Media Intimidation of Lawful Firearm Owners

[k_dawg]

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Once again, the liberal media is trying to intimidate us.

Intimidation: NY Newspaper Publishes Names, Addresses of Gun Permit Holders


The offending media

Sauce for the goose or, home address and phone number of Journal-News publisher | For What It’s Worth

[Rothenfluh]

This is not what we should be doing. In before the lock.

R

[UniversalExports]

Go ahead and publish my name and address. That's just one more disincentive for robbers to hit my place late at night.

I'd be pissed if I didn't have a gun and my name was omitted. That's an open invitation.

[searcher451]

This sort of thing has been going on for years, and it's not just "liberal" media that does it.

Nice touch with adding the names and contact points for the newspaper's people, by the way. Is it only the "conservative" media that would respond in that fashion?

The sooner we rid ourselves of labels, the sooner we might be able to reach some sort of concensus in this country about the many issues that face us ... and about the wolves that are howling at the door.

[searcher451]

This one was closed for a couple of days, but the issue is transcending politics and warrants some additional scrutiny. For example (and all of these are from CNN):

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/...ermits-map.cnn

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/25/us/new...iref=allsearch

Even media insiders think its a terrible idea. This from the Poynter Institute, a media think-tank and watchdog:

The Poynter Institute, a school for journalists, notes that some other news agencies have published various types of databases as well.

"Publishing gun owners' names makes them targets for theft or public ridicule. It is journalistic arrogance to abuse public record privilege, just as it is to air 911 calls for no reason or to publish the home addresses of police or judges without cause," Al Tompkins, a Poynter senior faculty member, said in a statement Wednesday. "Unwarranted publishing of the names of permitted owners just encourages gun owners to skip the permitting."

[Rothenfluh]

Originally Posted by searcher451

"Publishing gun owners' names makes them targets for theft or public ridicule. It is journalistic arrogance to abuse public record privilege, just as it is to air 911 calls for no reason or to publish the home addresses of police or judges without cause," Al Tompkins, a Poynter senior faculty member, said in a statement Wednesday. "Unwarranted publishing of the names of permitted owners just encourages gun owners to skip the permitting."

But it's protected speech, you know, the 1st amendment!!!

R

[searcher451]

That's true enough, though I don't think that's the rationalization that the editor is using in this case. I read some of her comments at the time that this first came out. The idea, as I understood it, was to let people know who in their neighborhood had firearms, in the same way that newspapers for years have listed the names of people who were arrested for DUI. The logic of those lists is not to embarrass or make the miscreants in question look like fools (though it certainly accomplishes that); it is rather to alert parents with children that people in their neighborhood have been know to drive drunk and that they should take precautions to keep their kids safe.

Whatever the rationale is here, it's a terrible idea and irresponsible as well. With power comes responsibility, and the editor is not exhibiting an ounce of it.

[Rothenfluh]

Originally Posted by searcher451

That's true enough, though I don't think that's the rationalization that the editor is using in this case. I read some of her comments at the time that this first came out. The idea, as I understood it, was to let people know who in their neighborhood had firearms, in the same way that newspapers for years have listed the names of people who were arrested for DUI. The logic of those lists is not to embarrass or make the miscreants in question look like fools (though it certainly accomplishes that); it is rather to alert parents with children that people in their neighborhood have been know to drive drunk and that they should take precautions to keep their kids safe.

Whatever the rationale is here, it's a terrible idea and irresponsible as well. With power comes responsibility, and the editor is not exhibiting an ounce of it.

Indeed. In fact, all things have consequences.

NY Newspaper Publishes an Interactive Map With Addresses of Registered Gun Owners; Blogger Publishes Addresses of Reporters as Revenge | The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch

R

[searcher451]

And both are stupid, in my view.

[Rothenfluh]

Oh yes. Stupidity generally begets more stupidity. Both are self serving, juvenile and merely exacerbate division.

R