Said treatment of issue by Missouri stations was 'model' news coverage

Media Matters for America praised Missouri TV stations Thursday (June 13) for their coverage of abortion issues, even going so far as to issue a press release and post a blog praising them as a "model" for local outlets covering such issues.

Media Matters was referring to coverage of the closing of the last remaining abortion clinic in the state.

“Missouri may soon be without abortion care, and other states are likely to follow," said Media Matters researcher Madelyn Webb. "In reporting on these issues, it is imperative that outlets include voices of people most knowledgeable about and impacted by the loss of abortion care: patients who have the procedure and the providers who perform them. Local and national media could learn from Missouri media’s coverage when reporting on the status of abortion care in a community.”

Media Matters pointed to several examples, including NBC affiliate KNDU featuring an NBC reporter talking to Jennifer Box, who had used the clinic and Fox affiliate KTVI featuring an abortion provider who talked about how anti-abortion activists were "weaponizing the process" to prevent access to care. 

"Many outlets provided a nuanced depiction of the impacts on the community should the clinic lose its license to perform abortions," Webb blogged, adding: "Local and national media could learn from Missouri media’s coverage when reporting on the status of abortion care in a community."

Media Matters is a progressive group whose goal is to analyze news coverage and "correct conservative misinformation in the media."