The media. At times it can be a constant source of frustration. Yet I've met over the years some of the fairest media personnel you would ever find ... their quest was, first and foremost, to deliver to their readers and listeners both sides of a story ... not just a pre-conceived opinion.

These members of the media are noble and a credit to their profession. Then there is Kim Bolan.  I'm somewhat hesitant of using this column to clearly identify a member of the media. Why? I've named names before of individuals in the pro-abortion movement ... but the reason I want to look at Kim is because I believe every city, every media outlet has their own Kim Bolan.

You see, if the pro-abortion movement ever managed to acquire a "plant," someone who is so sympathetic to their cause that they would go beyond reporting and advocate the pro-abortion side, they‘d have it in Kim. Kim works for The Vancouver Sun. She has frequently, over the years, been put on the abortion "beat," reporting on news associated with the killing of unborn children.

Sadly and oh so typically, she has been less than unbiased in her appraisal of the battle for life. My clipping file of Bolan stories is thick, but here is just a sampling of her "spin" on life issues: On November 14, 1994, Bolan covered the shooting of abortionist Garson Romalis. In her perspective on events, she announced in The Vancouver Sun: "... Shelley Shannon, of Oregon, has been charged with murdering Dr. George Tiller outside a Wichita, Kan. clinic last August ... High-profile American anti-abortionist Joe Scheidler visited Vancouver during a 1990 speaking tour by Morgentaler. Scheidler, like Portland's Burnett, signed a ‘justifiable homicide' petition ..."  

First off, George Tiller is still alive and performing his grisly business as of December, 1997.

Careless with facts
 
Scheidler never signed the petition and has in fact spoken out against all forms of violence. Bolan did correct this aspect in a later story, not apologizing for her goof-up but merely including the text of an interview with Scheidler. The fact that Scheidler's life might have been put in danger by her inexcusable lack of concern for accuracy didn't seem to bother Kim at all.

On November 25, 1994 Bolan again turned her sights on pro-lifers, covering a story trying to link anti-Semitic literature with the pro-life movement. Bolan has never bothered to look into communism and its ties with the pro-abortion movement ... and has neglected to mention that over 40 million people perished in the USSR under communism alone. Where was the story mentioning Everywoman's Health Centre's (Vancouver's first abortion mill) Kim Zander and her trip to Soviet Russia just a few years previous?
 In 1995, American speaker George Grant spoke at the annual convention of the Pro-Life Society of BC. Bolan was on the warpath with front page quotes by BC Coalition for Abortion Clinic head Joy Thompson, telling the world that Grant was a "walking time bomb."

Why? Merely because Thompson said so. I was phoned by Bolan and asked for Grant's phone number, which was unlisted and which I foolishly provided to her. She tried to contact Grant but was unable, leaving a message on his answering machine. Grant also received another
chilling message from an anonymous caller, warning him not to enter Canada, citing his entry point (which no one knew) and threatening to "meet him" when he arrived.

Now I could not in good conscience accuse Bolan of being involved (although she never grants our movement the same courtesy), but the fact remains I gave no one else Grant's phone number. At the very least her hysterical story prompted one individual to threaten Grant.

The lesson we painfully learned in all of this is, being a spin doctor for the pro-abortion movement means never having to say you are sorry.

Space does not permit me to document the other ravings and attacks she has made over the years. It has led many of us in this province to make the difficult, but necessary decision to boycott her, and not provide her with any material for interviews. Why? Bolan is going to write
what she wants (and it would appear, what the other side wants and provides to her) anyway, so why should we participate in assisting her in her agenda?

The lesson we must learn is if we come across such reporters, we should feel no shame nor remorse in refusing to work with them. Let's propose in 1998 to hold members of the media accountable for truth. It can make a difference. It has to.