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CommentMax

Ignorance Fuels Media’s Anti-Gun Stance

Dr. Michael S. Brown

April 25, 2000

Responsible gun owners have complained for three decades that the media are
biased against them. The media have either denied it or simply refused to
address the issue.

A report released in January 2000 by the Media Research Center found
network
news stories about guns supported more gun control ten times as often as
they questioned it. The study evaluated over 600 news segments on ABC, CBS,
NBC and CNN over a two-year period.

The networks ignored the report. They no longer bother to refute the charge
that they are biased against gun rights. This bias has become
institutionalized, especially in the major national news organizations.

The way in which the media have chosen sides on this issue has disturbed
many people, from civil rights advocates to conspiracy theorists. Is it
part
of a sinister conspiracy to install a totalitarian regime? Perhaps there is
a simpler explanation.

Quotes from journalists blatantly announcing their personal opposition to
guns are now archived in large numbers on the Internet, so there is little
doubt that their personal beliefs match the agenda of their employers. Why
do journalists, as a group, tend to hate guns? Let’s ask some journalists.
Popular columnist Jill J. R. Labbe of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said:
“Journalists are not different than other people – they have a tendency to
fear what they don’t understand. I look around the newsroom and I see
predominantly young reporters, more women than men, most who grew up in
urban areas, few who served in the military, absolutely no hunting
tradition. They have had little or no exposure to firearms beyond their use
as tools of crime. I also see men and women who have a naive faith in law
enforcement, that the police will be around to help them in their time of
need.”

In 1993, USA Today ran an in-depth analysis of the gun issue. Journalist
Tony Mauro wrote that in the USA Today office, “which prides itself on
drawing its staff from a cross section of the nation, it was hard to find
editors and reporters who had ever pulled a trigger.”

Retired journalist Larry Palletti writes:
“Today’s reporters spent their youth listening to Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw
expound upon the evils inherent in gun ownership. To them, the tool bears
the stigma – not the person who misuses the tool. With the disappearance of
military conscription, these kids aren’t exposed to weapons except for what
they hear and see on TV and in the movies. They buy into the fictions
because they’ve not been taught about gun use and gun safety.”

The definitive statement on this topic was written by William R. Tonso in
Reason magazine: “Most journalists know very little about guns and are not
interested in learning.”

A few brave reporters have actually decided to learn something about
firearms. The resulting articles are often very good.

Al Giordano produced an excellent article for the Boston Phoenix (7/21/95)
after he accepted an offer from gun rights activist C.D. Tavares to visit a
shooting range to learn about so-called “assault weapons.” He discovered
that many of his ideas about these weapons and about gun owners were wrong.

Phillip Weiss wrote in the New York Times Sunday Magazine (9/19/94) of his
first shooting experience. His well-written story explores the strong
emotions and internal conflict that guns can invoke in someone who has been
taught to hate and fear them. Accompanied by experienced shooters at the
range, Weiss begins to absorb the essence of what it means to be a
responsible gun owner. “Issues of trust, individualism and community
started
to transform themselves,” he writes. For a moment, he seems to realize that
the gun owner’s logic was correct but then states, “I wasn’t ready to give
up the social contract I’d already bought into.”

All journalists who write about firearms issues owe it to their readers to
educate themselves. There are numerous firearms training centers around the
country that offer many levels of instruction, from quick introductions to
weeklong training sessions. Unfortunately, journalists are rare in these
classes. Perhaps they are afraid of the gun owners they’ve demonized, or
perhaps they fear that their elitist beliefs will be changed.

There may be some signs that the bias is moderating outside the first tier
of networks and newspapers. The relatively young Fox News Network has taken
its commitment to unbiased coverage seriously and aired an occasional
gun-neutral or pro-gun news report. The anti-gun Seattle Times recently
announced in an editorial that the Second Amendment does indeed protect a
citizen’s right to own a handgun.

Philadelphia’s City Paper ran a cover story on April 6 that was headlined:
“What if the Gun Nuts Are Right?” Portland’s Willamette Week ran an
unbiased
story on concealed weapons permits, and the Tacoma Reporter sent a
correspondent to visit a range with a gun rights advocate. Apparently, open
minds are more common at smaller newspapers, but they can’t offset the
overwhelming influence of the national media.

Many observers have suggested that the fight for the right to bear arms is
a
dress rehearsal for the next fight, for freedom of the press. Gun owners
have proven to be a formidable political group, and they have long
memories.
Which side will they support in that future conflict?

References:
Outgunned: How The Network News Media Are Spinning the Gun Control Debate
<http://www.mediaresearch.org/specialreports/news/sr20000105.html>
William R. Tonso, “Shooting Blind,” Reason Magazine
<http://www.reasonmag.com/9511/GUNSfeat.html>
Comments by Jill “J.R.” Labbe and Larry Palletti
<http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Bridge/2431/journalguide.html>
Suggested Reading:
The Great American Gun Debate
By Don B. Kates, Jr. and Gary Kleck.
The Gun Control Debate: You Decide
Edited by Lee Nisbet.
More Guns, Less Crime
By John Lott
Politically Correct Guns
By Alan Gottlieb
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Dr. Michael S. Brown is an optometrist in Vancouver, Wash., who moderates a
large e-mail list for discussion of gun issues in Washington state. He may
be reached at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>