Bestselling author Mike Fumento writes: "Why the Media Miss the Stem-Cell Story."

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What a breath of fresh air! Hat tip to Second Hand Smoke for finding it!

Michael Fumento talks about Adult Stem Cell research and Embryonic stem-cell research. He explains why ESCR gets the free press, even though it's the more morally troubling and scientifically uncertain avenue of research. Bottom line? Reporters want to be the guardians of Reason v. Religion. Plus, they're lazy, and the ASCR proponents and scientists fail to engage in the PR battle.

After a preliminary debunking of the so-called effectiveness of ESCR, he discusses why the media doesn't get it:

More likely what's going on involves reporters' attitudes toward religion-or more precisely, religion in science and public-policy debates. In their minds, ESC backers have a purely scientific motivation while ASC backers have a religious one. Many journalists may see themselves as defending science against religion: They may have missed Galileo's trial, but by golly they're here for this one. (That attitude is sometimes seen most clearly outside the mainstream media. In the liberal magazine The American Prospect, for example, Chris Mooney wrote a recent piece sneering at "the Christian right's new 'science.' ")

There's a great irony here, however. As these reporters picture themselves standing for the cause of reason against the forces of dogma, they also don't realize that the ESC research vocabulary-so filled with "mays" and "coulds" and "one days," promising a miraculous future somewhere down the road-reflects a dogma all its own.

He then goes on to examine the work ethic of these senseless scribes:

Most reporters get their information the same way you do – from other reporters. To the extent they use a primary source, such as an interview subject, they get their names from other reporters as well. You've heard the term "famous for being famous," but likewise the world is full of people who are experts for no other reason that at some point somebody in the media anointed them one.

"They pick a couple of favorites and take a quote and that's it," complains Dr. David Prentice. Prentice is a biologist and former ASC researcher who's now a senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. "Most reporters just want a sound bite – [either] a controversial sound bite or one that backs up their preconceived notion. For some reason, they don't want to report."

Reporters are busy and deadline-oriented, and as much as they complain of being "flacked" by PR departments, their choice of stories, of angles and expert quotes is often determined by which side hits them first with an e-mail or phone call.

There's no question that the ESC lobby has the upper hand here. It's organized and it's wealthy: In the case of California's Proposition 71, supporters outspent opponents by 62-1. Because the text of the Proposition runs to 9,000 words, voters didn't read it; advertising and media coverage made all the difference.

The very fact that the science isn't on their side dictates that the ESC lobby must do something to make up for it – so they work the press, to their benefit. ASC researchers feel much less pressure, often believing success is the best PR – so they neglect the press, to their detriment.

I see parallels in media attitude here. Perhaps the MSM are as skeptical of ASCR for the same reason they roll their eyes at Intelligent Design. They think these are just Religious trojan horses that fundamentalists roll in to the scientific public square. Therefore, they must be Reasonable and oppose all such nonsense.

If this is the case, it's unfortunate. Once again, society is ill-served by the pre-conceived political notions of Reasonable elites. Capital and promise go with ASCR for now. If the MSM continues to cheerlead the Mortephiles in their attempt to slice and dice the unborn, then sooner or later money and support will pour into ESCR. The public will not understand why their cures won't arrive when promised, but by then the damage will have been done.