Placement of Self Defense Articles in Newspapers

J

Jeff Thomas

New member
Now, this subject really chaps my hide, but my feelings are based upon impressions - not anything akin to a scientific study. Please tell me if I'm off base, or if your impressions are the same. Especially, please tell me if you've seen any studies or other evidence bearing on this issue.

In a related thread ('Armed Woman Kills Rapist') I point out that that article was on the back page (B10, bottom, no less) of the Valley & State section of the Arizona Republic. There were two murder cases on the front page of that section. A few weeks ago we had a cabbie kill a BG who tried to rob and kill the cabbie - that story was placed on an inside page at the bottom.

My impression is that our newspapers bury these stories, or never report them. Yes, I know that all crime is not reported, but it seems to me that our print media goes out of its way to make self defense stories nearly invisible. Our local TV news seems to do a somewhat better job, but not great.

So, is my impression incorrect, or is there some logical principle of journalism that I am missing? I've heard that 'if it bleeds, it leads', but there seems to be sufficient 'bleeding' in all of these stories - I don't see how that explains the discrepancy.

And, if this is true, I think those of us who are willing should call and write editors and bug them about this. I would also like to start citing this reality in speeches. This kind of irresponsible reporting is greatly aiding the distorted cost / benefit comparison that people consider when they debate this issue - the anti-self defense movement relies upon the average person believing (1) that self defense with a firearm is extremely rare, (2) self-defense with a firearm usually injures or kills the wrong person, and (3) citizens are just too incompetent to defend themselves with a firearm.

Perhaps these newspaper bozo's think they encourage vigilantism by placing these stories more appropriately. For me, I draw a distinct line between vigilantism and self defense, and I believe newspapers would do their communities a great service to let citizens know they can defend themselves if necessary, and let BG's know that their crimes may cost them dearly.

Thanks. Regards from AZ
 
I know someone that was involved in a shoot out. The day after the event there were headlines stating "Off Duty Police Officer Kills Man." When he was absolved of any wrong doing, the same newspapers had a little blurb in the sports section stating "Prosecutor States Shooting was Selfdefense."

Honest defensive use of weapons is not news to the media because that use is not what they want to see.

------------------
Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"
 
There was a similar discussion in the tx.guns newsgroup and a reporter said that self-defense reports are not seen as informative or useful information to the public. Of course, he was torched.

I have to admit that sometimes our antigun paper in San Antonio, does a decent job with reasonable placement of self-defense stories that are quite positive.

Glenn
 
What if everyone here wrote a letter to the editor of their local newspaper outlining cases of self-defense? Here's you a stat you can use: There have been 13 studies of uses of self-defense since 1985. The lowest figure was 108,000 self-defenses per year by the National Instituion of Justice. The highest was more than 3 million self-defenses per year. Most people say that Gary Kleck's studies at Florida State University are the most accurate--he estimates 2.5 million per year. But the statistics won't get you far in your letter-writing. It's the two or three personal stories you can tell that will make your letter succeed.

Robert
 
Imagine:

"Three men shot down between dusk and dawn!"

Where "Woman defends herself from rapists!" would have been more appropriate.

I made this up just now, but would not be suprised to have TFL members cite dozens of real examples. It is media manipulation at its worst.

Erik
 
Isn't this enough to make you puke?

http://www.azcentral.com/news/cols/0206montini.shtml


Load the e-mail and tell him how it is!




Shooting a gun myth full of holes





The Arizona Republic
Feb 6, 2000

Those who prefer the term "firearms enthusiast" to "gun nut" say we never put stories like this in the paper. But here it was, in the paper.

Which makes it one of those stories they say we never give a prominent position in the paper. But here it was, on Page B1.

Which makes it one of those stories we never put on the front page. Although, the story did make what amounts to Page 1 of The Arizona Republic's Web site Tuesday, under the headline "Woman kills rape suspect in her home."

Which makes it one of those stories about self-defense and firearms that gets "buried" by the mainstream media.

