One thing disturbs me about how stories erupt into the social media ecosystem as they are happening. When people experience things that are upsetting, we often have a few moments of emotional overload before calming down enough to be rational. So people respond to situations and immediately write down what they are thinking...or rather, what they are feeling. Not that this only happens online; things happen and rumor mills chug out plenty of emotional judgment. But people use social media as a news source; they get swept up in the emotions and the rational viewpoint is slower to kick in.
Witness last week and the debacle with the Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood. Mind you, I'm not choosing sides with either the Komen Foundation or Planned Parenthood; I side with the women who need regular breast exams (especially the women who are high-risk for cancer) and work my way from there.
The news as I experienced it:
1- The news broke on Twitter that the Komen Foundation was going to halt funding to Planned Parenthood, which was used for breast exams. People were immediately up at arms, and decided to switch funding Komen to donating to PP.
2- The consensus was that the head of the foundation, a well-documented anti-abortionist, had steered the foundation to quit funding PP because they are [perceived to be] pro-abortion.
3- I see the news breaks out on traditional news sites, and the response from Komen is that they've pulled the funds from most (but not all) of the clinics because of allegations made about legal improprieties.
3B- Whoops. The real reason Komen pulled the funds was because PP only distributes money for women to go to other clinics for the procedure (and Komen wants to donate directly to places where services are being performed). The decision "had been in the works for two years" to pull the funds.
4- The backlash is so fierce that a number of prominent people (like Mayor Bloomberg) step up to donate significant funds to PP to make up for the Komen funding loss, and within a week most of the loss has been covered (and the funds keep coming in).
5- Komen reverses their decision
6- The head of the Komen Foundation resigns
Witness last week and the debacle with the Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood. Mind you, I'm not choosing sides with either the Komen Foundation or Planned Parenthood; I side with the women who need regular breast exams (especially the women who are high-risk for cancer) and work my way from there.
The news as I experienced it:
1- The news broke on Twitter that the Komen Foundation was going to halt funding to Planned Parenthood, which was used for breast exams. People were immediately up at arms, and decided to switch funding Komen to donating to PP.
2- The consensus was that the head of the foundation, a well-documented anti-abortionist, had steered the foundation to quit funding PP because they are [perceived to be] pro-abortion.
3- I see the news breaks out on traditional news sites, and the response from Komen is that they've pulled the funds from most (but not all) of the clinics because of allegations made about legal improprieties.
3B- Whoops. The real reason Komen pulled the funds was because PP only distributes money for women to go to other clinics for the procedure (and Komen wants to donate directly to places where services are being performed). The decision "had been in the works for two years" to pull the funds.
4- The backlash is so fierce that a number of prominent people (like Mayor Bloomberg) step up to donate significant funds to PP to make up for the Komen funding loss, and within a week most of the loss has been covered (and the funds keep coming in).
5- Komen reverses their decision
6- The head of the Komen Foundation resigns
At first, I was pretty outraged along with everyone else. And when I was through being mad I tried to think about what was happening, from both sides of the situation. Here were some of my thoughts:
--> Planned Parenthood, while losing important funding [for a week], has gained from this situation. One, they raised awareness that they offered free breast exams (or free breast exam referrals). Two, as a "victim" they've gained a lot of positive support. Three, they've gained a lot of donations... but it's not clear to me whether the funds coming in from all these good-meaning sources will be going directly into their breast exam program (which should be the whole point of this imbroglio). I'm not accusing PP of directly fueling the fire or orchestrating the donation redirection, but the phrase "wag the dog" exists for a reason.
--> Komen came out with two reasons for pulling the funds. If either reason had been sincere and they'd stuck to their guns, the reasons had some validity.
- If PP was allegedly engaging in questionable activity (and especially, if the Komen funds were being used for anything other than breast exams), Komen would be exposing itself to a [different :D] PR mess at best, legal implications at worst. PR and legal matters cost money, and that means fewer free breast exams for women. However, I find it tough to buy that they'd be worried about PP but not be worried (and take action) about the frooglepoopillion companies that are licensed to use Komen branding on products.
- If PP is giving breast exam referrals instead of performing the procedure on-site, I could understand Komen wanting to cut out the middle-man. That intermediary step costs money, and that's fewer free exams for women. But I find it just as tough to believe that they spent two years making this decision, but the alternate places to go for free breast exams weren't determined and communicated to the public immediately following the decision to cut the PP funds.
--> Planned Parenthood, while losing important funding [for a week], has gained from this situation. One, they raised awareness that they offered free breast exams (or free breast exam referrals). Two, as a "victim" they've gained a lot of positive support. Three, they've gained a lot of donations... but it's not clear to me whether the funds coming in from all these good-meaning sources will be going directly into their breast exam program (which should be the whole point of this imbroglio). I'm not accusing PP of directly fueling the fire or orchestrating the donation redirection, but the phrase "wag the dog" exists for a reason.
--> Komen came out with two reasons for pulling the funds. If either reason had been sincere and they'd stuck to their guns, the reasons had some validity.
- If PP was allegedly engaging in questionable activity (and especially, if the Komen funds were being used for anything other than breast exams), Komen would be exposing itself to a [different :D] PR mess at best, legal implications at worst. PR and legal matters cost money, and that means fewer free breast exams for women. However, I find it tough to buy that they'd be worried about PP but not be worried (and take action) about the frooglepoopillion companies that are licensed to use Komen branding on products.
- If PP is giving breast exam referrals instead of performing the procedure on-site, I could understand Komen wanting to cut out the middle-man. That intermediary step costs money, and that's fewer free exams for women. But I find it just as tough to believe that they spent two years making this decision, but the alternate places to go for free breast exams weren't determined and communicated to the public immediately following the decision to cut the PP funds.
In summary: is Planned Parenthood really the victim, and is the Komen Foundation really the criminal? Most importantly, how does this situation impact the women who need these exams? But also important: with the tsunami of information that was broadcast via social media, will the real story of what happened ever be uncovered (and will people be too exhausted to care)?
soph·ism
noun \ˈsä-ˌfi-zəm\Definition of SOPHISM
1
: an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid; especially : such an argument used to deceive
UPDATE: Someone is finally speaking out, although since it's the former head of Komen it loses in the translation:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/02/10/komen-exec-karen-handel-calls-planned-parenthood-a-gigantic-bully.html