#3 - S/anted Reporting

Hello again, it has been some time since I last published. Today I will be discussing a video I found on YouTube that speaks about abortion. I will provide time stamps for reference along with the link to the video, provided below: 

The Real Dishonesty Of The Abortion Debate

    To start the video, Mika Brzezinski examines and discusses an article called "The Dishonesty of the Abortion Debate" by Caitlin Flanagan. I will also provide a link to that as well. 

    From 00:14 to 02:38 Mika reads from the article by Caitlin. She reads some points from the article but leaves out important portions of it consequently, risking the credibility of the video. For example, the “Lysol-Induced Criminal Abortion” incident that occurred in 1956 was about how four women tried to have an abortion by having the chemical agent Lysol, injected into their wombs. 

(Picture taken from "The Dishonesty of the Abortion Debate" by Caitlin Flanagan)

    Mika says this to communicate and reinforce the message of "...no matter what the law says, women will continue to get abortions..." (03:07). While it is true, mentioning it but leaving out the major chunks that drove the harsh reality of abortions not professionally and medically done, does more harm than good. The results ended up being very serious, two women had tissue necrosis and two had unusual and persistent bleeding. Of those four women, three survived and one passed away. 

(All pictures taken from "The Dishonesty of the Abortion Debate" by Caitlin Flanagan)

    Mika reads from the article, "...because, in the relatively recent past, women would allow strangers to brutalize them. To poke knitting needles and wire hangers into their wombs. To thread catheters through their cervixes and fill them with Lysol or scalding hot water or lie. Women have been willing to risk death to get an abortion" (03:13 to 00:38). During this her tone is serious and full of concern. She is saying the harm it does to others but is not really saying the true effect abortions have when performed illegally. In addition to the woman being hurt, others are affected, the husbands and children especially. Caitlin finishes the article with an emotional story after the woman's death. Thus sticking a heavy thought to the reader as to how they could be affected by this too.

(All pictures taken from "The Dishonesty of the Abortion Debate" by Caitlin Flanagan)

    To reiterate, leaving out information is presenting inaccurate and potentially dangerous misinformation. Therefore potentially hurting your readers, listeners, and watchers. Expand research to the whole picture and understand the importance of key information. Understand what the argument is really saying and avoid being harmful to citizens uneducated. It is neglectful not only to the argument but the audience that is consuming it. So be honest, include the facts, and avoid cherry-picking!

Thanks for reading. <3

(dancing baby Finn from the show Adventure Time)