Best Pals: 257 Media Outlets and Journalists Awarded by Planned Parenthood

Katie Yoder
December 9th, 2015 10:52 AM
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It’s time to give them back.

Planned Parenthood understands that, faced with the reality of what it does, the American public would decline to fund the nation’s largest abortion mill with tax dollars. So it makes sense that Planned Parenthood wants to keep its media friends happy. Cue the Maggie Awards.

Since 1978, Planned Parenthood has fostered an cozy relationship with the media by rewarding the outlets and journalists it relies on to push its agenda. The Media Research Center compiled a list of media awarded by the abortion giant to hold them accountable to the public and demand that the recipients return their awards in the wake of the videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s harvesting of aborted baby parts. Those recipients include all three broadcast networks as well as outlets like The Washington Post and taxpayer-funded NPR.

According to the abortion giant, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America “Maggie Awards for Media Excellence” began in 1978 in honor of founder Margaret Sanger. The awards “recognize exceptional contributions by the media and arts and entertainment industries that enhance the public's understanding of reproductive rights and health care issues, including contraception, sex education, teen pregnancy, abortion, and international family planning.” 

According to Planned Parenthood’s own website, all three broadcast networks, ABC, NBC and CBS, boast such awards.

The organization has bestowed 22 awards on NBC and NBC-TV, 19 awards on ABC and ABC-TV and two awards on CBS-TV. Some of those went to news shows, like NBC’s Today (1985) and ABC’s Good Morning America (1988) and World News Tonight (1988, 1985).

The awards are a smart investment, since the broadcast networks remain loyal to Planned Parenthood, from rushing to defend the abortion giant during the Susan G. Komen controversy in 2012 to refusing to air on their news shows the damning videos detailing its harvesting operations.

Other multiple award-winners include The Nation, associated with seven awards, HBO with six awards and The Washington Post with five awards. Unsurprisingly, women’s magazines Seventeen and Cosmopolitan each boasted four awards. Glamour surpassed both with a whopping 15 awards.

Other notable outlets included taxpayer-funded PBS and NPR.

Five awards recognized Spanish-speaking media outlets La Opinión (2006), Hispanic Radio Network (2001, 1997), Ser Padres (1995), WPLG-TV’s "AIDS en la Familia" (1990).

In addition to the 257 award winners, Planned Parenthood gave out honorable mentions another 17 times, like the one Univision received in 1992.

Here is the MRC Culture condensed list of the 257 journalists, media outlets and projects awarded by Planned Parenthood:

2015 PPFA Maggie Award Recipients

  • Jamilah Lemieux, Ebony.com
  • Valerie Tarico, Salon
  • Jill Filipovic, Cosmopolitian.com
  • Jennifer Gerson Uffalussy, Yahoo! Health
  • Casey Gueren, Buzzfeed Life
  • Aura Bogado, Colorlines
  • Fazeelat Aslam, VICE.com
  • Liz Plank, Mic
  • Laurie Abraham and Leah Chernikoff, ELLE and ELLE.com
  • John H. Richardson, Esquire
  • Phillip Picardi, TeenVogue.com
  • Wagatwe Wanjuki, #SurvivorPrivilege
  • Sadie Hernandez, The People’s Veto
  • Jonny von Wallström and Cleo Kambugu, Pearl of Africa
  • The Nation

2014

  • Carolyn Jones, formerly of the Texas Observer
  • Jessica Valenti, formerly of The Nation
  • Sarah Stillman, The New Yorker
  • Maya Rhodan, ESSENCE 
  • Irin Carmon, MSNBC
  • Adriana Beorlegui, HolaDoctor (a product by Univision)
  • Zerlina Maxwell, #RapeCultureIsWhen
  • Christopher DiDonato, Texas filibuster activist efforts
  • Janet Mock, #RedefiningRealness
  • Dr. Jennifer Ashton, CBS’s The Doctors
  • Cosmopolitan 

2013

  • Melissa Harris-Perry, MSNBC
  • Family Circle
  • Katha Pollitt, The Nation
  • Petula Dvorak, The Washington Post
  • Maria Hinojosa, National Public Radio
  • Gretchen Voss and Lisa Bain, Women’s Health
  • Kate Sheppard, Mother Jones
  • Katie J.M. Baker, Jezebel
  • Lauren Bosworth, John Ferriter, Howard Lapides, Dr. Drew Pinsky, David Stanley Siobhan Walshe, MTV Executive Producers for I’m Positive
  • Ultraviolet, Rick Ross/Reebok campaign
  • Pamela Merritt, Angry Black Bitch
  • Seventeen

