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ALEXANDRIA, VA – According to a new report by the Media Research Center’s Culture and Media Institute (CMI), the news and entertainment media have launched a barrage against abstinence education in the last 11 months. Sex, Lies and Bias documents news reports endorsing the supposed “failures” of abstinence education and ignoring flaws in anti-abstinence reports, and entertainment shows taking aim at pro-abstinence perspectives.“Leave it to the liberal media to cause controversy over an issue as wholesome and responsible as abstinence,” stated Robert Knight, Director of CMI. “The consistently negative portrayals make it more difficult for parents who are trying to convey a message of personal responsibility to their kids. If ‘everyone’s doing it,’ nobody’s ever at fault.”“The Left sees abstinence education as antiquated, old fashioned. It doesn’t fit their permissive worldview. The media fall for this lie and then cast objectivity to the winds when it comes to reporting on sexual issues,” said Kristen Fyfe, Senior Writer at CMI, and author of the report. “On this issue, the media have shown themselves to be advocates rather than public servants providing vital information.”Highlights from Sex, Lies and Bias
*Questionable, at Best – More than 200 major newspaper, cable and broadcast news stories have reported questionable information about the supposed failures of abstinence education programs while ignoring reliable data that support the programs.
*Failure to Report Flaws – Major print and broadcast media – including The Washington Post, Associated Press, USA Today, New York Times, ABC and CNN – covered the federally funded, flawed Mathematica Policy Research study claiming abstinence education programs did not have a significant impact on teen sexual behavior yet the mainstream media failed to cover the report’s significant flaws. The Mathematica report was apparently designed to torpedo abstinence education.
*Efficacy of Abstinence Education Ignored – The news media failed to report major peer-reviewed studies and reports that support abstinence education. 9 in 10 of theses studies found abstinence effective. The news media also failed to report the efficacy of abstinence programs which delay sexual activity for a year or two.
*Exploitative Entertainment – In the Fall 2007 season, two network TV shows already have taken direct shots at abstinence education, portraying an HIV-positive teen who sues her high school for teaching her condoms were ineffective (ABC’s Boston Legal, Oct. 9) and featuring teenage abstinence club members who turn out to be sexually active, murderous hypocrites (CBS’s Cold Case, Sept. 30.)
http://www.thecronline.com/news_article.php?nid=3147&ndate=17/10/2007
As in the days of Noah....
