Hey, maybe the media should lead the national debate on guns
Imagine if the media devoted to the gun issue a fraction of the airtime and column inches lavished on David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell and Jill Kelley. The questions about how to grapple with our gun culture would be inescapable.
There was certainly a media agenda during the battle for civil rights in the late 1950s and 1960s. Television helped shine a spotlight on Alabama Gov. George Wallace and other Southern politicians who were fighting to preserve a segregationist society. News organizations were accused of being liberal, but they were on the right side of history in exposing practices that were fundamentally wrong. Rosa Parks’s refusal to move to the back of the bus would have been for naught had the media not made her a symbol of racial injustice.
In more subtle fashion, the media have led a national conversation about gay marriage, which as recently as 2004 was deemed politically unthinkable. Now it is legal in nine states, the last three of which adopted new laws in popular referenda last month. Again the press was accused of taking the liberal side, but sometimes that consisted of interviewing newly married gay and lesbian couples, who didn’t seem threatening to anyone. Whether the media changed the culture or lagged it, they were not missing in action.
Blowback
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F15Mech on December 17, 2012 at 9:15 PM
Yeah, I listened to BOR tonight. Doesn’t know his azz from forty cents. We need a lot more of that!
a capella on December 17, 2012 at 9:19 PM
Yes, the media and our Congress are some of the most trusted institutions in our country…/
d1carter on December 17, 2012 at 9:19 PM
Howie, will it be an in depth investigation like the corrupted 9-11 commission, the minimal coverage of F&F, Solyndra, and Benghazi for starters?
How you miserable media fkrs can be so bereft of intellectual honesty let alone curiosity is loathsome.
arnold ziffel on December 17, 2012 at 9:20 PM
The underlying presumption is: the Average American is a moron and needs us to tell them what’s best for them. There’s a political party for that too.
Meric1837 on December 17, 2012 at 9:20 PM
They’ve done such a bang-up job with everything else, have they?
Here’s a thought, how about no? How about we leave it up to the American people to have their own ‘discussion’ without self-appointed philosophers assuming more than they should?
How about that?
chimney sweep on December 17, 2012 at 9:26 PM
The media created America’s gun culture and it’s in their interest to keep you from holding them responsible for the massacres in our schools and public places. The suggestion that they lead a discussion on gun control, after the bias shown during the election and the Trayvon Martin case, is ludicrous.
Xavier on December 17, 2012 at 9:26 PM
Yes, the unbiased media needs to take the lead on portraying gun owners and their 30 bullets per minute clips as a bunch of bloodthirsty, flyover hicks who happen to be Tea Partiers.
Bishop on December 17, 2012 at 9:27 PM
I agree with BOR…no more AK-15s!!!!!!!
What an idiot. Juan Williams keeps talking about gun dealers at gun shows selling to anyone without any background checks or ATF forms…another idiot. We have idiots debating a Right without even understanding the facts.
trs on December 17, 2012 at 9:28 PM
here’s a media-type weighing in with impeccable left wing (Center for American Progress) logic…I think this bulb is in the milliwatt range
(i mean seriously, how did she make it thru the analogies portion of the SATs or GREs…or maybe they don’t do that part anymore)
http://freebeacon.com/msnbc-host-arming-teachers-comparable-to-airline-passengers-having-explosives-in-their-shoes/
r keller on December 17, 2012 at 9:28 PM
There is really nothing to discuss. We already have gun control. What they want to do is get rid of all guns and it is never going to happen.
Blake on December 17, 2012 at 9:34 PM
That is the most aggravating part. None of them know what they are talking about. They don’t understand calibers, mechanisms, ballistics….or even the laws we now have.
a capella on December 17, 2012 at 9:34 PM
John the Libertarian on December 17, 2012 at 9:35 PM
Howie: the real question to ponder is…has the media abused its privileges and should there be changes considered to reform it..?
d1carter on December 17, 2012 at 9:38 PM
…had approval ratings little better than used car salesmen?
Howie, you forget yourself. The American public no longer trusts the MSM.
Resist We Much on December 17, 2012 at 9:42 PM
Yes, the media should run the entire country. The wise and wonderful media is the source of all wisdom and wonderful stuff. My only dream is that when the whole thing goes down that the media ascends to their rightful place as the first against the wall.
Frank Enstine on December 17, 2012 at 9:52 PM
I appreciate the offer, but I’d prefer the lead be taken by intelligent people.
Dusty on December 17, 2012 at 10:16 PM
The media didn’t know Jack about guns OR crime when the first assault weapon ban was debated, and they haven’t learned a damn thing since. But they’re really good at shoveling out propaganda for leftist platforms. My Mother to her dying day still thought that law was all about machine guns, she was so well brainwashed by the Big Three. The only difference is, this time there are alternative sources of information. Make sure that every falsehood and mistake gets pointed out whenever you see it and keep hammering away on them in the comments, the people who care about the truth will take notice.
Socratease on December 17, 2012 at 10:30 PM
Hey, I’ve got a better idea – let’s let Hollywood celebrities lead the debate!
/whuuuut?
Ward Cleaver on December 17, 2012 at 10:35 PM
The ignorance by the MSM on actual guns and existing gun law is astounding.
jawkneemusic on December 17, 2012 at 10:37 PM
Hey, what if they accepted the fact that we’ve had that debate and settled it a long time ago and they should just put a sock in it?
It’s obvious that Howard Kurtz and his fellow libs just don’t like the way it came out and are using this terrible event to push their case. These children are not pawns for their politics. Guns were already illegal in Connecticut in the vicinity of this school. Would outlawing guns do away with mental illness?
flataffect on December 17, 2012 at 10:42 PM
Maybe the media can start with investigating “Fast and Furious.” Naaah….
Marxism is for dummies on December 17, 2012 at 11:06 PM
A famous example of the media’s impeccable accuracy and expertise in reporting firearm stories:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=A2sAFHBptJE
Socratease on December 17, 2012 at 11:18 PM
Can we levy massive fines on them whenever they get an easily verifiable fact wrong?
Rip Ford on December 17, 2012 at 11:34 PM