Yes, there are sometimes innocent errors, but most of the media are not above becoming cultural warriors.
Ray Kessler Prof. of Criminal Justice Sul Ross State Univ. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Volokh, Eugene Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 11:09 AM To: '[email protected]' Subject: Media lies, distortions, and innocent errors 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: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Joseph E. Olson Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 8:55 AM To: [email protected] 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 [email protected]
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