So we sometimes scream into our pillows at night “How did the truth become a lie, didn’t 1984 WARN us about this??” And then we fall asleep clutching our pillow. But now we’ve got some cold, hard, scary as hell facts to scream into our pillow at night too. While many of us get our news from a Twitter echosphere, the good folks at Media Matters have for a year been watching FOX NEWS (oh boy, we are so sorry) and MSNBC and CNN to check up on what kind of misinformation is being spread about abortion. And it turns out the answer is ALL OF IT.
You know how all anti-choice politicians have been doubling down on the “abortion UNTIL birth and sometimes after” lie that seems… so ludicrous that it shouldn’t even HAVE to be checked but also like… it needs to be corrected every time you hear it!!?! Well networks are playing these soundbites and talking points and NOT CHECKING if they’re true or not or not BOTHERING to put them into clear context.
83% of statements about abortion on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox were inacurate. And of the three networks statements on abortion Fox News aired 94% of stories. We’re not MAKING IT UP when we say that the news doesn’t cover abortion! Now this study is from pre-all the big bans but… it was NOT pre-states building momentum to pass these bans!
And the fact that CNN is still wrong 67% of the time on abortion is… horrifying. So much for liberal news bias. And MSNBC isn’t much better (wrong 40% of the time)… and you know they’re only more right because of our girl Rachel Maddow. And… credit where credit is due The Beat aired 7 abortion-related stories and they were ALL RIGHT.
But still, this is not enough. These cold hard facts should be a wake-up call. Because if the other side is spreading lies, then our side is at least being complicit in it with NOT covering stories as much as they should AND not covering them accurately when they do.
If you’re a cable news outlet looking to cover abortion, may we suggest you interview Dr. Monica McLemore of Monica Simpson. They’ll tell you the truth!
