Eugene is less cynical that I am. And that's a good thing. It's the consistency of errors, all in the same direction (even if a few boomerang like this one), that raises my suspicions.
BTW, I had no suspecion until the day in 1994 (or thereabouts) when a Minneapolis Tribune reporter told me that he" knew that (the law) but it's not consistent with my story line" so he didn't mention it. Once burned, twice shy. The Tribune also has a "policy" that they have followed of printing at least one gun abuse story each week even if they have to go to Florida (2000 miles away) to find it. It's not news in Minnesota but it is a good way to condition your readers to draw the false conclusion that guns are often (always) misused. Here's an example from last week. http://www.startribune.com/nation/83981602.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU >>> "Guy Smith" 02/16/10 12:01 PM >>> <!--a:link{mso-style-priority:99;}span.MSOHYPERLINK{mso-style-priority:99;}a:visited{mso-style-priority:99;}span.MSOHYPERLINKFOLLOWED{mso-style-priority:99;} /* Font Definitions */ @font-face{font-family:Tahoma;panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}...@font-face{font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal{margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";}a:link, span.MsoHyperlink{color:blue;text-decoration:underline;}a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed{color:purple;text-decoration:underline;}span.EmailStyle17{mso-style-type:personal;font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none none;}span.EmailStyle18{mso-style-type:personal-reply;font-family:Arial;color:navy;}...@page Section1{size:8.5in 11.0in;margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}div.Section1{page:Section1;}-->Being both a marketing person (workingwith media) and the local gun policy go-to for reporters, I have an APobservation. The AP in particular rarely reports gunstories with technical accuracy. Much of their semantic skewing appears tocome from their central office. The Alabamareporter might have known details about Alabamapermits, but an upstream editor likely massaged it into its silly finalproduct. Im loath to accuse them of intentionaldistortion (what is the old line, never claim conspiracy when stupidityis a suitable explanation?) but APs rather consistentmisrepresentation of facts vis-à-vis gun issues makes me believe policy is atplay. Granted, their headquarters are in New York and the idea of not requiring ownershippermits may be foreign in that territory, but that should not be an excuse forpoor journalism. BTW, was the university a gun freezone? Were CCW holders barred from carrying on campus? I have not had time tocheck. Guy Smith www.GunFacts.info
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