.- The pro-life advocacy group Heroic Media has launched an online site featuring breaking news on life issues such as abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research.
“In a culture so focused on the destruction of and reorganization of life and of the family, it is critically important to have a focused, uncensored outlet,” Heroic News editor Jennifer Uebbing told CNA.
“There is, quite simply, no other media outlet online doing what we're doing.”
The website, heroicnews.org, was launched in June and provides news from around the world related to what Uebbing called the “non negotiable” issues being debated by society: abortion and contraception, euthanasia, human cloning, embryonic stem cell research and gay “marriage.”
“So much of the mainstream media coverage is deliberately slanted and politically or ideologically driven, it's difficult for readers to tease out the real meaning of it all,” Uebbing observed. That reality makes it “all the more important to reach people with the truth,” she said.
Heroic Media founder Brian Follett said the news initiative makes sense given the mission of the group.
“Heroic Media has always had two goals: to provide women facing unexpected pregnancies with hopeful alternatives through mass media advertising and to create a Culture of Life,” he said. “With Heroic News, we can directly engage in the culture-building work of shaping the news environment.”
A Spanish version of the site called Noticias Heroicas has also been launched, and editor Alejandro Lostaunau said he's “humbled” to provide this service to pro-life and family organizations.
Alejandro Bermudez, Heroic Media board member and the executive director of CNA, noted that if “mass media didn’t impact the way people think and act, why would so many corporations and governments use it? We are shaping culture.”
Although the site is primarily focused on providing news, the group's Facebook page has attracted thousands of new page views since its launch last month, Uebbing said.
“The news has gone viral, so to speak, and the more eyes we can get on HeroicNews.org, the better.”
“Pope Benedict recently spoke about the responsibility to harness the power of social media for good, for the spread of the Gospel,” she added. “That is why Heroic exists – to proclaim the truth to a troubled world in need of a good, healthy dose of reality.”