2012

  • Garry Trudeau, Doonesbury series March 12 – 17, 2012
  • Jordan Smith, The Austin Chronicle
  • Sarah Blustain, Mother Jones
  • Jeannine Amber, ESSENCE
  • Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post
  • Diversity Films, Inc., Why Us?  Left Behind and Dying
  • Deanna Zandt, “Planned Parenthood Saved Me” Tumblr
  • Denene Millner, MyBrownBaby.com’s “Let’s Talk About Sex” series

2011

  • Modern Family and Friday Night Lights
  • Connie Schultz, The Plain Dealer
  • Laura Tillman, The Nation
  • Amanda Robb, Ms. Magazine
  • Ryan Grim, The Huffington Post
  • Jordan Smith, The Austin Chronicle
  • Lawrence O’Donnell, MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

2010

  • Precious film: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire 
  • Cynthia Tucker, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
  • The Nation 
  • Glamour 
  • Lynn Harris, Salon.com
  • MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show
  • RH Reality Check

2009

  • The CW TV program Privileged 
  • The American Prospect, “America’s AIDS Apartheid” by Kai Wright, Editor Ann Friedman
  • Glamour, “It’s Your Turn to Talk to McCain and Obama” by Cindi Leive, Jill Herzig, Linda Kramer Jenning, Ellen Kampinsky and Geraldine Sealey
  • The New Republic, “Life Sentence,” by Sarah Blustain, editors Esther Kaplan and Peter Scoblic
  • Amanda Robb for “Leslee Unruh’s Facts of Life,” in More
  • Fiorella Valdesolo for “Freedom From Choice,” in Nylon
  • Jennifer Wolff Perrine for “When There is No Good Choice,” in SELF
  • Deborah Kotz, for work in US News & World Report 

2008

  • Kate Walsh, actor, for family planning and sex-ed advocacy efforts
  • ABC-TV for Boston Legal 
  • Cosmopolitan, “The Sneaky Threat to Your Fertility” by Stacey Colino and “I Have an STD. Now What?” by Gail O’Connor
  • Redbook, “Your (very personal) Health at 20, 30, 40, 50” by Andrea Cooper
  • Marie Claire, “The Easiest Choice I've Ever Made Is Also the Hardest to Live With,” by Gretchen Voss
  • John Young, Waco Tribune-Herald 
  • Judy Peres, Chicago Tribune

2007

  • Cosmopolitan, "Your Gyno Exam: What to Know Before You Go" by Amanda Pressner
  • Glamour, "New Lies About Women's Health" by Brian Alexander
  • KTVK-TV Channel 3, Phoenix, Arizona, "Sex Education Varies in Arizona's Schools" by Brandy Aguilar
  • New York Daily News, for "Pro-child, pro-choice politics," "Birds, bees belong in school," "Voters choose choice — but now ..." by Lenore Skenazy

2006

  • PBS Frontline for The Last Abortion Clinic
  • NBC-TV for Boston Legal 
  • Sheryl McCarthy, columnist
  • The Kansas City Star for editorials supporting reproductive justice
  • NBC-TV for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 
  • La Opinión for "Proposición 73 Olvida lo Principal" ("Proposition 73 Overlooks What Is Key")
  • ABC-TV for The George Lopez Show 
  • Seventeen for "Vagina 101: What's Normal, What's Not"

2005

  • Glamour for "Yes, You Can Save Women's Lives"
  • CBS-TV for Cold Case 
  • Rev. Tom Davis for Sacred Work: Planned Parenthood and Its Clergy Alliances
  • Kinsey
  • Vera Drake

2004

  • Women's eNews for reporting on reproductive rights and health
  • Working Assets for covering reproductive rights and health on http://www.workingassets.com/ and donating a portion of the proceeds of its various services to nonprofit organizations, including Planned Parenthood

2003

  • Human Rights Watch for its website, http://www.hrw.org/
  • The WB Television Network for Everwood 
  • People for "An Iowa Mystery"
  • HBO films for Real Women Have Curves
  • HBO for Six Feet Under 

