David Shaw, RIP

August 2nd, 2005 7:54 AM

David Shaw, a well-regarded media reporter for the Los Angeles Times, died yesterday at 62 from a brain tumor. As Bill Powers of National Journal just explained,  Shaw's 1990 series on media coverage of abortion was remarkable in its candor and according to Powers, influential across the media. (I'm not too sure about that, although the media did largely drop "pro-choice" in that era and switch to "abortion rights" lingo. But is the media less biased on abortion? They probably do fewer stories today, as on many political topics. But when it comes up, the tilt is the same.) Powers recommends re-reading Shaw's findings on abortion. We did a summary at the time that you can find here.