I fear those PP videos are going to get someone killed.

[sufrommich]

Cecile Richards was just on CNN fighting the good fight while George Stephanopoulos tried to paint PP as monsters while showing the videos. The women named and shown in those videos are doctors who provide abortion services and now every nut in our gun toting country knows who they are.If someone dies over this,the media will have blood on its hands for its reckless and repetitive showing of these videos.Past history of the anti abortion fanatics should be enough reason for the media to be wary about this sort of exposure,it gets people killed.

[CTyankee]

1. Coupled with our laughable gun safety laws in the U.S., this is entirely possible...again...

since it has already happened before at women's clinics and doctors being murdered.

[sufrommich]

2. It's just so incredibly reckless.They don't care, as long as

it makes good fuel for ratings.

[TheMastersNemesis]

3. Anti Abortion Nuts Must Know The Opposition Has 2nd Amendment Rights As Well.

I am against carrying guns anywhere you want to and not having to be licensed or background checked in the process. It would new a sad day if and when people providing reproductive services have to be armed and ready. The anti abortion movement is pushing for violence and even open armed attack against anyone providing even contraceptive services and not just abortion.

At some point in time persons providing reproductive health care may have to consider such a terrible option.

[Android3.14]

4. What journalists should do is just ignore this story so we are dumb and numb

Keep it under wraps so no one knows what happens in our republic. Right?

This is how you would keep us safer?

You have not given this opinion much thought.

I would gently suggest that the people who made the video are responsible.

[sufrommich]

5. They don't have to ignore the story.There's nothing stopping them

from blotting out their faces and refusing to publish their names,they do it all the time with news that may put people in danger. I'm pretty sure everyone here in HoF is aware that the people who made the video are the enemy.

[Android3.14]

7. This is an important story, and what you suggest is reckless, if media were to obey you

If the people are well informed then we can trust them with their own government. The PP story shows that something went off the rails enough to garner the public's attention, and the only way we can set it right is if we use that information to protect our access and freedom to exercise our civil rights, such as reproductive rights.

I notice you moved the goalposts from "showing of these videos" to just suppressing facts and identities, which is just as reckless.

While you may find the portrayal of the story in the media unpleasant, the fact is, without a free and independent news media, abortion would still be illegal.

[sufrommich]

9. Why are you in the HoF forum finger wagging and

Last edited Sun Jul 26, 2015, 10:59 AM - Edit history (1)

lecturing about the 1st amendment?

[Android3.14]

15. Because both issues are important

I work as a journalist and I am an avid feminist.

[JTFrog]

22. You know why.

Not his first time... and given the lack of community standards on this site, probably not his last.

[George II]

13. Two points....

First, I've seen more and more lately that whenever someone around here elaborates on their original premise (i.e., DISCUSSES something!) it's characterized as "moving the goalposts"!

Second, there is a correct and responsible way of exercising one's First Amendment rights, one that doesn't risk the lives of people. Remember, the courts have ruled that it is NOT an expression of one's First Amendment rights by screaming "FIRE!" in a movie theater.

[Android3.14]

16. Reporting on possible entrapment by these video yahoos

is valid reporting, and is far from yelling "fire" in a movie theater.

If suppressing names and images were appropriate in this case, then suppressing the names and images of police officers involved in shootings would also be appropriate.

Without the reporting, the people who wish to protect reproductive rights would be ignorant and unlikely to mobilize to thwart the goals of those who made the video.

The conclusion, therefore, is obvious - suppressing information is unhelpful.

The video, with the images and identities unblurred, is already public, with the fault resting with the producers of the video. Censoring or suppressing the video on network news will have little impact on whether nutjobs will respond with violence.

The difference, in this case, between elaboration and moving the goal posts, is the difference between completely censoring a video or blurring faces, kind of like the difference between skipping a meal or eating a different dish from the menu.

[LanternWaste]

21. It's a manufactured story, not an important story.

It's a manufactured story, not an important story. Should the press maintain any ethics, they would simply stop running this non-story in favor of an actual story. Let's not pretend that this is anything more than a National Enquirer-type story run in place of valid news simply to gain viewers, readers and advertisers.

