Being both a marketing person (working with media) and the local gun policy go-to for reporters, I have an AP observation.
The AP in particular rarely reports gun stories with technical accuracy. Much of their semantic skewing appears to come from their central office. The Alabama reporter might have known details about Alabama permits, but an upstream editor likely massaged it into its silly final product. Im loath to accuse them of intentional distortion (what is the old line, never claim conspiracy when stupidity is a suitable explanation?) but APs rather consistent misrepresentation of facts vis-à-vis gun issues makes me believe policy is at play. Granted, their headquarters are in New York and the idea of not requiring ownership permits may be foreign in that territory, but that should not be an excuse for poor journalism. BTW, was the university a gun free zone? Were CCW holders barred from carrying on campus? I have not had time to check. Guy Smith www.GunFacts.info <http://www.gunfacts.info/> _____ From: firearmsregprof-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:firearmsregprof-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Joseph E. Olson Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 9:30 AM To: firearmsregprof@lists.ucla.edu Subject: Re: Media lies, distortions, and innocent errors Old saying in military intelligence -- "Once is error, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action [i.e., deliberate]." People in the media continuously make this same "error." It's hard to believe they could all by honestly mistaken (especially a local Alabama reporter like the AP stringer in this case). In fact, having dealt with them for over 30 years on the gun issue, I know that some reporters will use distortions, even lies, in the pursuit of "advocacy journalism" even on the "news" pages. I've had a reporter or two admit it on occasion. Joe >>> "Volokh, Eugene" 02/16/10 11:10 AM >>> I agree that the media often errs badly, especially about guns but also otherwise. Check out the Boston Globe article about Bishop?s killing her brother 24 years before: ?the girl had fought with her brother in the 1986 incident, then shot him with a shotgun and fled down the street with the rifle in her hand.? But I wonder whether the error below is really part of a deliberate campaign to lie (presumably in ways that make law-abiding gun owners, and gun decontrol laws such as shall-issue, look bad). First, I?d guess that the reporter was just being imprecise, and meant that she had no concealed carry license. Second, I assume that her lack of license is good for gun-rights proponents, because it supports the view that licenseholders are generally highly trustworthy, and shall-issue laws do not increase the rate of gun crime by gun owners. If she had a concealed carry license, or if readers thought Alabama didn?t require a concealed carry license, that would fit the anti-carry arguments of the ?you give people concealed carry licenses, they?ll start carrying everywhere, and if something happens to anger them, they?ll shoot? variety. So a technically accurate ?Police have said Alabama law does not require a permit for the gun they believe she used in the campus shooting? would have been worse for the pro-gun-rights side. If the reporter wanted to make law-abiding gun owners look bad, that?s what he would have said; the sentence he used, while ambiguous, makes law-abiding gun owners look good. Or am I missing something? Eugene From: firearmsregprof-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:firearmsregprof-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Joseph E. Olson Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 8:55 AM To: firearmsregprof@lists.ucla.edu Subject: Media lies and distortions "Police have said Bishop had no permit for the gun they believe she used in the campus shooting... ." Every AP story on the Huntsville murders has contained the quoted phrase notwithstanding that she had no permit because ALABAMA REQUIRES NO PERMIT to possess a firearm. It's classic example of media distortion. In federal Securities Law we call this lying by omission and if you do it in a stock report, you could get 10 years in federal prison plus a host of civil lawsuits. If you're in the media, you'll be following the MSM "party line" and get promoted. No wonder no one trusts reporters anymore. Professor Joseph Olson, J.D., LL.M. o- 651-523-2142 Hamline University School of Law f- 651-523-2236 St. Paul, MN 55113-1235 c- 612-865-7956 jol...@gw.hamline.edu
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