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GUN CONTROL

Media Biased In Favor Of Gun Control?

Writer suggests journalists are pushing an agenda

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by David Mark

Editor-in-Chief t

Image: AP.

In the aftermath of the Newtown, CT, elementary school massacre journalists have been anything but impartial in reporting on gun control. It's more like they're advocating stricter measures, writes Peter Wehner in Commentary.

"The elite media are more open in their advocacy than at any time I can recall," writes Wehner, a former policy advisor in the George W. Bush administration and on Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. Wehner specifically takes to task CNN's Soledad O'Brien and Don Lemon for preaching gun control.

And their policy prescriptions won't even work, he writes. "What seems to be the animating passion of gun control advocates isn't a solution to violence and mass killings; it's moral posturing. They want to take advantage of massacres like the one we saw in Newtown to push an agenda that makes them feel morally superior."

It's this type of liberal-leaning coverage that has led to the rise of conservative news outlets. "The 'New Media,' which has injected new voices and different points of view into the public debate, seems to have convinced many journalists that something more is necessary," Wehner writes.

Via Commentary.

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • PNWest
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    No. Polls show that the American public want reasonable gun control. The media is just reflecting that. Unfortunately the NRA has too many politicians in their pocket for things to change any time soon.
  • u
    RobertJHarsh
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    While I agree and the public wants reasonable gun control (like no missile launchers or 500-round magazines) that is NOT want the MSM is pushing. They are straight up pushing all guns are bad, forced buyback/grab or a course of action that removes legal firearms from those whom legally own them. They are advocating that jokers such as Morgan and Moore are part of mainstream America and both men are ultra leftists and are far out of touch with the rank and file American.
  • martydotcom
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    USA Today/Gallup poll released Thursday also found that American support for stricter guns laws is at its highest since 2004, but that blanket bans on some guns would remain a political challenge.

