NPR is instructing its journalists to keep a pro-abortion tone in news reports.
NPR released a memo to its staff instructing them how to report on abortion matters. The memo is titled “Guidance Reminder: On Abortion Procedures, Terminology & Rights.”
Standards and Practices Editor Mark Memmott wrote in the May 15 memo: “The term ‘unborn’ implies that there is a baby inside a pregnant woman, not a fetus. Babies are not babies until they are born. They’re fetuses. Incorrectly calling a fetus a ‘baby’ or ‘the unborn’ is part of the strategy used by antiabortion groups to shift language/legality/public opinion.”
NPR tells journalists told not to use the terms:
– Pro-life
– Late-term abortion
– Partial-birth abortion
– Abortion clinic
– Abortion doctor
– Pro-abortion
– Unborn babyTHE ABORTION PEOPLE KNOW THEY’RE LOSING.https://t.co/vDmvUTtFF8
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) May 22, 2019
The memo is meant to remind NPR staff how to report on abortion matters according to NPR policy. It was likely sent out due to the passing of new abortion legislation in several states. The memo mentions its coverage of legislation in Alabama and Georgia.
The staff are also instructed to refer to abortion doctors and places where abortions are performed using specified language.
“NPR doesn’t use the term ‘abortion clinics.’ We say instead, ‘medical or health clinics that perform abortions.’ The point is to not to use abortion before the word clinic. The clinics perform other procedures and not just abortions.
“Do not refer to murdered Dr. George Tiller as an ‘Abortion Doctor.’ Instead we should say Tiller operated a clinic where abortions are performed. We can also make reference to the fact that Tiller was a doctor who performed late abortions.”
One senses, of course, that the media deliberately and self-consciously uses the techniques of propaganda to skew the debate, but it’s nice to have confirmation.
Abortion Terminology at NPR | National Review https://t.co/XXwNMiF4V8
— Adrian Vermeule (@Vermeullarmine) May 20, 2019
The guide also tells employees to mind the way they refer to people and groups that are for and against abortion.
“On the air, we should use ‘abortion rights supporter(s)/advocate(s)’ and ‘abortion rights opponent(s)’ or derivations thereof (for example: ‘advocates of abortion rights’). It is acceptable to use the phrase ‘anti-abortion rights,’ but do not use the term ‘pro-abortion rights.’ Digital News will continue to use the AP Style Book for online content, which mirrors the revised NPR policy. Do not use ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice’ in copy except when used in the name of a group. Of course, when the terms are used in an actuality they should remain.”
NPR’s Style Guide For Abortion Was Basically Planned Parenthood Propaganda. So We Fixed It https://t.co/95LHbpTMVZ
— The Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 22, 2019
Effort to Defund NPR and Other Public Media
President Trump has sought to remove federal funding from public broadcasting in three past budget proposals, Broadcasting and Cable reported.
The president sought to implement a budget plan that would wind down federal funding over two years for public broadcasting, and instead have public broadcasting utilize the private donations that make up the majority of their funding anyway.
The president’s proposal has not yet been implemented because it did not gain enough traction in Congress in the past three sessions.
The federal government currently provides $445 million for public broadcasting, which is distributed to public media by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Federal funding makes up 15 percent of the budget for public broadcasters, according to Broadcasting and Cable.
This is creepily Orwellian.
Keep in mind that taxpayer-subsidized NPR ‘should’ be apolitical and non-partisan, but here is a fine example of NPR advancing a particular social agenda:
NPR Guidance Reminder: On Abortion Procedures, Terminology & Rights https://t.co/7pyyUazhOe
— Madisonian Freedom (@Madison4Freedom) May 21, 2019
Publicly Funded Bias
The Media Research Center (MRC) has a section on its website that reveals the bias in NPR’s reporting.
“The only ones who seem not to know that the left has a massive, taxpayer-funded radio network of 700 affiliates are the liberals trying to sell investors on their own private-sector talk-radio network,” wrote MRC, before pointing out various examples of bias in NPR’s work.
I hear these stories constantly, too. I know people personally who have been told to abort by doctors over minor birth defects, or health conditions that ended up not existing.
Abortion-on-demand has polluted the medical community & turned doctor’s offices into death chambers. https://t.co/WFByY6QKJf
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) May 22, 2019
