How the NY Times frames the debate on the HHS mandate

The following excerpts come from a March 13 post on Get Religion.com.

Now that we’re approaching two months of lopsided coverage on the matter, and just after a couple of weeks of particularly histrionic “war on women” coverage, I wanted to point out a couple of stories as well as a couple of polls.

Last week, Karen Tumulty had a story in the Washington Postabout how the contraception battle is supposedly devastating Republican candidates. The phrase “religious freedom” does appear in the story. Once. In the 30th paragraph. It includes such lines as “But many Republicans are beginning to wish they had never waded into what has become a heated conversation over contraception, who should have it and what it says about people who use it.” Yeah, that kind of story.

On Sunday, the New York Times ran a somewhat bizarre story which required eight reporters to find five women who say that they may not vote or, if they do, they may not vote Republican. It includes frequent uses of the word “some” (and other marks of high precision) and lines such as this “The sudden return of the ‘culture wars’ over the rights of women and their place in society has resulted, the women said, in a distinct change in mood in the past several weeks.” Their place in society? Oh do simmer down, eight reporters for the New York Times.

Check this paragraph out:

To what extent women feel alienated remains unclear: most interviews for this article were conducted from a randomly generated list of voters who had been surveyed in a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, and their responses are anecdotal, not conclusive. But the latest comments from the Republican candidates and in the right-wing media, aimed at energizing the party’s conservative base, have been enraging to some women.

So the New York Times ran a push poll, essentially. And even then they weren’t that successful.

OK, so you know what you’re supposed to think, if you read the Washington Post and the New York Times: those ladies with their lady parts are taking to their fainting couches over the GOP’s war on women. And women don’t care about religious liberty or any other issue. They’re really motivated by hyped up stories about contraception.

So how devastated are the Republican candidates? How much of a bump is President Obama seeing in these polls? First, we’ll look at the Boston Globe, which writes about how Elizabeth “contraception” Warren isn’t faring as well as she’d hoped against Sen. Scott “religious liberty” Brown.

If several of the recent polls are correct, Brown may have benefited from his positions on social issues in the last few weeks, such as the one over whether Catholic institutions should be forced to provide contraception in their health care plans for workers….

To read entire story, Click here.

READER COMMENTS

Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2012 7:00 AM By Ted
The economy is getting better, according to the MM. It’s a lie. The battle for religious liberty is actually a bunch of anti-woman neanderthals who want women “barefoot and pregnant” all the time. Another lie. The public, as time goes on may just figure out that the media uses them to advance an agenda by – lies. It isn’t hard to figure out if you have any critical thinking skills. They lie, and public education trains people to accept the lies by stifling critical thinking wherever they can.

Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2012 8:53 AM By Sandy
If the Obama administration says soemthing 7 times in the public media, people will start to believe it. That is why we must all promote the teachings of the Church as stated in the CCC which contains the Doctrine of the Faith. We must push back on lies anywhere possible. We need to educate ourselves and others. By the way regarding the economy – figures lie and liars figure. The Obama Administration manipulates all public employees as they deem appropriate – including the figures made public.

Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2012 9:52 AM By JLS
The Democrats in Florida just came out with an “American flag” where the mugshot of Obama replaced the blue field with stars. Veterans protested and they recalled those flags (which were made in China).

Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2012 10:27 AM By Sandra
My Confirmation class is being taught the CCC along with CRITICAL THINKING skills. They are so lacking in both.

Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2012 11:07 AM By OneoftheSheep
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2012 11:43 AM By MAC
Sandra use the following quotes if the teacher strays from what is written in the ‘ CCC 2nd Ed ‘: “ The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I approved … and the publication of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic Authority, is a statement of the Church’s faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church’s Magisterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion. “ – Pope John Paul II, (pg 5). “Through the harmonious and complementary efforts of all the ranks of the People of God, may this Catechism be known and shared by everyone, so that the unity in faith whose supreme model and origin is found in the Unity of the Trinity may be strengthened and extended to the ends of the earth.” – Pope John Paul II (pg xv). Any so CCC teaching of the Church must be reported to your Diocese Bishop with details immediately.

Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2012 12:27 PM By LNF
It was only the Lake County, Florida Democrat Party that made the poor decision to purchase the Obama flag and fly it in front of their headquarters.

Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2012 1:43 PM By lisag
I can’t believe that feminist are campaigning for a woman’s right to be supported by her government. What about responsibility? Does feminism mean being able to do what you want when you want with no consequences? If liberals really want to help women with personal costs how about hygiene products and diapers for babies. Those costs don’t count because they do not disrupt family life.