Margaret Sanger's Journalism: Expanding Awareness About Birth Control

Journalism's first and foremost duty is to provide people with information, and an important part of that duty is finding otherwise obscure but important events and issues and bringing them to the public's attention. Margaret Sanger striving to perform that task for birth control

Not knowing about safe alternatives to illegal abortions had a great cost for women. Sadie Sachs became ill from blood poisoning after having an illegal abortion, and after her doctor refused to tell her about ways to prevent herself from becoming pregnant, died after having another abortion. Sanger's own mother died from chronic tuberculosis, having lost much of her strength after 11 births and seven miscarriages. As Sachs and Sanger's mother were not the only victims, spreading information about birth control was critical for preserving the lives and health of women who did not want to become mothers.

While many people sought to keep information about contraceptives away from working-class women, Sanger persisted and often managed to turn it to her advantage. When the authorities shut down her speaking appointments, she resisted, and while she was often arrested, she managed to get a greater audience and spread more awareness of the issues than she would have otherwise. She was willing to continue publishing until a warrant was issued for her arrest and she had to flee abroad. New ideas often encounter considerable resistance, and Sanger's perseverance enabled her to spread awareness to reach many more people.

The Internet presents many new opportunities for this kind of journalism. The lack of gatekeepers prevents people like Anthony Comstock from censoring this journalism or taking action against the producers, although it also lessens the possibility of oversight over such journalism. The Internet has a worldwide audience, which enables more people in more places to hear about obscure issues, making it a topic of discussion more easily. The Internet's capacity for two-way communication enables users to share their thoughts and spread the information, thus ensuring that the people who initially bring up the issue are not the only ones disseminating the information.

The mainstream media often fail to explore aspects of certain issues, like solutions to the economic crisis that have not been up for consideration in Congress, or fail to report others, like soldiers testifying in Winter Soldier sessions and the acts that many of those soldiers committed or witnessed. While it behooves the mainstream media to become more proactive in searching out the stories that matter, spreading awareness of obscure issues should not solely be up to them, as ordinary people with access to the proper information can and should help shed light on lesser known issues. As the Internet presents a platform to people with unprecedented accessibility and audience, and Sanger was able to make a considerable impact without that source, the time is right for citizen journalists to educate others about the issues that matter.