The Orlando Sentinel and Terri Schiavo

The Orlando Sentinel recently reported that, prior to her death by starvation and dehydration, Terri Schiavo was "brain dead." This is wrong.

Terri's brother Bobby Schindler contacted the reporter who wrote the story and was told to speak to Mr. Dana Eagles. This is what Terri's Foundation reported in their News Alert:

Bobby kindly informed Mr. Eagles that using the phrase "brain dead" to depict Terri's condition was patently false, explaining that the term "brain death" is an authentic medical diagnosis and not an accurate term to describe a person in Terri's condition.

Mr. Eagles was also informed that a recent press release had been issued by Terri's Foundation to alert the media that using this offensive expression to describe Terri was inaccurate. Bobby also offered to send Mr. Eagles Terri's medical documents proving that no doctor, including those paid by Michael Schiavo, ever diagnosed Terri as being "brain dead."

The next day this email was sent to Bobby Schindler:

Dear Mr. Schindler:

I reviewed your complaint with our state editor, Bob Shaw. We've considered the arguments you made in our phone conversation, but we've consistently used the term "brain-dead" in connection with the Terry Schiavo case, and we see it as a valid brief description. I appreciate your calling us about it and letting us know your point of view.

Best regards,

Dana Eagles
Orlando Sentinel

Bobby subsequently responded to Mr. Eagles, informing him that if the Orlando Sentinel has been consistently using the term "brain-dead" to describe Terri, they have been consistently wrong. Mr. Eagles was also told that portraying Terri this way was not simply a "point of view" - his or anyone else's. Medical facts remain medical facts and, as such, are not open to the interpretation of an individual reporter or newspaper.

It was only after a May 31 letter by Attorney David Gibbs from the Gibbs Law Firm sent to the paper asking for a correction that the Orlando Sentinel admitted to making an error in the story that reported Terri as being "brain dead."

When I was director of media relations at National Right to Life, I had a similar run-in with the Orlando Sentinel. NRLC's convention one year was hosted by Florida Right to Life and it was held in Orlando. The Sentinel sent a reporter to the convention who spoke at length with NRLC President Wanda Franz, Ph.D. The article that came out the next day asserted that NRLC had only recently broadened its scope to include euthanasia. The article also made an error about partial-birth abortions. I had Deputy Press Secretary April Holley contact the reporter (since she at one time had been a lobbyist on these issues for NRLC) and explain that NRLC had always had a policy opposing euthanasia. The reporter and his editor refused to budge and said that if we wanted a correction they needed proof.

I mean, really, an organization doesn't know it's own history and the Sentinel knows it better? Come on.

When we returned to Washington, April went through archived copies of NRLNews from 1973 and 1974 and pulled articles on assisted suicide and euthanasia that included a clear representation of the organization's stance on those issues. She also Fed Ex'd to the Sentinel editor copies of NRLC Board Resolutions from those years. We got the correction-- several days after the initial article ran and only after a ridiculous amount of work on April's part.

The correction from June 1998 reads:

******************** CORRECTION PUBLISHED JUNE 30, 1998 ********************* A reference to ``partial birth'' abortion in a June 20 story about the National Right to Life Committee may have left the misimpression that the procedure is performed only during the third trimester of pregnancy. It can be performed during the second or third trimester. Because of a reporter's error, the same story incorrectly indicated that the committee has only recently taken on euthanasia as an issue. The committee considers opposition to euthanasia a ``core belief'' and has held workshops on the matter since 1973.

The Sentinel needs to get the chip off its shoulder, deal in facts, and stop promulgating such blatant media bias. As Bobby pointed out, none of Terri's doctors ever diagnosed her as being brain dead-- it's certainly not the place of The Sentinel to disregard the truth and promote such misinformation.