"What Critics Call" Flagrant Pro-Abortion Bias - March 13, 2003
Times Watch for 03/13/03  "What Critics Call" Flagrant Pro-
Abortion Bias Carl Hulse's story on Senate debate of a bill to
ban partial-birth abortion (or as he put it, "what critics call
partial-birth abortion") included sentences seemingly structured
to make supporters of the measure look aggressive and the
opposition look put-upon. Here's one: "As Republicans who oppose
abortion demonstrated their new power in the Senate, Democrats
bristled at the tone of the proceedings, accusing Republicans of
using inflammatory language and charts." But Hulse's piece
wasn't as objectionable as the eye-catching subhead that
accompanied it, featuring a line not in the article itself: "At
issue is a ban on a procedure that is highly disputed but rarely
performed." Hulse claimed only that "opponents of the measure
say the procedure is rare." But a casual Tmes reader would
glance at the subhead in bold and come away with the false
impression that all sides agree