Over the last few months, all three local news stations in my area, KTAL (6), KTBS (3), and KSLA (12) have reported on gun ownership worries. What's going on? Assault rifles are flying off shelves. Ammunition is too.
So what's the problem?
The local news frames the worry in light of the recent gun violence. Let me give you an example of poor journalism. Three officers were killed in a shooting in Pittsburgh last week. Instead of our local news covering it as a tragedy, they start out their week end news cast with something like this.
(Paraphrasing)
The gun violence in Pittsburgh has gun owners worried.
So instead of addressing gun violence, the real problem, they drum up right winger paranoia over assault rifle bans.
They completely disregard the fact that no legislation is currently in the works in Congress to institute an assault rifle ban. No legislation is on the table to take away guns. Maybe one or two members of Congress have plans to bring certain ideas to the table, but that's the same as Dennis Kucinich standing in front of Congress pushing for the impeachment of President Bush. It's one guy trying to push an idea that is dead in the water.
But oh no, southerners need to have their paranoia validated and news organizations do it in the name of ratings. When the news reports it, one can only assume it's the truth. Unfortunately, it's not. It's spin. We should demand more from our local news organizations, but we don't.
So KSLA, KTBS, and KTAL, would you mind dusting off those journalism degrees and make an attempt to actually do some legitimate fact checking before making hearsay newsworthy?
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