Ever wonder why cable news is so bad?
Look no further than today’s edition of “Dayside” with Linda Vester on Fox News.
To discuss the recent stem cell legislation, “Dayside” invited on Paige and Stewart Falk, parents of baby Noel — whom they adopted as an embryo — and Sean Tipton, spokesman for the Advancement of Medical Research.
For about five minutes Vester facilitated your typical cable news debate between the Falks and Tipton. She asked the Falks about the process of adopting an embryo and Tipton about why federal tax dollars shouldn’t be going to the less controversial umbilical cord blood stem cells.
It wasn’t anything special — that is, it wasn’t anything that would draw our ire. At least until the tail end of the segment.
Tipton was in the middle of arguing that embryonic stem cells have more promise than umbilical cord and adult stem cells when the “we’re-about-to-cut-to-a-commercial” music came on.
Vester then interrupted Tipton to insert this final word: “Well, in the end [embryonic stem cell research] could also be privately funded.”
That’s a clearly loaded comment. Currently, federal taxes dollars can only go to research on a limited number of embryonic stem cells. So, the legislation that passed the House this week — which would lift those restrictions — is, in fact, about funding of stem cell research, not about either legalizing or banning the research. Stem cell science is expensive and needs federal support to be fully realized. Rather than explain this to viewers — or at least allow it to play out in a debate between the Falks and Tipton — Vester had something more pressing to move on to.
We’ll let her tell you what:
“Coming up, the two big winners of the week. We’ve got the new ‘American Idol’ and the new king of ‘Jeopardy!.’ Plus, up next, prosecutors are starting their rebuttal, as we speak, at the Michael Jackson trial.”
Adios, stem cell debate!
–Thomas Lang
Thomas Lang was a writer at CJR Daily.