Social media affects Komen’s decision to reinstate Planned Parenthood funds

In a move that many people attribute to the public backlash through social media, Susan G. Komen for the Cure decided to reverse its original decision to cease funding for Planned Parenthood.

The Komen foundation will continue to fund the existing grants of Planned Parenthood, according to a statement released Friday from the Susan G. Komen board of directors and CEO Nancy Brinker.

“Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation,” according to the statement. “We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political.”

In another statement two days prior, the Susan J. Komen foundation said they were “dismayed and extremely disappointed” that their actions to strengthen their granting process were “widely mischaracterized.”

In 2010, the Susan J. Komen foundation began an initiative to measure the impact of their community grants, after which adopted “stronger performance criteria for our grantees,” according to the earlier statement.

It stated the new granting strategy required Komen to adopt “more stringent eligibility standards to safeguard donor dollar.”

In its newer statement, Susan J. Komen officials said the changes in funding were not based on political reasons or done to penalize Planned Parenthood.

Some Boston University professors said they believe otherwise.

Diane Balser, Boston University’s co-director of undergraduate studies for BU’s Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, said in an email it is interesting the latest statement claimed politics should have nothing to do with their work.

“All of this is political — funding or not for Planned Parenthood, even funding for breast exams,” Balser said.

Barbara Gottfried, another co-director of undergraduate studies for BU’s Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, said in an email the foundation’s objection was to Planned Parenthood’s support of women’s choice.

“I think many people were surprised to ‘discover’ that the Susan Komen foundation had a ‘political’ agenda and a reactionary, anti-woman agenda at that,” Gottfried said.

Gottfried said the two main Susan J. Komen members involved in the decision are apparently pro-life.

Balser also said the social media provided the pressure to reverse the decision.

BU Public Relations Professor Stephen Quigley said the intensity and polarizing feelings toward abortion make it an issue that lights up social media.

“I don’t know what went on behind the scenes, if in fact Komen’s original decision was in part driven by political views on abortion,” Quigley said in an email. “But when they argued that politics had nothing to do with their decision, it really threw gasoline on the fire.”

However, Quigley said he believes social media is not all there is to this story.

“Social media is just an aspect of this story,” he said. “Here, it is about women’s health and political issues about what to choose and not, those are the real dynamics here. Social media on the periphery is changing those dynamics.”

BU College of Communication senior Ginny Soskey, president of BU’s Public Relations Student Society of America, said in an email that people went to Facebook and Twitter in large volumes to voice their feelings.

“The conversation around this issue on social media was loud and extremely negative – the Susan G. Komen Foundation couldn’t ignore it any longer and risk further drops in donation and a worsening brand image,” Soskey said.

Soskey said the ordeal shows how much social media is a true democracy.

“The average social media user has the ability to spark change among friends, peers and strangers, with no more than 140 characters,” she said.

COM senior Ellen Cohn, a vice president of public relations for BU’s PRSSA, said in an email that organizations are more scrutinized because of technologies such as Twitter and Facebook.

“By voicing their opinions on social media platforms, the public created a topic trend, ignited furious debate and led the Susan G. Komen foundation to reinstate funding to Planned Parenthood,” Cohn said.

Cohn said there has never been communication tools that allow for immediate and transparent two-way dialogues between the public and corporations.

“Moving forward, corporations will be held accountable for controversial brand and policy changes,” Cohn said. “Social media enables even the smallest voice to be heard on a global scale.”