Update on Newsweek’s flagrantly false story on the March for Life
I previously blogged on Krista Gesaman’s egregiously false Newsweek post on the March for Life here and here.
Due to persistent prodding by dear moderator Carder, I approached Andrew Breitbart’s Big Journalism to join forces with it as a blogger and was accepted. My first post, up today, is on the Newsweek flak.
To update, on January 25 Gesaman posted a nonmea culpa:
There has been quite a storm in the conservative blogosphere over my look-ahead post on the Roe v. Wade anniversary rallies from Friday morning. The bloggers seem to think that I intentionally, or ignorantly, conflated pro-choice young feminists, who I predicted would come out in smaller numbers than their older counterparts, with young pro-life activists….
In fact, my intention, which I acknowledge should have been articulated more clearly, was to note that left-leaning young women who have grown up since Roe v. Wade tend to be less viscerally motivated by the need to preserve Roe. Pro-life young women, on the other hand, have grown up objecting to the status quo on abortion law, and are more likely to be politically active on the subject, as my quote from Olivia Gans demonstrates.
1st, her piece was not a “look-ahead.” By its very title (“Who’s missing at the ‘Roe v. Wade‘ anniversary demonstrations? Young women”) Gesaman portended her piece to be a retrospective.
2nd, Gesaman totally ignored the charges made by 99% of the 99 commenters to date: That she misrepresented the demographics of March for Life attendees and falsely claimed its route had been shortened to account for its decrepit population.
I wrote in a comment that it appears Gesaman and Newsweek are attempting the arrogant, cowardly, and dishonest tactic of riding out the storm sans a retraction.
They may succeed, but we won’t make it easy for them. They not only smear pro-lifers, they also betray Newsweek readers expecting honest reporting.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
they [Gesaman and Newsweak] also betray Newsweek readers expecting
‘honest reporting’.
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Jill,
Are you trying your hand at comedy writing on this new blog?
yor bro ken
Jill,
Congratulations! Great story at big Journalism.com.
The video – Thine Eyes – is amazing. Especially notable:
1) the articulate young woman speaking to a group on a bus ( at, approximately, the 5:30- 6:00 mark) and,
2) the time lapsed video of the crowds marching in the streets (at an earlier point on the video).
“The bloggers seem to think that I intentionally, or ignorantly, conflated pro-choice young feminists, who I predicted would come out in smaller numbers than their older counterparts, with young pro-life activists….”
how about you were both ignorant of your subject and intentionally misleading?
Congratulations. I think you will soon be on television as a pundit.
Great job Jill.
The first column was blasted with great comments. I’m kind of surprised they posted my comment to the “clarification” piece.
I’m kind of thinking we should start marching outside news outlets, just to prove we’re alive.
Make their job a little easier by bringing the march they deny directly to them, since they are the de facto powers that be…
JIll, good for you for not letting Newsweek away with covering the youthful enthusiasm and staggering numbers at the March. Congratulations on the new gig. I’ll be blogging for Newsreal, and my first post will be on this very topic.
Keep the pressure on!
Having been there myself with my family, I must say we were pleasantly amazed by the large numbers of young people (particularly high school and college age) that participated in the march. We were at the front of the march and remained to see the end. It went on for hours. I would say there were more young people than old. I was excited to see Ivy League groups from places like Princeton. Last year, I did see one “Keep abortion legal” sign.This year, I never saw a shred of opposition. I understand from family members, that in years past, many were on the sidelines screaming obscenities at the pro-life marchers. It was a very inspiring experience and suggested very strongly that the thinking is changing in our land. Yes, Newsweek got it all wrong!
By its very title (“Who’s missing at the ‘Roe v. Wade’ anniversary demonstrations? Young women”) Gesaman portended her piece to be a retrospective.”
Remember that writers don’t always get to choose their titles.
I’m inclined to blame poor media coverage on poor leadership in the pro-life movement. Can we expect good media coverage if we tear into crummy reporting without doing much much more to build bridges with the MSM?
If we can’t win over the MSM, we can’t ever become the establishment.