AllSides analyzed under-covered and omitted stories across the political spectrum this week. Here’s what you may have missed:
What the Right Missed
UK Investigating Volunteer After River Clean Up
What’s The Story? The United Kingdom’s Environment Agency (EA) is investigating and threatening to prosecute environmentalist Paul Powlesland for “permitting and waste offenses” after his team of volunteers spearheaded a clean-up operation in February. “After repeatedly asking the agency to act,” the River Roding Trust “removed 200 bags of rubbish, branches and silt over 10 days,” according to The Guardian (Left bias). The EA alleged that the dredging has imposed a flood risk.
Why The Miss? Outlets on the right often dodge environmental stories that may tarnish the more aloof stance on preservation projected by conservatives. Pew Research Center data (2020) showed that while 76% of UK residents called pollution of their rivers, lakes and oceans “a big problem,” there remained an ideological gap of environmental concern between liberals and conservatives.
What the Left Missed
HHS Replaces Biden’s ‘Explicit’ and ‘Inaccurate’ Sex Ed Program
What’s The Story? Nearly $70 million of Biden-era teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) grants were cut by the Health Department (HHS) in late June due to the prevalence of “sexually explicit,” “medically inaccurate,” and “age-inappropriate” materials.
The HHS’ review determined that 53 out of 67 beneficiaries, including Planned Parenthood, failed to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders on sex, DEI, and education. Curriculums endorsed a “wider, more flexible range of gender identities,” promoted pornography as a way to “spice things up,” instructed students as young as 11 on how to use condoms, and provided guidelines on how to obtain abortions, which were labeled as “very safe procedure[s] when done under medical supervision,” according to a Daily Signal (Right bias) exclusive.
HHS reportedly announced two replacement programs for 61 beneficiaries to “focus on programs that do not promote [sexually explicit content]” and address “behavioral risk factors underlying teen pregnancy, or other associated risk factors.”
Why The Miss? This story was a soft-toss to conservative outlets such as Daily Signal and Live Action (Lean Right), because its controversiality opened a window for criticism of not only the abortion and sexual education industries, but also the Democratic administration and its use of tax dollars under former President Joe Biden.
UK Authorities Allegedly Allowed Massive Sexual, Religious Abuses
What’s The Story? The Restore Britain Party accused UK authorities of allowing the “repeated rape, gang rape, trafficking, torture, pregnancy,” and “forced Islamic conversion” of “at the very least, 250,000 young white girls” in a privately-funded, 219-page report released last week. Click here for the full AllSides analysis on this story.
Why The Miss? Coverage on the right was often sensational and slanted, but coverage on the left and in the center was omitted almost entirely. The report largely attributes the systemic abuse to networks of Muslim immigrants; and while liberal outlets often cover stories about persecution against immigrants and religious minorities, conservative outlets often opt for stories about persecution by immigrants and religious minorities. Additionally, outlets on the left likely dodged this story to avoid legitimizing the conservative Restore Britain Party, or to avoid platforming a study from a group they view as anti-immigrant.
What Everyone Missed
MK Ultra Hearing Alleges Systemic Experimentation, Connection to JFK Assassination
What’s The Story? A House Oversight Committee hearing revealed multiple allegations against the CIA’s Cold War-era MK Ultra program this week. Investigative journalist Tom O’Neill testified that Jack Ruby and possibly Charles Manson were assets of the mind control program, and one witness said the CIA experimented on an unknown number of “‘expendables’ – human beings who would not be missed if they disappeared.”
The hearing, led by The US Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, aimed to review the CIA’s methods and transparency, as well as the threat of spinoff programs with technological advancements. The task force chair, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), said afterwards that she will “demand the full release” of records from the CIA.
Why The Miss? AllSides initially reported on this story as a media miss in May. At the time, the hearing was set for May 13th but was delayed until July 1st. The delay likely corroded the story’s credibility further, as its conspiratorial themes had already established dicey territory for serious news outlets.
Malayna J. Bizier is a News Analyst and Social Media Editor for AllSides. She has a Right bias.
This piece was reviewed and edited by News Analyst and Social Media Editor Jessica Carpenter (Center), Education Experience Manager & News Editor Emily Allen (Left), and Editor-in-chief Henry A. Brechter (Center).
