict-crowds-out-reproductive-rights/