Blogs
Featured Image

Lots of words could describe the undercover video of Dr. Deborah Nucatola blithely gobbling down salad while talking about Planned Parenthood's willingness to dismember babies, then sell their organs.

People have described it as “macabre,” “disgusting,” “stomach-churning,” and “inexcusable,” among other epithets.

How did the world's largest news agency describe the action? Well, its account was somewhat more…opaque.

David Crary of the Associated Press, clearly miffed at having to cover the video in the first place, began his story by writing, “Anti-abortion activists on Tuesday released an undercover video showing a senior Planned Parenthood official discussing the disposition of parts from aborted fetuses.”

Disposition??

Lest one think this word choice was Crary's alone, the AP then tweeted:

Purdue University's description of AP style says the news agency is guided by four principles: “consistency, clarity, accuracy, brevity.”

Does “disposition of parts from aborted fetuses” follow that dictum? Is the word choice clearer or more accurate than, say, “dissection and sale”?

The medical definition of “disposition” includes only one entry of even limited relevance: “The plan for continuing health care of a patient following discharge from a given health care facility.”

Applying that term to the uprooted organs of aborted children is, to say the least, imprecise.

My, admittedly yellowing, copy of the AP Stylebook says, “In general, any word with a meaning that universally is understood is acceptable…If it is necessary to use an archaic word or an archaic sense of a word, explain the meaning.”

But hiding the meaning is precisely why Crary chose the word that he did.

When it comes to abortion, all journalistic rules go out the window. Suddenly, the Orwellian newspeak squeezes out clear, unquestionable words and reporting.

Of course, this is not the first time the AP has twisted language to distort the news. Nor is it alone.

A few years ago, three reporters for ABC News' Nightline program distorted the pro-life argument, claiming that pro-lifers are “outraged that people like [abortionist Willie] Parker” won't fess up to “the basic biological fact that if the fetus is left unimpeded, a baby will be born.”

Have you ever seen a March for Life sign that proclaimed, “Curtail fetus impediments, forsooth”?

Journalism is no exception to the Abortion Distortion. The medium allegedly aiming for clarity muddies the waters, precisely because the truth hurts their cause.

By revealing the depths of media bias Crary's deception is, in itself, a moment of clarity.

Featured Image

Ben Johnson is U.S. Bureau Chief of LifeSiteNews.com. The author of three books, Ben was Managing Editor of FrontPage Magazine from 2003-10. He is also a regular guest on the AFR Talk network's “Nothing But Truth with Crane Durham.”