This appeared in the right-hand column of the Editorial Page in this past Sunday's Washington Post. Mr. Shipp gets to handle a lot of the reader feedback and seems to take a balanced approach to most issues. His e-mail and phone number appear at the end. John
A Shot at Gun Stories
By E. R. Shipp
Sunday , July 2, 2000 ; B06
When it comes to guns and The Post, these truths seem self-evident:
* In editorials, The Post takes the position that "the most sensible proposal" is "a ban on the manufacture, import and ownership of handguns as well as assault-type weapons" [Jan. 31].
* News stories tend to focus on the latest horrific use of weapons in schools, workplaces and city streets; and on the long-running struggle to limit access to guns.
* The National Rifle Association is invariably depicted as the public--and not so pretty--face of gun enthusiasts. A June 4 Outlook article said that what once was "primarily a hunting and sport-shooting organization" has been hijacked by "nuts" and transformed into "a political lobby" that no longer serves the interests of "the average gun owner."
* Accounts of responsible, recreational use of guns are generally confined to Angus Phillips's picturesque outdoors columns in Sports, where he writes of hunting everything from doves to deer.
Readers regularly complain that the news and editorial pages give short shrift to the views of those--other than NRA leaders--who fancy guns and object to efforts to impose more legal restrictions than now exist. That's why a May 9 KidsPost article about a 12-year-old girl who enjoys target shooting and hunting was so noticeable and why an even more prominent May 31 profile of a gun enthusiast triggered appreciative responses. The latter, a 2,000-word article by Daniel LeDuc, appeared on the front page of the Metro section and told the story of Bill Bandlow. "His neighbors and friends know he is 46 and single and a pilot for US Airways," LeDuc wrote. "Some know of his volunteer work with children at the Catholic church he attends. A few know he is remodeling and renovating his Rockville home. Not a lot of people know that he owns more than 50 firearms--shotguns, rifles, revolvers and small automatics. That he loads his own cartridges for target shooting with special equipment in his basement or that he studies ballistics the way some might track Orioles batting averages."
One reader wrote: "This is the first article I have seen in The Washington Post in my 21 years as a subscriber that was not anti-gun." That reader must have missed the KidsPost article and perhaps others that may have appeared in years past, but his point is well taken about what readers usually find in The Post, where many journalists have little or no familiarity with guns or with those who use them in non-criminal activities.
While covering the gun debate in the Maryland legislature, LeDuc realized that "the gun side" is not heard very often in The Post. He and his editor, Ashley Halsey, decided to draw upon something they recalled from their days at another newspaper: "You zig when everybody else is zagging. We thought this was a perfect zig." And therein lies a lesson for others who come to the newsroom believing that there is only one legitimate side in a controversy. Of course, as LeDuc noted, journalists more easily gravitate toward stories with built-in drama, such as the shooting death of a grandmother out walking her dog. "Trying to write about people who just like guns because that's their hobby is harder to do. Yet those are the people fighting hardest against the laws because they are the ones most affected by the laws because they follow the laws."
Said one reader who has taken issue with The Post's usual coverage: "If nothing else, a newspaper should make readers aware that real, live, rational human beings take up both sides of many hot issues; it is never a good-vs.-evil debate." Almost never, anyway. On guns, The Post should do more zigging when the inclination is to zag.
As always, I can be reached at ombudsman@washpost.com or (202) 334-7582.
© 2000 The Washington Post Company
A Shot at Gun Stories
By E. R. Shipp
Sunday , July 2, 2000 ; B06
When it comes to guns and The Post, these truths seem self-evident:
* In editorials, The Post takes the position that "the most sensible proposal" is "a ban on the manufacture, import and ownership of handguns as well as assault-type weapons" [Jan. 31].
* News stories tend to focus on the latest horrific use of weapons in schools, workplaces and city streets; and on the long-running struggle to limit access to guns.
* The National Rifle Association is invariably depicted as the public--and not so pretty--face of gun enthusiasts. A June 4 Outlook article said that what once was "primarily a hunting and sport-shooting organization" has been hijacked by "nuts" and transformed into "a political lobby" that no longer serves the interests of "the average gun owner."
* Accounts of responsible, recreational use of guns are generally confined to Angus Phillips's picturesque outdoors columns in Sports, where he writes of hunting everything from doves to deer.
Readers regularly complain that the news and editorial pages give short shrift to the views of those--other than NRA leaders--who fancy guns and object to efforts to impose more legal restrictions than now exist. That's why a May 9 KidsPost article about a 12-year-old girl who enjoys target shooting and hunting was so noticeable and why an even more prominent May 31 profile of a gun enthusiast triggered appreciative responses. The latter, a 2,000-word article by Daniel LeDuc, appeared on the front page of the Metro section and told the story of Bill Bandlow. "His neighbors and friends know he is 46 and single and a pilot for US Airways," LeDuc wrote. "Some know of his volunteer work with children at the Catholic church he attends. A few know he is remodeling and renovating his Rockville home. Not a lot of people know that he owns more than 50 firearms--shotguns, rifles, revolvers and small automatics. That he loads his own cartridges for target shooting with special equipment in his basement or that he studies ballistics the way some might track Orioles batting averages."
One reader wrote: "This is the first article I have seen in The Washington Post in my 21 years as a subscriber that was not anti-gun." That reader must have missed the KidsPost article and perhaps others that may have appeared in years past, but his point is well taken about what readers usually find in The Post, where many journalists have little or no familiarity with guns or with those who use them in non-criminal activities.
While covering the gun debate in the Maryland legislature, LeDuc realized that "the gun side" is not heard very often in The Post. He and his editor, Ashley Halsey, decided to draw upon something they recalled from their days at another newspaper: "You zig when everybody else is zagging. We thought this was a perfect zig." And therein lies a lesson for others who come to the newsroom believing that there is only one legitimate side in a controversy. Of course, as LeDuc noted, journalists more easily gravitate toward stories with built-in drama, such as the shooting death of a grandmother out walking her dog. "Trying to write about people who just like guns because that's their hobby is harder to do. Yet those are the people fighting hardest against the laws because they are the ones most affected by the laws because they follow the laws."
Said one reader who has taken issue with The Post's usual coverage: "If nothing else, a newspaper should make readers aware that real, live, rational human beings take up both sides of many hot issues; it is never a good-vs.-evil debate." Almost never, anyway. On guns, The Post should do more zigging when the inclination is to zag.
As always, I can be reached at ombudsman@washpost.com or (202) 334-7582.
© 2000 The Washington Post Company
