As Roe clock ticks, press avoids news about another big story — attacks on Catholic churches — GetReligion
There have been at least 41 incidents of attacks against churches and crisis-pregnancy facilities since the May 2 leak of the Supreme Court draft decision that revealed the potential fall of Roe v. Wade.
The attacks have included property theft, vandalism, arson and property destruction.
How do we know this? A front page New York Times investigation this past Sunday?
No.
A round-up story in The Washington Post, USA Today, the Associated Press? Coverage on CBS, CNN or another major network?
No, no, no and, alas, no.
We know this because of The Washington Stand, which is described as the Family Research Council’s “outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview.” In other words, these events are “conservative” niche news (as opposed to, let’s say, attacks on “sanctuary movement” churches because of their activism on immigration).
This awful trend should come as no surprise. At least it wasn’t to me. I wrote a story recently at Religion Unplugged on the rash of vandalism — especially acts against Catholic churches — throughout this spring. I opened my news account with the theft of a tabernacle at a Brooklyn, N.Y., church (see this related GetReligion piece). Here’s an excerpt from my piece:
The desecration was the latest in a string of incidents across the United States, triggering fears of future vandalism given the supercharged political climate around abortion, LGBTQ rights and bishops denying politicians Communion.
The vandalism may not necessarily be tied to one or more of these factors — rising crime rates is also a possibility in the wake of the pandemic — but church officials remain vigilant as the summer approaches. While the motivations remain a mystery, the outcome has rattled Catholic churches across the country. Some have resorted to increased security measures, like locking doors when Masses aren’t taking place, installing security cameras and even erecting barbed wire and fences to avoid being targeted.
As we await a final Supreme Court ruling, we could be in for a long summer of violence and vandalism.
My criticism here is not in the news coverage this issue has received. Instead, it’s the lack of coverage. The vandalism of the past few weeks and the lack of news coverage could very well be a template of what’s to come once the Supreme Court makes public a final decision.
Why such a lack of news coverage?
The answers, in one form or another, have been woven into GetReligion posts over the past 18 years whenever today’s mainstream press is put under the microscope. It’s also the reason why so many polls and survey over the past few years have shown shocking levels of distrust in the news media.
Americans of opposing political parties, for example, are sharply divided on how much they trust the news reported by national organizations, according to a Economist/YouGov poll released in April. This is what the poll found:
YouGov asked 1,500 Americans where they get their news from and how much they trust a variety of prominent media organizations and news anchors. The poll, conducted from March 26 – 29, shows that while Americans are more likely to trust than distrust many prominent news sources, there are very few organizations that are trusted by more than a small proportion of Americans on both sides of the political aisle. In fact, the most Americans overall place trust in an organization that rarely covers domestic politics: the Weather Channel (52% of Americans trust it). The Weather Channel is trailed by the U.K. news outlet, BBC (39%), the national public broadcaster, PBS (41%), and The Wall Street Journal (37%).
In the particular case of attacks on Catholic churches and pro-life groups, I will attempt to answer that question of lack of coverage with some examples.