    The Gallup poll of 1,038 adults, conducted Dec. 19-22, found 47 percent of Americans now favor passing new gun laws rather than simply ramping up enforcement of current law, a 12-year high. Fifty-eight percent of Americans would like to see stricter gun laws, a 15-point jump since October 2011. The poll had a 4 percentage point margin of error.
  • View all 61 replies >
  • MarkJM
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    Without a doubt they're biased. They want failed gun control measures to come back. This is ironic because according to the Bureau of Criminal Justice Statistics, there were more violent gun crimes during the assault weapons ban (from 1994 - 2004) than there were since 2004 when that ban expired. So that tells me the "mainstream" media wants more mass casualties to occur (must be a ratings grab thing)....
  • o
    talkenhed
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    Every type of media be it print, TV, radio, is dependent upon their audience. If the audience doesn't like what they hear they change the station. The media favors gun control because the majority of the country does. Simple economics
  • u
    CaryNickel
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    Murder is "news", and the media is in the "news" biz. Given that the mainstream media is losing customers on every front, they will do anything, however abhorrent, to try to grow their audience. Mainstream journalists like to present themselves as altruistic defenders of the common man, somehow above the fray. But that is BS. They know they are an endangered species, and they are running scared. By and large, they are not above driving the news if that is what will save their jobs.
  • u
    RGS1224
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    @woodtick57 Whether there was more or less "assault weapon" violence is irrelevant. Murder is murder and the ban from 94-04 did nothing to curb it, in fact statistically there was more gun violence during that period. I think that many people believe that because of that ban it removed that style of weapon from the general public. That is not the case. Any owner of a weapon described as an assault weapon was not required to relinquish it.
    Lastly, some of the most infamous mass murders in our lifetimes took place during that time with assault weapons. Jonesboro Arkansas and Columbine are the first two that come to mind.
  • hwyangel
    !
    Just political propaganda as usual. The government with the UN agenda would like nothing more than to have us dependant on them for our protection. It would make us easier to control.
    Just take example from Australia.
  • View all 26 replies >
  • Vance1
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    Yes, this far left wing socialist media has an agenda.
    They are no different than Hitlers ideals.
    He also removed guns from people, Then he took over and killed them.
    NO Differance here, These Marxist Socialists have the same agenda against we the American people.
  • o
    woodtick57
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    So you're saying the leftist in the US want to take guns so they can round up the jews and gays ? your 'logic' always gives me a laugh, Vance...
  • PNWest
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    @Vance1 What a perfect example of right wing self-victimization. You lose the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 elections but compare yourself for the Jews being persecuted by the Nazi's. Boo Hoo Hoo.
  • stepped_in_it
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    @woodtick57 My thoughts exactly. Hitler took the guns. Hitler's "army" would kill anything/everything Hitler commanded! Does anyone believe our US forces would attack their own people? Maybe a few, but the rest would (most likely) turn and attack those "few". Now, to get this right, I do not want "guns" taken from the US public. But, I want some responsibility in that gun ownership. The biggest question is "How do we preserve gun ownership why adding more responsibility"?
  • View all 36 replies >
  • View all 6 replies >
  • marine1
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    you know, if all media would just promote the whole truth equally, we the sheepels might all have a different understanding of what is really screwing this country up?
  • stepped_in_it
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    @AceLuby I agree.....BUT.....the way the media is "blitzing" the gun thing and the way the public is, we never know what will happen. The one thing I (now) know for certain, people are not smart and are not getting smarter! Sorry for that observation.....just what I've seen in the last 55+ years!
  • u
    AceLuby
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    @stepped_in_it My point is that just because one wants gun regulation does not mean they are anti gun, if you agree why do you keep spouting about gun elimination?
  • stepped_in_it
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    @AceLuby HMMM "spouting about gun elimination". Can you please point out one, just one post where I "spouted about gun elimination". Would love to go back and re-read what I said.
    Ace, my worries is the "stupid" of this country will believe this media blitz and lean more heavily toward that elimination. Way too many now have become "city" folks (see results of our last election to prove that fact) and only know guns as a weapon, not a tool. They don't understand them, are afraid of them and would rather rid the world of them (which you and I know is a dream, as the "idea" of the gun....the invention is there forever). When the majority "wants" something, it will start to happen....
  • View all 12 replies >
  • jessejaymes
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    Prior to opening my own business I worked for 10 years (some overlapping with both) for a newspaper. I know what goes on. They sit in the meetings (god I hated meetings) and debate about what will get people worked up. Back in the days before the internet people got 30 minutes of local news and about 30 minutes of national news on the TV and half of that was commercials. So a newspaper wielded far more power back then than today. The same kind of power as the internet at large today and even more than cable news shows. Entire cities were politically shaped by their local newspaper. Which is too bad since those newspapers had meetings to decide which things would incited the public to.........buy more newspapers. Lawyers told them if they could get away with it and then the crappola began in earnest. It's not about media being liberal or conservative. It's about profit. Always. Most media is owned by Conservatives. But they don't care about their personal politics as they care about profit. They know they can bait the right wing into screaming to high heavens over the most trivial of things. So they do. Follow the money, always follow the money.
  • mimi57
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    The tv media is 90-95% extreme left...Fox News is the ONLY Conservative News on television. That is why NPR
    and the other leftist programs want and are trying to shut them down. The media knows they are biased and anyone with half a brain knows it too, the left will deny it, but what's new...FOX NEWS # 1 for 11 consecutive years!
  • o
    woodtick57
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    @mimi57 Why do you think NPR is leftist? Because soeoe told you it is? Have you ever listened to it? Why is their listener makeup a perfect mirror of the political makeup of our nation if they are so leftist?
  • o
    woodtick57
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    @mimi57 So you say that because soeone told you it is so, but you really have no idea if it is true or not...Funny metric for establishing the bias of a news source....
  • View all 36 replies >
  • Malitia_Man
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    While the sheep of Amerika were being taught that gun owners are racist, terrorist, & dangerous over the holidays by the CONTROLLED media, me and my family went to our local range and wasted a couple thousand rounds!!! Oh, might I add that nobody was hurt or injured during our holiday tradition like your brainwash machine would have you think.... We had fun, and was to teach our young ones on how to properly use firearms!! Oh no!!!! I did what?!?!? Yeah, that's right!!! My kids were shooting those dangerous firearms!!!!

    While nobody at our family event was hurt by a firearm, in CA alone there were 39 people killed by drunk drivers... I think it's time to ban cars... Go fig...
  • Malitia_Man
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    @woodtick57

    Oh, might I add that gun owners, like myself, in NY are being treated as if they're some type of sexual predator!!!

    Link:
    https://www.google.com/url...