[ismnotwasm]

11. No shit

It's not a difficult concept.

[Triana]

6. Media gets people killed every day. Rusty Houser for instance...was a big media star

They had him on to grouse, bitch and babble about taxes, feminists, abortion, etc. - because it generated a lot of 'buzz' (and THAT is all that matters to corprat media because it translates to $$$$$$$ and $$$$$$$ is worth more than lives to corprats).

NOW, what has happened? Their radical 'star' went into a theater and shot dead 9 people, including, thankfully, himself.

NBC was the network that had him on NUMEROUS times.

Are THEY apologizing or taking ANY responsibility for THEIR role in this?

Hell NO.

Because they don't give a shit. THEY. DON'T. GIVE. A. DAMN. Lives are worth $0 to them. They got their precious from having that fucking lunatic on their program and that's ALL they care about.

Media has GALLONS of blood on its hands and it will have OCEANS of blood on its hands before it's all over.

It's what they DO.

[George II]

14. When was Houser on NBC and their "radical star"? (and he only killed 3 including himself, not 9)

[Triana]

17. TV hosts remember alleged Lafayette gunman as anti-tax, anti-feminist ‘gadfly’

TV hosts remember alleged Lafayette gunman as anti-tax, anti-feminist ‘gadfly’

John Russell Houser, the man police say opened fire inside a Lafayette, La., movie theater on Thursday night, had boasted in an online profile that he made dozens of appearances on television talk shows.

The hosts of those shows said Friday that Houser over-stated his role, but they do remember him as an argument-starting guest who was angry about high taxes and the growing power of women.

“I had him on strictly because he was entertaining,” said Calvin Floyd, the former host of the talk show “Rise and Shine” on WLTZ NBC 38 in Columbus, Ga. “He was radical, and when you’re looking for a person on a live show, taking calls, that’s what you want.”

On a LinkedIn profile, Houser claimed to have “guest hosted” the show at least “60 times.” According to Floyd, who has since retired from the station, Houser’s role was limited to call-ins and occasional debates on “15 or 20 episodes,” starting with a call about a fight he was having with the city’s water department. Sometimes, Houser – “pretty much a radical Republican,” in Floyd’s view – would be pitted against a local Democrat to tear into the issues of the day.

“Whatever he wanted to talk about, it would generate calls,” said Floyd. “He was anti-abortion. The best I can recall, Rusty had an issue with feminine rights. He was opposed to women having a say in anything.

Houser killed two people and wounded nine others who were watching the new comedy “Trainwreck,” a film written by and starring the feminist comedian Amy Schumer.

[George II]

18. That's a local NBC affiliate, not the Network itself. I wouldn't believe Houser's guest host claims

[Triana]

19. Doesn't make a bit of difference. Media promoted him & gave him publicity & platform.

That is my point and you damn well know it.

Did I say I believed Houser's claims? I did not.

I DO believe what the TV hosts said about him. And I DO believe their franchising the deadly dirtbag helped lead to his murderous actions.

[George II]

20. "Media" promoted him? One local television show host in Georgia represents "the media"?

That's a FAR cry from "Rusty Houser for instance...was a big media star" and "NBC was the network that had him on NUMEROUS times".

And it's also far afield from the Planned Parenthood videos under discussion.

[ismnotwasm]

8. I think its quite likely someone will die

We have way too many armed anti-woman extremists and as Louisiana has recently shown, one is too many. You are correct in a case where abortion rights are front and center, violence is not just likely, but probable. Discretion should have been used to protect providers.

[sufrommich]

10. Thank you. nt

[jalan48]

12. Anti-Abortion. The ultimate 'feel good' movement for conservatives.

It allows it's adherents to take what they consider to be a moral stand on a subject where they have to take no personal responsibility whatsoever. They don't have to change the way they live or act-they just have to be a member of the group and look serious and sanctimonious.