Media Matters reviewed all daytime, afternoon, and evening programming on MSNBC, CNN, and FOX between February 6, 2012, and February 10, 2012, for media reports that focused on the contraception debate controversy. Given that Rep. Ron Paul, Sen. John Barrasso, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius all currently hold a primary occupation as politicians or government officials, and not as physicians or public health experts, they were not considered as such for the purposes of this study.
Cable news channels hosted only one expert from the public health community during a week of coverage over the controversy surrounding the Obama administration’s decision to require most employers to provide health insurance coverage for contraception. By contrast, they hosted 300 guest appearances from the political or religious communities.
On January 20, the Obama administration announced that nonprofit employers — including those connected to religious organizations — would be required to provide health insurance coverage for contraception. After the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops registered their opposition to the rule, conservative media figures accused the administration of engaging in a “war on the Catholic church.”
On February 10, President Obama announced an accommodation that would allow insurance companies to directly offer contraception coverage to employees whose employers have religious objections to such coverage. Read the rest here.
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