Pebcac
Member
ABC 24 News in Memphis just ran the same AWB story that the other ABC affiliates and national broadcasts have been running. It's the one that starts out with the wacko bank robbers in Hollywood spraying automatic weapons fire all over creation, and the talking head's voiceover stating that the AWB was passed "to prevent this."
Knowing it will do absolutely no good whatsoever, here's the email I'm sending to the news director:
To: [email protected]
Mr. Turpin,
I am sending this message to express my disappointment in the accuracy of the assault weapons ban story that just ran on September 9.
Much as other ABC affiliates and the national ABC news broadcasts have done, the story started with scenes from a Hollywood bank robbery, which involved two suspects covered in body armor and armed with illegal fully-automatic weapons. The Memphis voiceover mentioned that the 1994 assault weapons ban was passed to prevent "this."
This is patently false. Fully automatic weapons, which maintain a continuous rate of fire as long as the trigger is held down, have been heavily restricted since 1934, and were further restricted in 1986.
The 1994 law involves semi-automatic arms, which fire one single round per trigger press. The law banned certain arms by name, and went on to ban combinations of features that were largely cosmetic, such as folding stocks and "pistol" grips, which have no effect whatsoever on the firing mechanism of the firearm. The law also banned the manufacture of magazines with a capacity higher than 10 rounds, but did not prohibit the sale of any magazines or firearms manufactured prior to the ban's effective date.
To assert that the law was passed to prevent confrontations between law enforcement and criminals armed with fully-automatic weapons is journalistically irresponsible. I would expect ethical journalists to more accurately check facts, and present these facts in an unbiased, balanced manner. This story smacked of yellow journalism.
As a viewer in the Memphis area, I've never been particularly impressed with the quality of the ABC 24 news broadcasts compared to other stations in the area, but now I doubt the integrity and scholarship of your news department, as well. To be perfectly honest, I am inclined to believe that the story was politically motivated and deliberately slanted, and that you will be more concerned with the ratings numbers as opposed to the accuracy of your stories.
Am I wrong?
Sincerely,
<Pebcac>
Like I said, it won't matter a tinker's damn, but I'm still sending it.
:banghead:
Knowing it will do absolutely no good whatsoever, here's the email I'm sending to the news director:
To: [email protected]
Mr. Turpin,
I am sending this message to express my disappointment in the accuracy of the assault weapons ban story that just ran on September 9.
Much as other ABC affiliates and the national ABC news broadcasts have done, the story started with scenes from a Hollywood bank robbery, which involved two suspects covered in body armor and armed with illegal fully-automatic weapons. The Memphis voiceover mentioned that the 1994 assault weapons ban was passed to prevent "this."
This is patently false. Fully automatic weapons, which maintain a continuous rate of fire as long as the trigger is held down, have been heavily restricted since 1934, and were further restricted in 1986.
The 1994 law involves semi-automatic arms, which fire one single round per trigger press. The law banned certain arms by name, and went on to ban combinations of features that were largely cosmetic, such as folding stocks and "pistol" grips, which have no effect whatsoever on the firing mechanism of the firearm. The law also banned the manufacture of magazines with a capacity higher than 10 rounds, but did not prohibit the sale of any magazines or firearms manufactured prior to the ban's effective date.
To assert that the law was passed to prevent confrontations between law enforcement and criminals armed with fully-automatic weapons is journalistically irresponsible. I would expect ethical journalists to more accurately check facts, and present these facts in an unbiased, balanced manner. This story smacked of yellow journalism.
As a viewer in the Memphis area, I've never been particularly impressed with the quality of the ABC 24 news broadcasts compared to other stations in the area, but now I doubt the integrity and scholarship of your news department, as well. To be perfectly honest, I am inclined to believe that the story was politically motivated and deliberately slanted, and that you will be more concerned with the ratings numbers as opposed to the accuracy of your stories.
Am I wrong?
Sincerely,
<Pebcac>
Like I said, it won't matter a tinker's damn, but I'm still sending it.
:banghead:
