Posted on 10/08/2006 5:54:35 AM PDT by NYer
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- CBS News' main anchor Katie Couric is coming under fire for saying some viewers may consider the pro-life views of a recent guest "repugnant." Her statement came after a father of a victim of the Columbine shootings, responding to the recent shooting at an Amish school, said abortion has cheapened people's view of life.
As part of its new evening news format, which Couric hosts, CBS News features a "free speech" segment which allows a wide range of people to comment on issues and headlines of the day.
CBS News featured Denver resident Brian Rohrbough, whose 15-year-old son Daniel was killed in the Columbine massacre. In his interview, aired nationally on the program, Rohrbough said abortion has caused a dimmer view of the sanctity of human life.
"I am saddened and shaken by the shooting at an Amish school today and last week's school murders," Rohrbough said. "When my son Dan was murdered on the sidewalk at Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999, I hoped that would be the last school shooting."
"Since that day, I tried to answer the question why did this happen?" Rohrbough added.
"This country is in a moral free fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum," he explained. "We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you, the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion."
"Abortion has diminished the value of children," Rohrbough, who is a member of the board of directors of Colorado Right to Life, said.
Reacting to criticism from abortion advocates that he appeared on the show, Couric, on her Internet blog, wrote, "We knew when we decided to put on this segment that a lot of people would disagree with it. We also knew some might even find it repugnant."
In an op-ed responding to Couric, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly criticized her remarks.
"Repugnant? Why would any fair-minded person find Mr. Rohrbough's opinion repugnant?" O'Reilly asked. "You can disagree with the man, but using a word like "repugnant" marginalizes his legitimate opinion. Millions of Americans see it the way Mr. Rohrbough does."
"Now I don't believe Ms. Couric meant to demean the man, but her words reflect the elitist attitude common in network news and in the general media," O'Reilly added. "Using the word 'repugnant' might restore Ms. Couric's cocktail party credibility, but it is an unfortunate choice of words."
Rohrbough has been attacked on the left-wing blogs and on the CBS News Web site.
"I do applaud CBS News for giving Mr. Rohrbough a platform, but everyone can see how uncomfortable it has made the network. That should not be the case," O'Reilly said.
But technically speaking, the article headline is not correct as it does not conform to the article. She had said (even if it were cleverness on her part), that 'even some people might find it repugnant.' She did not call it repugnant herself which is the exact title of the article. I am not playing devil's advocate. I am just commenting on the journalism here. Again, certainly this is her view, but she herself did not directly say that, only insinuated. Hence here clever nature.
One of the things I despise about the left is their lack of intellectual honesty. This author is intellectually dishonest and needs to change the title, which is misleading.
All words used to allow the injection of their own opinion into the news. Nothing new.
Katie watch
Doogle
Amazingly I've never watched the woman.
What heart ?
I would say some viewers may find Katie repugnant. I don't have to hide behind some viewers and may though. I find Katie repugnant I will never watch her show.
The drive-by-media must be in a dither over this one....on one hand, this is a man they could use to their advantage, as an anit-gun poster child....however, now they find out he is pro-life!! And blaming the schools! and society! not the NRA for his son'd death!! Poor Lame stream media....
>>"We knew when we decided to put on this segment that a lot of people would disagree with it. We also knew some might even find it repugnant."<<
Way to go minimalizing the man grief, Katie you crud.
The very thought of her is repugnant to me.
Sometimes, I feel badly that courics mom was pro-life.
Couric's ratings are not low enough.
She needs to be at the "statistical zero" mark. IOW the same ratings as a test pattern.
Repugnant = the report my niece passed on to us this weekend. She's a 3rd year nursing student. One of her clinicals is at a clinic which deals with teens and women who have recently had abortions. The teens are despondent. She advised these 14 year olds to talk to their moms. Unfortunately, they are unable to do that because their moms do not know that they had abortions.
The other 3 women were seriously depressed - 21 - 25 - 34.
According to my niece the aftermath of these abortions is devastation. That is repugnant.
Also repugnant: As of 2006, eight medical organizations recognize that abortion raises a woman's risk for breast cancer, independently of the risk of delaying the birth of a first child (a secondary effect that all experts already acknowledge). An additional medical organization, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, issued a statement in 2003 calling on doctors to inform patients about a "highly plausible" relationship between abortion and breast cancer. General counsel for that medical group wrote an article for its journal warning doctors that three women (two Americans, one Australian) successfully sued their abortion providers for neglecting to disclose the risks of breast cancer and emotional harm, although none of the women had developed the disease. more
Doogle, that's goooooood.
I'll give you stinkin' repugnant.
AVERT YOUR EYES!
AVERT YOUR EYES!
AGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH, MY EYES!!!
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