    You see the people who want our guns will go to every extent to get the sheeple of Amerika to give up their guns!!! The controlled media is doing nothing to help gun owners, but only exploiting the ideas of the communist liberals in Washington to take our guns away!!! They tend to use labels like a "national registry of firearms"... But what they really want is to be able to locate the owners for future Agenda 21 confiscation... Oh, the sheeple probably doesn't know anything about that...
  • o
    woodtick57
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    @Malitia_Man Oh no, the tin foil hat people have pushed this imagianry agenda 21 conspiracy so far everyone knows how messed up they are on that issue.
  • View all 47 replies >
  • u
    mtkopf
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    I believe the media is actually portraying what real ppl want instead of promoting the agenda of the NRA.
    A recent poll shows that 74% of NRA members favor closing the gun show loophole and requiring ALL gun sales only after background check.
    It was funny to watch that weasel Grover Norquist, an NRA board member, squirm last Sunday on George stephanopoulis when presented with that info. It has been quite obvious that the NRA no longer represents the gun OWNERS but rather the gun MANUFACTURER.
  • jessejaymes
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    @mtkopf You know I am a gun owner and I'm not giving up my guns to anyone. But I don't belong to the NRA. I have no interest in any group that refuses to compromise. We should not restrict guns to law abiding citizens but we should make every effort to ensure proper gun safety. That mother of that shooter in Newtown was about as lax as I've ever seen a gun owner be. She knew that kid wasn't right. She paid with her life. If there is one person in the entire Newtown tragedy I don't feel sorry for it's that mother. I've know literally dozens of irresponsible gun owners in my lifetime. Assholes who sit around drinking and playing with their guns. I just leave when someone is like that today. But they're everywhere. It's almost as though about half the gun owners say "the constitution gives me the right to be a complete idiot with a gun".

    I know I'm a responsible gun owner. But I also know the idiots on the far right, the NRA and the far left will never stop making people like me out to be the problem. And that's the telling situation right there. Both the far right and the far left make a responsible gun owner the bad guy with their lies and distortions and agendas. Just wrong.
  • FFX_VA
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    Clearly biased, why does the media focus on new gun laws instead of new laws promoting improved school security? Answer, discussing school security doesn't improve ratings, discussing gun control does because it riles people up. It's all about ratings & profit, not news.
  • u
    AceLuby
    !
    Security isn't the issue because you simply can't have armed security everywhere. Just in the last few years you've had shootings at schools, churches, factories, malls, outside capitals, and even Army bases. School security 'may' have prevented this one instance... or the security guard 'may' have been the first one shot and not prevented anything. Regardless, there's a bigger thing happening than this one shooting, it's how common these shootings are becoming and what the common thread between them are.
  • FFX_VA
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    @AceLuby Hmm, I find myself agreeing and disagreeing with you. The issue is still security, but I agree it's not only about putting police in every school, theater, etc. This will help to a degree, but there's an entire culture involved. First person shooter games, Hollywood movies & music glorifying killing people, and none of them shown the consequences. At what point should they be held liable for negatively influencing thoughts and desensitizing people to these horrific acts of violence? Then there's the whole mental health issue. In FFX a few months back a guy came home, killed his wife, family, and himself. He had been receiving counseling but never mentioned the key words suicide or violence, so no one could act on his problems until it was too late. This is a wicked problem for sure, and will only be reduced through a combination of actions.
  • u
    mtkopf
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    @FFX_VA here's a question for you: why do you want to blame "(f)irst person shooter games, Hollywood movies & music glorifying killing people" but not accept that guns and gun laws are the part of the problem?
  • Dan_Tien
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    There is a clear difference in reporting about incidents involving guns. A shooting spree like the one in Newtown gets weeks of coverage of every aspect. An incident where someone defends themselves against violence with a gun tends to get little or no coverage at all. It seems that the concept of covering stories without editorializing them is no longer in vogue.
  • u
    fistv
    !
    @woodtick57 I dunno, but after being a Senator, then president the main stream media has not dug up one piece of dirt on Obama, NOBODY is that clean. Yet they were able to dig up dirt on just about every other Republican runner very quickly, usually with in a month. As far as fox being right, just like any other media they go where the money is. I just find it highly time intensive to read lefty, then righty then go in search of a few other sources to finally get a real picture of whats going on. I've gotten pretty good picking up a writers slant just by choice of words. When I hear 'The fact of the matter is' I know the big lie is about to come out over those lips. I'm not a fox fan either.... Though I do like Charlie K....
  • Post Removed by Moderators
  • u
    fistv
    !
    @woodtick57 Seen that on fox but not so much on CNN or MSNBC however on CNN and MSNBC we all for sure were told what republican candidate was boinking who over an dover an dover again.
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    Sharpshooter
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    The "media" is actually a "ministry" for propaganda.

