A cheap and lazy media ‘gotcha’

Grasping.

The only thing worse than a dishonest media is a dishonest and lazy media.

Certain journalists discovered last week North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a staunch pro-lifer, admitted a decade ago to procuring an abortion in 1989.

They smelled a terrific “gotcha.”

This would be a legitimate scandal had Robinson bragged or delighted in the fact he facilitated the death of his unborn child. It would call into question his professed pro-life views. However, when Robinson revealed in 2012 he paid for an abortion in the late 1980s, he also claimed it was a “wrong” and terrible decision.

Man who opposes abortion opposes abortion from a position of personal experience.

News at 11.

“How can so many people ‘Praise God’ with their mouths then vote for a man who supports gay marriage and abortion with their hands,” Robinson wrote 10 years ago on Facebook.

He added in response to a follower, “What a silly argument! 99% of abortions in this country are done ‘on demand’ meaning the woman had consensual sex, got pregnant, and simply does not want to have the child. Everybody knows [there are] exceptions to rules and in the case that you mentioned that should be up to the woman. But to have abortion ‘mills’ that kill the unborn at will is shameful and as sure as I am [writing] this if we allow this to become an accepted part of our society WE WILL FEEL THE WRATH OF GOD!!!”

Robinson then concluded on a personal note [emphasis added]: “And I'm not on a ‘high horse’!! I'm not saying abortion is wrong cause I said so it's wrong cause God says so. It's wrong when others do it and it was wrong when I paid for it to be done to my unborn child in 1989.”

This isn’t hypocrisy. This is someone with first-hand experience explaining why he opposes abortion. To call this hypocrisy would be like if a person disregarded everything he heard in a Scared Straight program because the speakers are criminals.

Try telling this to certain wonderbrains in the media class.

“North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson,” reads the headline of the Daily Beast’s report on the story, “a conservative Republican who frequently rails against abortion rights, paid for a woman to have an abortion after impregnating her in 1989.”

The story’s tag reads, “Rules for thee … ”

HuffPost’s reliably dimwitted Jennifer Bendery – a “senior politics reporter”! – remarked, “who is surprised tho.”

Axios’s headline reads, “North Carolina’s Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson “paid” for the abortion of his “unborn child in 1989,” according to his personal Facebook comments from 2012.”

The report doesn’t mention until the fourth paragraph that Robinson himself characterized his decision as “wrong.”

It’s worth mentioning here that Robinson’s abortion has been a matter of public record since at least 2012. Major media didn’t even uncover a scandalous, lurid personal detail. They merely picked up on the story after an anonymous Twitter user posted a screenshot last week of the more-than-a-decade-old Facebook remark. The press not only mischaracterized Robinson’s admission, but they also didn’t even find it themselves. Again, dishonest and lazy.

Just so the timeline is clear: Robinson revealed ten years ago he paid for an abortion in 1989. At the time of his 2012 confession, he characterized his actions as “wrong.” He is now one of the leading pro-life politicians in North Carolina.

This is apparently what passes for pro-life hypocrisy, according to certain members of our very smart press.

Becket Adams is the program director of the National Journalism Center.