Again and again, our moral, ethical, and intellectual betters in the media find themselves being shamed into covering a big news story they don’t want sullying their uncalloused hands. They’ve been forced to talk about Rielle Hunter, Van Jones, Anthony Weiner, Jeremiah Wright, and all the other unpleasant, inconvenient stories that fall into the category Mickey Kaus has dubbed “undernews.” Those damn wingnut bloggers keep scooping them. And these gatekeepers, these guardians of truth, always spend a little time whining and mewling about it. They try to justify and/or deny their own silence.
That’s where we are right now with the story of Philadelphia abortionist and alleged mass-murderer Kermit Gosnell.
For example, here’s CNN’s Howard Kurtz yesterday (courtesy of Noel Sheppard):
“Okay, okay, so we stink. But you wingnuts didn’t do our jobs for us either!”
And notice that Kurtz refers to these murder victims as “fetuses.” Several other media outlets have made the same error, intentionally or not. They weren’t fetuses. They were babies. But apparently, a lot of media folks think a human being is a fetus until it’s old enough to run away from the guy who’s trying to kill it.
Here’s Margaret Sullivan, “public editor” for the New York Times, mildly dismissing the idea that a story on page A17 at the start of the trial (which also calls the victims “fetuses”) is insufficient coverage:
.@tenuto I’ve reviewed Times #gosnell coverage. Not insubstantial, and pretty typical for such a case.Could be more but that’s always true.
— Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) April 12, 2013
Hey, whaddaya gonna do? The NYT has more important stories to cover, like how you’re killing the planet by throwing away your old TV.
It’s not a media blackout, you ignorant teabaggers. It’s a media brownout. The trick is to cover an inconvenient news story just enough that they can point to it later (“See? See??“), but not so much that people actually find out about it.
All of which leads us to this: Snopes.com confirms that Kermit Gosnell is real.
Note to Howard Kurtz, Margaret Sullivan, and all you other “media watchdogs”: If you were doing your jobs, nobody would be asking anything like this. I don’t see Snopes verifying the existence of Adam Lanza.
(Hat tip: James Taranto)
Update: Battle waged over proposed deletion of disgraced abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell’s Wikipedia page. And why does someone want to delete it? Because the news hasn’t been covering his trial. It’s just a “local multiple-murder story in Pennsylvania.” Well, all crimes are local stories until the news trucks pull up. Just ask George Zimmerman.
Update:
Binders full of women: OUTRAGE!!! Jars full of babies’ feet: Meh. #Gosnell
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 12, 2013
The media is reluctant to report on Kermit #Gosnell because then they’ll have to figure out how he’s different than any other abortionist.
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 12, 2013
Silly wingnuts. Did Kermit #Gosnell use a gun? No, he did not. Therefore, THOSE dead children do not matter. Here endeth the lesson.
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 12, 2013
How old does somebody have to be before it’s wrong to cut off their feet and store them in jars? Take your time, lefties.
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 13, 2013
Too boring for your show, though. RT @terrymoran Kermit Gosnell is probably the most successful serial killer in the history of the world.
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 13, 2013
If you think Mitch McConnell holding a campaign meeting is bigger news than Kermit #Gosnell pickling babies’ feet, #YouMightBeALiberal.
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 13, 2013
If Newtown is a national news story, so is Kermit #Gosnell. I think they’re both important. Why don’t you?
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 14, 2013
What was Newtown, then? MT @motherjones Kermit Gosnell is about to become the right-wing’s pet rock for April ow.ly/k2n0w
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 14, 2013
Imagine if the media didn’t cover 9/11: “Hey, we already covered the ’93 WTC bombing!” That’s kind of what they’re doing with #Gosnell now.
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 14, 2013
I don’t remember Wayne LaPierre or anybody else in the NRA claiming that Adam Lanza’s victims weren’t human beings. #Gosnell
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 14, 2013
Did Kermit #Gosnell ever put his dog on the roof of his car? There must be some sort of news angle here…
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 14, 2013
Update: More excuses.
Update: Mollie Hemingway tried to get a WaPo “health policy reporter” named Sarah Kliff to explain why Gosnell isn’t an important story. Kliff was every bit as honest and transparent as you’d expect.
