First things first, just to get an obvious point out of the way.
That pesky old First Amendment
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Moving past the bumper stickers
Following the murder of prominent late-term abortion doctor George Tiller, gunned down in the foyer of his church, many mainstream media outlets have run articles about the controversial practice of late-term abortions and the doctors who perform them. This is a good thing. On a public policy issue as heated as late-term abortion, it’s good to provide readers with more information about the practice and who is involved.
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The president, he did acourtin' go
President Obama’s Cairo speech seemed to have a very broad, some would say impossible agenda. First off, to make it evident how he sees the political realities on the ground — and give some hint of his priorities. Second, to reach the broadest possible spectrum of believers with his call for religious liberty and tolerance. Third, of course, and the one that got top billing, to reach out particularly to Muslims around the world. And I’m sure there are some others that I’ve forgotten to mention.
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R.I.P., Carol Whitehead -- you've earned it
One certainty in coverage of George Till’s murder has been Randall Terry’s consistent reference to Tiller as a mass murderer. Terry repeated that message again Wednesday as part of a summer lecture series sponsored by The Rutherford Institute.
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Can you top (less) this?
Wednesday Mollie looked at a story from CNN.com about an odd encounter between a shop-keeper and a would-be robber. It wasn’t clear exactly what, if anything, actually happened during the meeting.
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Two murders, different planets
Here’s a journalistic mystery: Why the difference between news coverage about the murders of abortion specialist George Tiller of Wichita, Kansas, and Army recruiter Pvt. William Long of Conway, Arkansas?
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Savagery by any other name
Sadly, innocent blood has once again been shed in Northern Ireland. Last week in County Londonderry Kevin McDaid was beaten to death by a mob who had left a football match, gone drinking and from there to his Catholic area. According to various media, McDaid was a “community worker” committed to helping reduce tensions in his area. Here’s the lede from the story posted on the Times Online website:
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Fretting about post-Tiller coverage
It’s getting harder and harder to read the coverage of the George Tiller murder, in large part because the Associated Press Stylebook doesn’t have separate references for “pro-life” and “anti-abortion.”
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Another abortion-war casualty
The murder of a physician who performs abortions has become a bewildering ritual of individual desperation, occurring four times since 1993. It also has become a ritual test of journalists’ abilities to report the news calmly and fairly.
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