Report: Newsrooms Warn Journalists to Keep Abortion Views PrivatePaul Bois 11 May 2022
It appears that newsroom managers have warned reporters against voicing their personal views on abortion as the Supreme Court potentially stands on the cusp of overturning Roe v. Wade.
According to a recent Vanity Fair report, certain news outlets have taken a markedly different tone than the one they employed during the Black Lives Matter protests over the death of George Floyd. For instance, during the height of the protests/riots of 2020, Axios chief executive Jim VandeHei told employees in a company-wide memo that they were encouraged to exercise their “rights to free speech, press, and protest.” In recent days, however, the company has been singing a different tune to its employees. Earlier this week, a memo circulated among the Axios staff urged journalists to keep their opinions secret.
“Abortion is a human rights issue that has become a highly politicized topic, with very specific policies being debated in Washington and in most states,” wrote VandeHei. “So it seems impossible to march—or tweet opinions—and not be perceived as picking a political side in public.”
VandeHei warned that such activism “could undermine our trusted journalism.”
An Axios spokesperson told Vanity Fair said that the policy stands in line with the company’s mission statement.
“We have been consistent and clear since Axios’s inception: we want our company focused on reporting and fact-based news, not opinion. We know this is hard for staff when they feel their values or identity are under attack, but this is our shared mission,” said the spokesperson.
Reporters with the Associated Press and NPR were also issued a similar memo, according to Poynter.
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https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2022/05/11/report-newsrooms-warn-journalists-to-keep-abortion-views-private/
