NCJ Number
139388
Journal
Media Studies Journal Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1992), 139-149
Date Published
1992
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This author writes that, by and large, the mass media, in its reporting on firearms issues and gun control, consistently display bias, carelessness, and error.
Abstract
Bursts of editorial comment favoring gun control, usually prompted by a mass murder spree or other heinous crime involving firearms, are typically superficial and illogical. All parties to the gun control debate, including the National Rifle Association, the gun control lobby, and the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms fault the media for inaccurate reporting. This phenomenon, the author maintains, is a manifestation of the general lack of sophistication the media show when reporting on technical issues. The author characterizes what he calls the media's sins of commission and omission in reporting on firearms: inexcusable factual errors and general ignorance, editorial stands, bias, omitting crucial information, questionable news judgments, interest-group tactics, and personality journalism.