2002

  • Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe
  • San Diego Union-Tribune, for "Girl and Boy, Interrupted"
  • Ann Telnaes, Tribune Media Service cartoonist
  • Essence for "In Case of Emergency" and "If All Else Fails"
  • ABC News 20/20 for "Abortion & Terrorism"
  • MPH Entertainment, Inc. for The History of Sex in the 20th Century
  • Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS) for its website, http://www.siecus.org/
  • NBC-TV for Law & Order: Criminal Intent 
  • NBC-TV for Days of Our Lives 
  • HBO for Sex and the City 
  • Daimler-Chrysler for a television ad that uses sexuality in a positive and humorous way
  • Fast Company for "Planned Parenthood's 25-Year Plan"

2001

  • Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times 
  • Los Angeles Times for coverage of reproductive health issues
  • Glamour for "Why I Risk My Life to Do Abortions"
  • Richard North Patterson for Protect and Defend
  • The Dallas Morning News for editorials on family planning
  • Queen Latifah/Telepictures Productions for "Teens Desperate to Have Babies: Convincing Them to Wait"
  • Hispanic Radio Network for "Mundo 2000 — International Women's Day"
  • The Feminist Majority Foundation for its website, http://www.feminist.org/
  • Joan Osborne for advocacy and education through music
  • Rod Lurie for The Contender
  • NBC-TV for Third Watch 
  • ABC-TV for General Hospital 

1999-2000

  • Teen People 
  • Mike Peters for reproductive health cartoons
  • Natalie Marie Angier for Woman: An Intimate Geography
  • Judy Mann, columnist
  • NBC-TV for 3rd Rock from the Sun 
  • MTV/Kaiser Family Foundation for True Life: I Need Sex RX
  • The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation for its website, http://www.kff.org/
  • NBC-TV for The West Wing 
  • Ani DiFranco for "Hello Birmingham"
  • Eve Ensler for The Vagina Monologues
  • John Irving/Miramax Films for The Cider House Rules

1998

  • Glamour for "The Truth About Abortion and Women's Health"
  • The Village Voice for "Roe v. Wade: 25 Years Later"
  • The Metro Times for "Matter of the Heart"
  • Cedar Rapids Gazette (IA) for "Dangerous Liaisons"
  • Waco Tribune-Herald 
  • KCRG-TV for "Dangerous Liaisons"
  • KRON-TV for "First Cut: AIDS Update"
  • CBS-TV Cosby 
  • Youth Radio for "Youth Voices on Sex"
  • ABC News.com for "Maternal Morality Worldwide: Dying for Motherhood"

1997

  • Sarasota for "Sex, Lies and Politics"
  • The Houston Chronicle editorials
  • The Washington Post for cartoons by Herb Block
  • HBO for If These Walls Could Talk
  • KRON-TV for "First Cut 97-05"
  • NBC-TV for "The More You Know" PSAs
  • Hispanic Radio Network for "Buscando la Belleza" (“Searching For Beauty and Health”)

1996

  • Self for "What's New in Birth Control?"
  • The Nation for Katha Pollitt's columns
  • The Chicago Tribune for "Gambling With Life: Why Parents Defy Odds and Circumstance to Have More Babies"
  • HBO for The Dying Rooms
  • HBO for Sandra's Web: A Mother's Diary
  • ABC for Home Improvement 
  • NBC-TV for Dateline NBC for "The Toughest Choice"

1995

  • Glamour for "An Abortion Doctor's Diary of Terror"
  • Ser Padres for "Niñas Que Son Madres"
  • The Boston Globe 
  • CNN for "Christian Soldiers"
  • NBC-TV Dateline for "Dutch Treat"
  • NBC-TV for Law and Order 
  • Lucky Duck Productions, with Ogilvy Adams and Rinehart, for Smart Sex
  • Youth Radio for "The Realities of Teen Pregnancy: A Day in My Life by Ayoka Medlock"
  • Monitor Radio for "Population Perspective"

Honorable Mention:

  • The Beaumont Enterprise (TX) for "Kids Having Kids"

1994

  • The Nation for "Eastward, Christian Soldiers! Right-to-Lifers Hit Russia"
  • Concord Monitor (NH) for series "Sex Education — Teen Realities"
  • Chicago Tribune for series "Saving Our Children: When Kids Have Kids"
  • Concentric Media and KTEH-TV for When Abortion Was Illegal: Untold Stories
  • Home Box Office for Talking Sex: Making Love in the '90s
  • KSBW-TV for Not Me: Innocence in the Time of AIDS
  • WBBR 1130 AM for "Condom-Phobics"

