Politico’s story was spot on.
When the court ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization at 10:10am, “we just kicked into gear,” Gerstein told me, recalling the moment that he realized that the court had overturned Roe, as his May 2 story telegraphed.
Gerstein described Friday as “crazy and chaotic” — words that I’m sure were applicable to most newsrooms as journalists worked to cover the decision and explain exactly it means to audiences across the country.
Will we ever know POLITICO’s source?
Ever since Politico’s scoop, speculation has swirled about the leaker and the possible motive for the leak. The number one question Gerstein said he received on Friday was what he believed the impact of the leak was. “It’s a little tough to say,” he admitted.
When I asked whether Gerstein has spoken to the source of the leaked opinion since the official ruling came out, he declined to answer. However, he did suggest that one day, it is possible we will all know who the source is. When I asked Gerstein whether the person would eventually out themselves, he replied, “I don’t think I can answer that directly. But I do think in most of the situations, that part of the story does get told. In most of these types of stories, Watergate or what have you. But we shall see.” Gerstein added that as a reporter, he tends to believe that “history moves in the direction of more information coming out.”
“Too much credence” or not enough?
Not only is Gerstein one of the two reporters who broke news that the court was set to overturn Roe (the other reporter is Alexander Ward), he is also one of the most respected legal reporters in the industry. So I asked him what the media can improve on as it covers this tectonic moment.
When I asked Jeffrey Toobin, CNN’s chief legal analyst, about this, he said it’s a “fair point” and that he certainly agrees “there is a lot to say about the implications of Dobbs itself.” But, Toobin said, “Thomas is the senior member of the court’s conservative majority. His explicit endorsement of overturning those precedents is definitely newsworthy. It would be one thing if the liberals alone were saying the sky is falling, but Thomas is the one making the claim.”
“I’ve spent my entire journalistic career covering the legacy of Roe,” Toobin added to me. “It’s always been the biggest issue at the Supreme Court. At one level, the fight over Roe is over, but there will only be more litigation coming out of Dobbs, not less. Same with Bruen and gun control. Every law on the books is going to be challenged.”
Coverage notes
Most major news outlets have a process in place for ingesting and distributing bulletins like the SCOTUS ruling. CNN viewers could see it happen in real time: At 10:10am, Jim Sciutto said the ruling was in, and awaited the DC newsroom’s assessment of what it said. Chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who was already at the anchor desk for a segment about the 1/6 hearings, set the table for the news by saying it would be a “flashbulb memory,” a where-were-you-when moment for the country. Then at 10:12 Jessica Schneider reported the decision and the coverage began.
>> NBC, then ABC, then CBS all broke into regular programming between 10:12 and 10:13am.
>> Fox News cut off a segment with Reince Priebus to break the news, with Shannon Bream reporting from outside the court.
>> MSNBC initially fumbled the news by belatedly cutting into NBC’s special report that was already in progress. But then the network went into breaking news coverage, commercial free, for four straight hours.
Fox’s filter
The prime time coverage from Fox was precisely what you would expect from the right-wing channel. Hosts portrayed anti-abortion activists as the part of the country under attack from “radical” liberals. Here are four banners that aired during the 7pm and 8pm hours that really illustrate the tenor of coverage:
>> “RADICALS SWARM HOME OF CLARENCE THOMAS”
>> “PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT TARGETED BY RADICAL LEFT”
>> “ROE IS DEAD. ACTIVISTS THREATEN A ‘NIGHT OF RAGE'”
>> “ROE IS DEAD: PRO-LIFERS CRY TEARS OF JOY AS ABORTION ACTIVISTS RAGE”
Further reading
How media companies are responding
Media giants are ensuring employees and their family members that access to abortion will still be covered:
>> Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, said it “is committed to offering our employees across the country access to consistent and comprehensive healthcare services” and that the company “immediately expanded our healthcare benefits options to cover transportation expenses for employees and their covered family members who need to travel to access abortion and reproductive care.”
>> Comcast, which owns NBC News and MSNBC, said travel for abortion services is covered under a benefit that allows employees to receive up to $4,000 if they need to travel for a covered health service…
Newsrooms reiterate social guidelines
Tension inside newsrooms
As news organizations cover this moment, they are also confronting a familiar issue: Should journalists be allowed to take a public stance on abortion? Most major newsrooms prohibit staffers from taking a particular side on political issues, the rationale being that perception of bias can undercut the outlet’s credibility. But, by and large, newsrooms also grant journalists the freedom to speak on certain issues pertaining to human or civil rights. The question some journalists are wondering now is: Does abortion fall into that latter category? It seems that the answer is no, given the guidance some newsrooms sent staffers on Friday.
Lawmakers want FTC to probe Apple and Google
“Private actors will also be incentivized by state bounty laws to hunt down women who have obtained or are seeking an abortion by accessing location information through shady data brokers,” the lawmakers added. “The FTC should investigate Apple and Google’s role in transforming online advertising into an intense system of surveillance that incentivizes and facilitates the unrestrained collection and constant sale of Americans’ personal data.”
When I spoke to Gerstein, he also said that this is “going to stretch into social media” fast. “This is going to be a real mess for tech and social media companies,” Gerstein said. He noted that there will unquestionably be efforts from local prosecutors and police in red states “to use those technologies to go after people circumventing laws” in those states. “It’s going to be a big, big problem,” Gerstein warned. So far, it’s unclear how Big Tech is going to react.
