Tuesday May 16, 2006
Most Extensive Ever Mass Media Coverage of March for Life Canada
CBC, National Post, Toronto Star Offered No Coverage
By John-Henry Westen
OTTAWA, May 16, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The ninth annual March for Life which took place last Thursday attracting some 5,700 participants garnered more press coverage than in any previous year. However, the public broadcaster - CBC television, the nation's largest circulation paper - The Toronto Star - and the supposedly 'conservative' National Post all offered no coverage.
(coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06051502.html)
CTV and Global television both offered reports on the March for Life. (See on line article: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060511/abortion_activists_...
Note that the photos do not show any youth and mostly older men)
CTV, in addition to news coverage of the march (See link below) offered a panel discussion on the "pro-life debate" which ran over 6 minutes providing pro-life MPs Tom Wappel (Liberal) and Maurice Vellacott (Conservative) the opportunity to express their defence of the right to life for unborn Canadians. (See link below)
Over a dozen newspapers across the country covered the story with at least a minor mention. A Canadian Press story on the March was picked up by many of those newspapers and a few papers wrote stories based on the experiences of local pro-lifers in attendance.
It came as little surprise to pro-life leaders that the biased public broadcaster CBC television and the left-leaning Toronto Star did not cover the March, however, many were surprised that the supposedly 'conservative' National Post also failed to offer coverage.
A letter by Sammy Kurusmather, an 18-year-old Brampton Ontario high school student, published in today's National Post states, "As a daily reader of the National Post, I was really disappointed that your newspaper did not have even a few lines about the March for Life rally in Ottawa last Thursday." Kurusmather added: "This year's event was one of the biggest ever, with youth outnumbering the older anti-abortion advocates. This is a cause thousands of youth support: We are not only the future -- we are the present, and we want to be heard."
The abortion issue remains an issue of great contention in Canada since in the absence of a law on the matter there are no legal restrictions on abortion. Recent polls indicate that a majority of Canadians would like to see human life protected by law at some point before birth. (coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05111502.html)
Apart from media blackout, the newspaper which offered the most distorted coverage of the March was the Globe and Mail. While a head-count at the March found over 5,700 participants, and the CP coverage noted "several thousand", the Globe reported "several hundred" on Parliament Hill. (see the Globe coverage: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060512.ABORTION12/TPStory/?qu...)
To express your concerns:
Letter to National Post:
Letter to Toronto Star:
Letter to Globe and Mail
Concerns about CBC to Minister of Canadian Heritage:
Beverley Oda
* See two CTV news video clips (links at right side of page) at:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060511/abortion_activists_...
See Monday's LifeSiteNews.com stories on the March for Life
Fr. Pavone: Terri Shiavo's Room was "Thick" with Prayers and Thoughts of Supporters
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06051501.html
Canadian March for Life 2006 - 5,700 Take Part - Goal Set for 10,000 Next Year
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06051502.html
Latest Headlines
- Cardinal Rigali: You Can't Claim to be "Reducing Abortions" but Publicly Funding them in D.C.

- General Electric to Use Embryonic Stem Cells for Testing, Phase out Lab Rats

- Ohio Supreme Court Allows Planned Parenthood to Conceal Abortion Records in Sexual Abuse Case

- LifeSiteNews Canada Day and Independence Day Message. Taking a few days off. LSN returns Monday July 6

- Heroically Pro-Life Brazilian Archbishop's Resignation Accepted Under Cloud of Vatican Newspaper Misrepresentation

- Pro-Life Groups Announce New Colorado Personhood Initiative

- Judge Puts Kibosh on DC Gay "Marriage" Referendum

- Al Franken Win Hands Supermajority to Senate Democrats

- Group Funded by Canadian Bishops' D&P Joins with Others to Denounce the "Natural Family" and "Family Rights"

- Financially Troubled Planned Parenthood of El Paso Closes Doors

- Abortion Linked to Subsequent Pre-Term Births, New Research Again Confirms

- New Orleans Homosexual Couple Ask Fed. Court to Overturn Marriage Amendment

- Slim Hope Of New Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Promoting Pro-Life, Pro-Family Issues

- Pope Accepts Resignation of Bishop Caught Involved in Homosexual Encounters

- Young Children Removed from UK Schools for "Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour"

- Northern Ireland Politician Cleared of Wrongdoing after Reiterating Christian Teaching on Homosexual Acts

- UK Conservative Leader Speaks at Gay Pride Fundraiser

- More Letters to the Editor on Canadian Catholic Development and Peace Scandal (July 1)

- Letters to the Editor - Readers Respond to Development and Peace Scandal

- Watch This Dramatic New Video on Catholic Bishops Conference Funding of Pro-Abortion Groups

Most Read this Week
- Homosexual Duke U. Director Charged with Offering Adopted 5-Year-Old for Sex
- Famed Fr. Corapi Calls Canadian Bishops' Dissent from Humanae Vitae "Catastrophic"
- Pope: It is a Childish Faith to Oppose the Church Teaching on Life and Family
- Heroically Pro-Life Brazilian Archbishop's Resignation Accepted Under Cloud of Vatican Newspaper Misrepresentation
- LifeSiteNews Detailed Response to Canadian Bishops' Whitewash Report on Development and Peace
- Young Children Removed from UK Schools for "Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour"
- General Electric to Use Embryonic Stem Cells for Testing, Phase Out Lab Rats
- Is Pro-Choice the New Pro-Life?
- Swedish Parents Won't Tell if Child is Boy or Girl as Gender Experiment
- Cardinal Rigali: You Can't Claim to be "Reducing Abortions" but Publicly Funding them in D.C.
MORE NEWS:
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page
Last 10 Days
Archives
Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.







Back to Top