(Alex Tien, Headline USA) In a surprising move, many leftist news outlets are attempting to harness and temper their own journalists’ personal activism in regards to the recent Supreme Court leak overturning Roe v. Wade, Vanity Fair reported.
In an attempt to bear some semblance of bipartisanship, the move marks a significant change in direction from what was expected from journalists during the summer of 2020 riots and protests following the death of George Floyd.
During the peak of the 2020 protests, Axios Jim Vande Hei sent a companywide memo to employees encouraging the practice of “free speech, press, and protest.”
Vande Hei has taken quite a different approach to his own employees activism this time around.
He wrote to employees in a memo earlier this week that, “Abortion is a human rights issue that has become a highly politicized topic, with very specific policies being debated in Washington and in most states.
“So it seems impossible to march—or tweet opinions—and not be perceived as picking a political side in public,” he wrote.
He also added that he knows “this is hard, because this issue is so personal and runs deep with many of you.”
“But it is our strong wish that you do not protest on any political topic, because it could undermine our trusted journalism.”
This reversal could be understood as an attempt to win back voters’ trust ahead of the 2022 midterms. As reported, many legacy institutions such as CNN and the New York Times have been forced to make changes in their coverage ahead of the midterms.
In order to get back to “a more civilized society”, CNN is trying to “get back to journalism, reporting news and facts, with advocacy.”
The only outlier from this recent change is Rolling Stone, which recently told their reporters that “you don’t have to stifle your beliefs around here. This is a place where we can champion our convictions, where we can be our fullest selves.”
