A CNN anchor told his viewers last week that he could not make out for
certain whether there were more pro-life or pro-abortion advocates
demonstrating at the 37th annual March for Life - despite the fact that
conservative estimates place several hundred thousand pro-life
protesters in D.C. that day, compared to a few dozen pro-abortion
counter-demonstrators.
Noting that there was a rally on the Washington Mall, CNN’s Rick
Sanchez asserted, “So as you might imagine there are both sides being
represented.”
But Sanchez then surmised that both sides might have had comparable
numbers present.
“Which side is represented the most Angie, do we know?” Sanchez then
queried to his producer. “Do we know?” When there was no response,
Sanchez went on to promise that CNN would “keep an eye” on the
situation and report on the matter “fairly and squarely.”
While Sanchez was speaking, CNN footage gave the initial impression of
equal pro-life and pro-abortion numbers by using two close-up video
shots of the small cadre of pro-abortion advocates gathered in front of
the Supreme Court building. Another frame showed a close-up of
individuals holding aloft pro-life signs with pro-abortion advocates
jockeying for footage by walking with their signs in front of the
camera.
After the break, CNN then aired a shot that showed a small section of
the vast sea of pro-life advocates that had choked the D.C. streets and
rallied in force around the Supreme Court building, where the march
ended.
At that point Sanchez hesitatingly said: “As far as we can tell,
following this protest on this day, the bulk of the protesters that we
have seen here – that doesn’t mean there aren’t others, because we
haven’t gone out and counted them individually – seem to be
anti-abortion activists. We’ve seen more pro-life signs than we have
the others.”
Tim Graham, an analyst for the Media Research Center, asked in
response: “How clueless can this reporter be?”
“It’s the same way every year: it’s tens of thousands of pro-lifers and
there are seventeen pro-choicers at the court. That’s the way it
works,” Graham told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN).
Graham pointed out that Sanchez’s remarks about the march were as
flabbergasting as the recent Newsweek article that asked “where were
the young women?” Graham quipped, “Well, where the heck were they
(Newsweek)?” indicating that any honest reporter actually covering the
march would have seen that largest demographic present at the march was
young women.
Graham said that CNN’s Sanchez was not the only one guilty of “creating
a false impression,” but that other mainstream outlets typically do the
same by saying simply that “both sides marched.” He cited a Washington
Post article on the march that dedicated half of its coverage to the
pro-choice viewpoint, despite the fact that the march is a pro-life
event, and is usually counter-protested by a mere handful of pro-aborts.
For a number of years, a small number of abortion advocates have
counter-protested the March for Life at the Supreme Court building, in
order to capture the attention of television crews and create the
perception of strong or even equal numbers to pro-life advocates. Last
year, a number of pro-life attendees said they saw that abortion
advocates ceased their protests right when the television crews had
packed up.
However, this year an attempt was made to blunt the pro-abort tactic by
scheduling the testimonies of 45 post-abortive women from “Silent No
More” from approximately 4 – 6 p.m. in front of the Supreme Court, with
hundreds of pro-life marchers remaining in attendance. The
LifeSiteNews.com reporter on the ground at 5 p.m. observed perhaps six
pro-abortion demonstrators, who finally left before the testimonies
ended, when only a FOX News Channel crew remained to cover the goings
on at the Supreme Court.
However, the tactic seems to have done little to dissuade CNN from
“fairly and squarely” understating the number of pro-life protesters
present by a factor of several thousand.
The IFRL is the largest grassroots pro-life organization in
Illinois. A non-profit organization, that serves as the state
coordinating body for local pro-life chapters representing thousands of
Illinois citizens working to restore respect for all human life in our
society. The IFRL is composed of people of different political
persuasions, various faiths and diverse economic, social and ethnic
backgrounds. Since 1973 the Illinois Federation for Right to Life has
been working to end abortion and restore legal protection to those members of the
human family who are threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. Diverse though we are, we hold one common belief - that
every human being has an inalienable right to life that is precious and must be protected. IFRL is
dedicated to restoring the right to life to the unborn, and protection
for the disabled and the elderly.Click here to learn more about the IFRL.