1993

  • The Philadelphia Daily News for "Out of Control"
  • Daily Local News (West Chester, PA) for editorial cartoon by Rick Cole
  • Glamour for "Why Do We Romanticize the Fetus?"
  • Health for "The Birth Control Bind"
  • Home Box Office for Life Stories: Families in Crisis for "Public Law 106: The Becky Bell Story"
  • WHSW-TV 24 for "In Your interest/Teen Pregnancy"
  • Media Works, Inc. for Sex Education in America: AIDS and Adolescence
  • WHTZ-100 FM for "Z-100 Love Phones"

1992

  • Glamour for "Where Are the Doctors Who Will Do Abortions?"
  • The San Diego Union for five-part series "Bedside Planners: Contraception in the '90s"
  • The Washington Post for cartoons by Herb Block
  • ABC-TV for Roseanne 
  • ABC News for PrimeTime Live for "Lying In Wait"
  • ABC News for 20/20 for "Is This Our Future?"
  • KING 5 Television for Sexual Survival
  • Monitor Radio for "Women and AIDS"

Honorable Mention:

  • Univision Network News for "Buffalo Anti-Abortion Demonstrations" and for The Cristina Show for "Condomania"

1991

  • The Washington Post for cartoons by Herb Block
  • The Dallas Morning News for "Sex Lies and Big Brother: Sexual Tyranny in Romania"
  • Glamour for "Teenage and Pregnant" and "The Politics of Birth Control"
  • NBC/Carsey Werner Co. for A Different World 
  • World Monitor Television for "Women with AIDS"
  • Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. for Peter Jennings Reporting: The New Civil War

1990

  • San Francisco Examiner for columns by Suzanne Salter
  • Newsweek for coverage of the abortion issue
  • Lifetime Television for Ask Me Anything: How To Talk to Kids About Sex
  • WPLG-TV for "AIDS en la Familia"
  • Tribune Entertainment, Inc. for The Geraldo Rivera Show 
  • NBC-TV for L.A. Law 

1989

  • ABC-TV for 20/20 for "The Abortion Pill"
  • NBC-TV for "Roe v. Wade" and A Different World 
  • ABC Radio for "American Agenda: Abortion"
  • New Woman for "A Matter of Life and Love: One Woman's Story"
  • Arkansas Gazette for "Children Having Children"

1988

  • Essence for "A Matter of Choice"
  • Los Angeles Times for "Prenatal Care: Less Costs More"
  • WSM Radio/Nashville for "AIDS: Plague of the '80s"
  • NBC-TV for A Year in the Life 
  • NBC-TV for segments on AIDS and young people on Main Street
  • ABC-TV for segments on AIDS and contraceptive technology on Good Morning America and for World News Tonight for its series on world population

1987

  • ABC-TV for made-for-TV-movie Daddy
  • NBC-TV for "AIDS Composite"
  • KING-TV for Teen Sex: What about the Kids?
  • Working Woman for feature on "Where 'Boss' Stops and 'Friend' Begins"
  • Alabama Journal for "Teen Pregnancy: An Alabama Tragedy"

1986

  • NBC-TV for St. Elsewhere 
  • WIVB-TV for Family Secrets 
  • Vogue for "Selling Chastity: The Sly New Attack on Your Sexual Freedom"
  • The Washington Post for "At Risk: Chronicles of Teen-Age Pregnancy"

1985

  • ABC-TV for World News Tonight for "Almost Adults"
  • ABC-TV for 20/20 for "Sex Education"
  • NBC-TV for Today for "Sex Education"
  • WJLA-TV for "When Babies Have Babies"
  • NBC Radio for "It Can Happen Anywhere"
  • WEEI Newsradio for "The Learning Center"
  • Youth News, Oakland, CA, for "Heartthrobs and Hormones"
  • The Boston Globe, for editorials
  • Mike Peters for editorial cartoon on reproductive rights
  • Glamour for "The Battle Against Planned Parenthood"
  • Glamour for "Why We Can't Be Silent About Anti-Abortion Tactics"
  • Image, Texas Christian University, for "Smart Sex"
  • Ms. Magazine for "The Fetus and The Law — Whose Life is it Anyway?"
  • Time for "The Population Curse"