Which brings us back here, to the actual paper, and the story of an Apache Junction woman who came face to face with an intruder in her home early Tuesday and wasted him.

There have been several follow-up stories on the shooting, both in the newspaper and on television and radio. Apparently, leaders of the left-wing media conspiracy to keep stories involving "positive" gun use from seeing the light of day forgot to send out a memo.

According to the police, a man named Erick Ramirez Fuentes kidnapped a woman from a Chandler Wal-Mart, drove to the desert, raped her, shot her and left her for dead. The woman survived, however, and already is out of the hospital.

Fuentes then allegedly broke into the Apache Junction home of Bricie Tribble and her husband, threatening to kill them. Instead, Tribble took a pistol kept in the home for protection and shot Fuentes dead. Apache Junction police told me that the investigation into the shooting isn't concluded yet. For one thing, Fuentes apparently once worked for Tribble's husband.

Still, the basic story proves a point often made by Charlton Heston and associates:

There are times when a having a firearm handy could save your life.

It's true.

There are times when having a gun could save your life.

Of course, if the gun holder is untrained or a lousy shot, it won't help much. The victim might miss the bad guy and hit someone else. Or the bad guy could take the gun away and use it himself. But let's say that doesn't happen.

The fact is, if everyone who was about to be attacked by a criminal had a gun, crime rates would drop.

But there's a problem.

Since we can't tell in advance who is going to be attacked, does that mean everyone should carry a gun?

And is one gun enough?

If the family is all together, maybe, but what if Dad is at work and Mom is shopping and the kids are at school? Does each member of the family need a weapon?

And since it's sometimes inconvenient or illegal to carry a weapon in a purse or a pocket or a school lunch box, should weapons be positioned throughout our homes and automobiles and places of work, just in case?

Or is that the kind of thinking that makes gunshot wounds one of the leading causes of death for young people in America?

And does that kind of attitude explain statistics that show that guns kept in a home are 22 times more likely to kill a family member or friend?

Leaders of the secret anti-gun conspiracy actually have no reason to hide stories about positive gun use.

They're useful for comparison. For example, in 1997, there were 190 justifiable handgun homicides in the United States. That same year, the overall number of men, women and children killed by guns in murders, suicides and accidents was over 32,000.


***

Montini can be reached at Ed.Montini@ArizonaRepublic.com via e-mail or at 1-602-444-8978.

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Read your article. You did nothing to shoot a gun myth full of holes. All you did was print the usual and customary distortions about guns, as presented by such emotional knee-jerkers as Sarah Brady and the Violence Prevention gang. 32,000 people a year don't die from guns. Why don't you research the truth from the Department of Justice or the FBI crime stats before you mouth these ridiculous numbers. This is irresponsible journalism of the yellow variety, but so politically correct. We wouldn't want to offend those who have no capacity or desire to reason out the real problems, now, do we? After all, they are the ones who own you lock, stock and barrel (pun intended), don't they?
Your article is baseless, but worse, ill-written. A fifth grader could have written a more cogent report. Please, look for another job. Perhaps a position in the Federal bureaucracy would be suitable, since you already have mastered Distortion and Pettifogging 101. Why is it that misquotes are the only quotes that are never misquoted?
Nancy M. Siebern

Gotta love it-when a cop does a righteous shooting it is a sporting event!
 
Arizonan's, did this story of self defense ever appear on B1 in The Republic? If so, what day, and what edition? (my guess is that they might have carried the story on B1 in one edition but not others?)

[This message has been edited by Jeff Thomas (edited February 06, 2000).]
 
OK, folks. I went through all of my Arizona Republics, looked at the Valley & State section for each one. The story never appeared on page B1 on my home delivery editions - it was on the back page, page B10.

Now, it might have received more prominence in an East Valley edition. However, I will note that I spoke with the reporter on the piece, he responded that others also questioned the placement of the article, and he never mentioned that it appeared on B1, in any edition. Seems rather odd that he and I had that conversation, but he never thought to correct me if I was wrong?

BS
 
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