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"Complete Coverage"

by David Codrea
[email protected]

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There's no media bias?

Let's take a divisive topic like guns, something people on both sides of the issue really get emotional over.

On the one hand, you have people who want gun control. On the other, you have people who say the Second Amendment guarantees the government shall not infringe their right to keep and bear arms.

Gun control proponents point to criminal violence as a reason such laws are needed. Gun rights advocates counter that defensive firearm uses offset criminal gun abuses many times over, and that violence and death will increase if law-abiding people are disarmed.

Point, counterpoint. So far, only the facts have been stated, and no advocacy for either side of this issue has been implied.

Let's see if the media employs this same technique.

Let's go over to the ABC World News Tonight website and click on their link titled "Complete Coverage: Guns in America", which is a nice, impartial heading, wouldn't you say?

The first section is labeled "Top Stories":

  • Heritage Students Return to Class - Area Churches Pray for Victims and Suspect
  • Dems Push for Early Gun Vote - Hopes to Have House Vote on Gun Control by Memorial Day
  • Suspect Talked of Shooting Guns - Showed off Guns at Home, Friends Say
  • Clinton Visits Littleton- Meets With Victims and Their Families

The next section is called "The Debate":

  • Support for Gun Control Stable - But Poll Also Find Lack of Confidence in Lawmakers Sharing Their Stories
  • Student Victims Talk to Congress About Youth Violence

Next we have "School Shootings":

  • 6 Hurt in Ga. School Shooting
  • One Suspect in Custody Colorado School Shooting
  • Violence in U.S. Schools - A List of Past School Shootings

They then have a section titled "The Experts":

  • Senator John McCain - Presidential Candidate on the Gun Debate and More
  • Dr. Scott Poland - Youth Violence Expert on Littleton School Shooting
  • Dr. Herbert Hendin - The Warning Signs of Teen Suicide
  • The Tangled Roots of Rage - Littleton Violence Didn't Arise in a Vacuum

Now we come to "ABCNEWS on TV": Thursday, May 20, 1999

  • Another School Shooting
  • Keeping Schools Safe

Next they have a "Video" section:

  • Heritage High Copes, Meets With Victims and Their Families [PLAY]
  • Engineering School Safety Gun Bill Passes
  • Media Coverage of the Shootings in Littleton

And they wrap things up with "Interactives":

  • Kids and Guns Timeline: Gun Violence in America Violence in U.S. Schools

Violence. Kids and guns. Victims. School shootings. Gun bills. Clinton.

Do you see one headline in ABC News' "Complete Coverage" of "Guns in America" attesting to lives being saved with firearms? Or any admitting victims were killed because they were forbidden to arm themselves? Where is the headline "Yale Professor Demonstrates More Guns Equal Less Crime"? Why aren't Gary Kleck or John Lott listed under the "Experts" heading, or for that matter one recognizable figure who champions the inalienable right of the people to keep and bear arms? For that matter, why is there no recognition of rights, or discussion about the Constitution in ABC News' "Complete Coverage"?

There's no media bias? Complete coverage?

Give me a break.

David Codrea is a co-founder of GunTruths (http://www.guntruths.com) and a founding member and director of the national RKBA media project, Citizens of America (http://www.citizensofamerica.org). He also writes for Guns & Ammo. Read Mr. Codrea's online writing archive at http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/Codrea.

Related Reading:� Media Bias Archives

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