The media usually report the assisted suicide agenda by, basically, printing the proponents’ press releases and pretending that it is objective news. But sometimes, it comes back to bite them, as when the PR is mendacious.
Case in point: When a Montana judge legalized assisted suicide, the stories all contained a statement by the plaintiff in the case praising the ruling. The only problem is that the plaintiff died before the ruling came out. That required a low key correction: In a Dec. 6 story about a court ruling that doctor-assisted suicides are legal in Montana, The Associated Press erroneously reported that terminally ill plaintiff Robert Baxter said in a statement that he was comforted by the ruling. Baxter died Friday night and had been unaware of the decision issued Friday, according to his family. Anticipating the court decision, Hopcraft Communications prepared a release for Compassion & Choices, a patients’ rights group, and included a statement attributed to Baxter and approved by him, Steve Hopcraft said. He said the firm believed Baxter was living and able to communicate when the release was issued.
In other words the PR group made up the reaction. But not to worry. The next time the same group releases a pro assisted suicide press release, it will be dutifully reported. The media don’t care when they are deceived by people with whom they agree.
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