The Washington Post placed its March for Life story on page A-10 today (making it more of a national than local story), below a story on the Supreme Court striking down a California sentencing law. The account by reporters Michael Alison Chandler and Michelle Boorstein is a respectful recounting of the march and both sides of the abortion debate.
The story was illustrated by color photos, but in a far too common tactic, the Post balanced a picture of four pro-life demonstrators with "Defend Life" signs in daylight against a photo of four or five feminists with "Keep Abortion Legal" signs at an evening Supreme Court vigil. One side turns out tens of thousands, and the other turned out tens. The Post didn't exactly balance its photos when it came to illegal-alien rallies, not to mention the number of column inches was vastly larger.
At least the Post news article began with the phrase, "Tens of thousands of abortion opponents marched through melting snow on the Mall yesterday." Online, the Post story doesn't carry the feminist photo, but it does have a nice Post.com video of the March which gives you a better sense or feel of the event.
It would be nice for the Post to use a broader photo showing the size of the crowd. But I have no doubt that considering the Democratic majorities in the new Congress, Post staffers felt the pro-life protest couldn't be less relevant or newsworthy.
PS: The award for Phony Baloney Quote of the Day was this:
"We wish those people who are coming in town for a great adventure one day a year would join with us to put forth a prevention-first agenda that would significantly reduce the need for abortion," said Jatrice Martel Gaiter, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington.
With its status as the nation's leading corporate mega-provider of fetal death, Planned Parenthood championing "prevention first" is like Burger King running a "Heart Smart" campaign.
