The Media and Terri Schiavo

Aaron made a great point in our Terri Schiavo post at Two or Three (.net) about the media's failure to accurately represent the facts in her case.

Consider the headline in this Associated Press Dispatch: "Emergency Stay Issued in Right-to-Die Case". This has never been a right to die case. This has been about whether Terri Schiavo has the right to essential nutrition to sustain her life.

Then there is this passage from the story:

While she breathes on her own, she relies on the feeding tube to survive. Doctors have ruled she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope for recovery.

Still, her parents, who visit her nearly every day, report their daughter has laughed, cried, smiled and responded to their voices. Video showing the dark-haired woman appearing to interact with her family has been televised nationally. But the court-appointed doctor has said the noises and facial expressions are reflexes.

I'm not a doctor but it doesn't seem to me that someone who is in a "persistent vegetative state with no hope for recovery" would be able to respond to other people.

If the media would take the time to investigate the facts, they would realize they are only getting Michael Schiavo's side of the story. I'm not going to claim that the media is biased in this case but it's certainly clear that they are not checking the facts. Perhaps if they started with this post at Wittenberg Gate and followed the links to other blogs they would realize there is much more to this story than they have reported so far.