Media Ethics: Issues and Cases 8th Edition by Philip Patterson, Lee Wilkins

Exercise 6

A Charity Drops the Ball
PHILIP PATTERSON
Oklahoma Christian University
Susan G. Koman for the Cure is a global organization dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer, educating the public about the disease and aiding patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. The organization has raised nearly $2 billion in more than three decades of operation. Its signature event, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, draws on a network of activists, survivors and volunteers to create an event that is one of the largest in all U.S. charities. Since 1982, the Komen organization has been a trusted brand in its chosen field of breast cancer research.
In February of 2012, the leadership of Komen announced that it would end its long-standing relationship with Planned Parenthood, a women's health resource. Planned Parenthood delivers reproductive health care, sex education and information to its clients worldwide. Its 800 centers in the United States serve nearly 5 million clients each year. According to its publicity information, one in five women in the United States has visited a Planned Parenthood health center at least once in her life. Nearly three-quarters of a million breast exams are provided by the organization each year. Three percent of the health care provided by Planned Parenthood are abortions or abortion referrals. This keeps the organization at odds with many religious groups and conservative causes as well.
Prior to the decision by Komen, it had been announced that Planned Parenthood was under congressional investigation to determine if the organization had used federal funding to finance abortions. (This charge is a long-standing one and has been repeatedly rebutted by Planned Parenthood as well as multiple congressional inquiries.) In the midst of the inquiry, Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced that it would suspend its funding of Planned Parenthood-at the time a total of $680,000 annually.
Backlash to the decision was swift and came from many sources. Children's author Judy Blume was one who condemned the Komen organization publicly saying, "Susan Komen (the namesake of the charity) would not give in to bullying or fear. Too bad the organization bearing her name did." Other criticism came from various sources around the country.
Days later, the Komen organization leaders apologized for their actions and reinstated the funding to Planned Parenthood. Karen Handel, Komen policy chief, resigned after the public apology. Handel had been an outspoken critic of abortion and Planned Parenthood dating back to an unsuccessful run for the governorship in Georgia, and most members of the media believed that her resignation was not voluntary. However, in her resignation letter and in interviews afterward, Handel said that while she had a role in the decision, both the Komen board and top executives were onboard with her decision.
In the months that followed, Katrina McGhee, executive vice president and chief marketing officer; Nancy Macgregor, vice president of global networks; and Joanna Newcomb, director of affiliate strategy and planning, all resigned. Organizers of the signature Komen event of 5K races and walks that constitute the bulk of Komen fund-raising claimed that participation declined by as much as 30 percent (Wallace 2012).
Then, in August of 2012, Liz Thompson, president, and Nancy Brinker, founder and CEO, both resigned their positions at the charity, bringing to seven the number of resignations for the year, according to the Associated Press (Wallace 2012). Brinker, who founded the charity in 1982 after her sister, Susan G. Komen, died of breast cancer, said that she would remain in a fund-raising role after stepping down as CEO of what had become the nation's largest breast cancer foundation.
The announcement of the resignations by the top two officials made no reference to the earlier problems with Planned Parenthood.
What should Komen spokespersons have said to journalists who were writing news stories about these decisions and the resignations that followed? To donors?