The Main Stream Media Silence Is Deafening (& Telling)

Last week I put up a post about how over $1.6 billion dollars of government money given to Planned Parenthood was unaccounted for. (Planned Parenthood or Planned EMBEZZLEMENT?????) Since then the count has been adjusted to about $1.3 billion. Still you would think that that much money being unaccounted for would draw the attention of the Main Stream Media. & maybe that would be true, if the group were anyone else but Planned Parenthood.

An article posted Wednesday on Newsbusters website points out how we are seeing the Main Stream Media Ignore Planned Parenthood's $1.3 Billion Federal Funding Discrepancy instead of covering it. The article points out that "The $1.3 billion discrepancy failed to catch the attention of the nation's major media outlets. None of the networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) or major newspapers (Los Angeles times(sic), The New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post) reported it."

It goes on to say that: "A Culture and Media Institute review of coverage found that only one newspaper listed among Nexis' "major newspapers" - The Houston Chronicle - even mentioned the GAO report. The Chronicle's June 16 article noted that Planned Parenthood spent $657 million of federal money over seven years, but did not mention the income/outlay discrepancy."

But why bite the hand that feeds you, esp when you are both on the same side of the abortion issue & reporting this would undermine you attempts to paint PP & the abortion industry as the good guys & us Pro-lifers as the bad guys, wackos etc. As anyone who has been following this blog in recent weeks knows, I am speaking from personal experience, not merely from observing how it treats others. But, what happenned to me is the rule, not the exception when it comes to the MSM & its covering of Pro-aborts vs Pro-Lifers.

As the article points out: "From Dec. 28, 2009, to June 28, 2010, the broadcast networks and the "Big 4" newspapers mentioned Planned Parenthood 56 times in news stories. None of those stories mentioned the GAO report, and only one article reported the amount of federal money going to Planned Parenthood." & while the MSM does mention other Pro-abortion groups it clearly has made PP its pet. Compare PP's 56 time to the National Organization for Women's 30 times & NARAL Pro-Choice America's 15.

The article cites the following examples: "When abortion was a major focus of health care reform debates, the media turned to Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards and other affiliated representatives to statements and analysis. When the media celebrated the 50th anniversary of "the Pill," the media commemorated Planned Parenthood's role in making it possible.
A February 26 profile in The Washington Post painted a glowing picture of abortion doctor Carol Ball. The article described a "difficult time" for Ball and other doctors who perform late term abortions in South Dakota.
When Planned Parenthood produced an ad in response to Focus on the Family's pro-life Super Bowl ad, the media praised it. USA Today noted it "defend[ed] abortion rights," although the Focus on the Family ad did not target abortion "rights."
The New York Times on January 27 turned to Richards on the increase in teen pregnancy rates, and she used the opportunity bash abstinence education. "This new study makes it crystal clear that abstinence-only sex education for teenagers does not work," Richards said.
In addition to news reports related to Planned Parenthood, newspapers published five letters to the editor from readers mentioning the organization and fives letters to the editor from Planned Parenthood executives.
Another seven op-eds and entertainment reviews mentioned Planned Parenthood, as well as 15 death notices, and a couple of comedians' jokes. All told, the networks and newspapers mentioned Planned Parenthood more than 80 times in the last six months."

The silence about the missing $1.3+ billion is telling. It once again shows that the MSM is anything but unbiased like it claims. It shows that the MSM will also go the extra mile to cover up for PP. Look at how it has ignored the work of Live Action that shows how PP covers up rape & incest as well as how PP presents medical misinformation while attacking crisis pregnancy centers & accusing them of doing what, in reality, PP is doing.

If it had been Catholic Charities or a Catholic diocese, for example, that had come up even a few million short you can be sure this would have made the news. & $1.3 billion would have been the lead story for days on end. But PP can (& literally does) get away with murder, malfeasance & fraud with little to no consequences. & the MSM is their biggest enabler.

See also: Where is the Mainstream Media?