1984

  • ABC News' 20/20 for "Too Much, Too Soon"
  • WCBS-TV for "Preventing Teen Pregnancy: The HUB Program"
  • NBC-TV/UBU Productions/Paramount Television for Family Ties 
  • KAMR-TV, KFDA-TV, and KVII-TV (Amarillo, TX) for promoting 1983 National Family Sexuality Education Week
  • Family Circle for "What Kids Really Want to Know About Sex but Are Afraid to Ask"
  • Seventeen for "Sex and Your Body"
  • St. Louis Post-Dispatch for "Children Having Children"
  • The Bergen Record (NJ) for editorials

1983

  • ABC News' Nightline for "Teen Contraception — The Baltimore Experiment," "Abortion Clinic Violence," and "Anti-Abortion Setback"
  • KPIX-TV for "The Snitch Rule" and "Snitch Rule Update"
  • NBC-TV for Family Ties 
  • WRKS-FM for "The Stork Doesn't Work Alone"
  • Parents for "Genetic Counselors: How They Can Help and How They Can't"
  • Los Angeles Times for editorials on reproductive rights

Honorable Mention Certificates to:

  • KUHT-TV for ”A Baby Maybe: To Be or Not To Be a Parent”
  • WFSB-TV for "Babies Shouldn't Die"
  • Newsweek for "Infertility"
  • Family Circle for "How Women Feel About Abortion: An Exclusive Family Circle Survey"
  • Glamour for "The Battle Over Abortion"
  • Charlotte News and Observer for "Growing Up in the '80's"
  • Gannett News Service for abortion coverage

1982

  • Hearst/ABC Video Services for Where Do Babies Come From?
  • WDAY-TV for "Opening of the Fargo Abortion Clinic"
  • Glamour  for "Contraceptive Update — The Latest on What's Right or Wrong for You"
  • Glamour for "My Abortion — Why It Was The Most Difficult Decision I May Ever Have To Make”

Honorable Mention Certificates to:

  • Group W Production for Hour Magazine show featuring Ann Landers
  • WFAA-TV, for series on infertility
  • Seventeen for "Sex and Your Body"
  • WSB for programming efforts

1981

  • David Greene/Finnegan Associates for The Choice

Honorable Mention Certificates to:

  • Dan Curtis Associates for "I Think I'm Having a Baby"
  • The MacNeil/Lehrer Report for "Medicaid Abortion"
  • Hour for "How We Can Encourage Teens to Be Sexually Responsible"
  • David Sawyer and Victoria Hamburg for "So Many Voices: A Look at Abortion in America"

1980

  • Michael Hirsh and Station WTTW/Chicago Public Television for Guess Who's Pregnant: An Update

1978

  • Tandem/Tat Production House: for television episodes on adolescent pregnancies, in One Day at a Time, Good Times, and In the Beginning

Media History of the Planned Parenthood Videos

Since the release of the Center for Medical Progress’ first video on July 14, the broadcast networks have proven hesitant to publicize the story of Planned Parenthood's havesting of aborted baby parts – and when they did, they refused to even utter the word “baby.”

Two months after the first video’s release, MRC Culture found that ABC, NBC and CBS had aired a mere 0.13% of the CMP footage during their news shows – or 1 minute, 13 seconds of more than 16 hours.

In early October, MRC Culture discovered that the networks spent more time combined airing Cecile Richards’ defense of Planned Parenthood during a congressional hearing than showing the actual videos themselves.

From the beginning, the liberal media raced to defend Planned Parenthood. In the first 9 hours and 30 minutes of news shows broadcast after the story broke, ABC, NBC and CBS, spent only 39 seconds on the first video. It took more than 24 hours before all three covered the story. In the week after the first video, the networks gave a mere 9 minutes and 11 seconds to the story (in contrast, the nets devoted more than three times that to the Susan G. Komen controversy, when the charity temporarily decided to defund the abortion giant).

ABC, NBC and CBS prioritized animals over aborted babies, by covering the shooting of Cecil the lion more in one day than they did these videos in two weeks and in their reporting on birth of the National Zoo’s panda cubs.

Not only that, but also they refused to cover the tens of thousands of Americans speaking out against Planned Parenthood during nationwide rallies held in late August – except as a side note when CBS tried to connect the event to arson.

Citing information from MRC studies, both Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and members of Congress led by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) have slammed the media for their lack of coverage on the videos.

The networks have skipped coverage of the last seven videos released.

The media similarly stayed silent on the case of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell. Gosnell's trial, in which witnesses described baby abortion survivors “swimming" in toilets “to get out,” attracted a scant 12–15 reporters. Only after 56 days, multiple letters from members of the House of Representatives and a public outcry, did all three broadcast networks report on Gosnell.