    Sadly that also includes some of the "writers" on staff here.

    It's become so pervasive that it is often unnoticed. An article about crime includes a graphic of a gun, regardless whether a gun was involved or not. The Article about the response to the NRA recommendation for solving the school shootings included a graphic with a comment about "blood on the NRAs hands"

    These graphics send subliminal messages where people come to equate crime with guns and the NRA with evil.

    We have no journalists in the "biz", just personalities who have replaced knowledge and integrity with the ability to get the numbers.

    Is the media biased in favor of gun control? Is the Pope Catholic?

  • o
    woodtick57
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    Perhaps it isn't a subliminal message at all, but the culture of the US. Look at the knee-jerk reaction to brign more guns into the public to solve the problem of public gun deaths...
  • o
    bambi33
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    @woodtick57,
    Rather, the thoughtful, sensible, prudent, proposal (to employ armed oppostition to armed homicidal maniacs) was put forth in response to the "knee-jerk reaction" of hysterically blaming the good, peaceable, law-abiding, American citizens (because they own guns).
  • o
    woodtick57
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    @bambi33 No putting more armed people out there is a knee jerk reaction and just promotes the culture that creates these mass public shootings in the first place. Those that support this crazy idea would just make the situation worse.
  • o
    Sharpshooter
    !
    @woodtick57
    "No putting more armed people out there is a knee jerk reaction and just promotes the culture that creates these mass public shootings in the first place."

    Interesting... Tell me... what would YOU recommend to resolve the problem.

    Please don't tell me about another ineffective Assault Rifle Ban; we know how well they work considering the first of the School Massacres (Columbine) occurred DURING the Clinton Assault rifle ban.
  • o
    woodtick57
    !
    @Sharpshooter

    Changing the Us culture that makes people think more guns in public is the answer to our public gun violence problem would be a start. That is the same culture that creates thise shootingsand some people want to perpetuate it.

    Knee jerk and absolutely wrong
  • View all 11 replies >
  • Jean
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    why is the media attacking the head of the NRA when a caller to the Rush Limbaugh show just called in to call attention to the fact that Clinton initiated funding for guards in schools during his administration?
  • u
    Cheenoguy
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    I would explain it to you, but I learned a long time ago that nothing demonstrates a hatred for reality then listening to that chubby pill head.
  • o
    woodtick57
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    Some schools need guards for a variety of reasons.

    the idea of putting armed guards on every school in the US I so far beyond the pale as to be laughable.

    of course, it was a good PR move for the NRA. Any thing they do from there will look saner and more rational by comparison.
  • Medicinebow
    !
    @woodtick57 As long as there is a child in any school it is more than enough reason to have armed security. It's not just "some" schools. Perhaps you see some kids as valued differently than others. That would be the only reason why some deserved armed protection and others didn't. When our leaders drop their paid, armed protection at our expense than they can come talk. Let them lead us forward by getting rid of their own armed protection and turning in all CCW permits and firearms. Lead by example.
  • Vance1
    !
    @Cheenoguy
    The Facts about Gun Shows
    http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/f...

    incase you do not read it
    Despite what some media commentators have claimed, existing gun laws apply just as much to gun shows as they do to any other place where guns are sold. Since 1938, persons selling firearms have been required to obtain a federal firearms license. If a dealer sells a gun from a storefront, from a room in his home or from a table at a gun show, the rules are exactly the same: he can get authorization from the FBI for the sale only after the FBI runs its “instant” background check (which often takes days to complete). As a result, firearms are the most severely regulated consumer product in the United States — the only product for which FBI permission is required for every single sale.
  • Ashstop
    !
    Yes, mainstream media is connected at the hips to the left, whatever Obama wants they will push, we all know it, it's ok with half the country though, the state run media is all they will listen to, all they want to know is what the state decides they need to know, if they don't report it then it didn't happen!
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