Watch for these media buzz-words

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Float Pilot

Float Pilot

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The source close to the investigation told Fox News that the suspect is "emotionally disturbed."

When police took him into custody, they found an "arsenal" of weapons inside his home, the source said.


Neither means a things in terms of description. Just another way to stir emotional knee-jerk reactions....
 
Yes but who's doing the stirring? The media outlet which reported what the source said? Or the source who used those terms? If they are in quotes those are verbatim from the source. (Well, supposed to be anyway...grumble grumble.)
 
Our local radio "Christian owned and operated" just announced that it was only 20 assorted firearms and only 400 total rounds of ammo. Less than a brick of 22s and a box of shot-shells.

I have had more than that in my truck
 
Neither means a things in terms of description.
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How do you figure? What words would you prefer? Just because an article is written about events that are not convenient to one's position does not make it biased.
 
How do you figure? What words would you prefer?
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How many guns is an arsenal? 5 or 500.....????

Just say 20 various firearms... or 4 weapons...

The media and the less educated continually mis-use that word in an inflammatory sense to indicate a huge volume of ammunition or firearms.


Definition of ARSENAL

a : an establishment for the manufacture or storage of arms and military equipment
b : a collection of weapons


The same goes for emotionally disturbed....
Either you have a physiological illness or not... assuming of course that someone really has a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Being ticked-off, forced to watch chick flicks and other things that make you want yell at someone does not really mean you are legally mentally ill.

If a suspect has a verified history of mental illness, fine then say so... (there are legal ramifications to that as well) if not, shut up until your facts are straight and stop blabbering just to make the news yahoos happy.
 
Definition of ARSENAL

a : an establishment for the manufacture or storage of arms and military equipment
b : a collection of weapons
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So then how is definition "b" inaccurate? Many people who know me have described my collection as an arsenal. It is common usage of the term.


The same goes for emotionally disturbed....
Either you have a physiological illness or not... assuming of course that someone really has a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
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Being ticked-off, forced to watch chick flicks and other things that make you want yell at someone does not really mean you are legally mentally ill.

The point of an article is to convey information. Using a word outside it's medical or legal definition is not proof of some sort of bias conspiracy. We have all met people that we would describe as mentally disturbed without knowing if they have been officially diagnosed by a psychiatrist.
 
We're all emotionally disturbed, just ask your wife, kids, friends or relatives ...

My sincere wish is that when they come to me and spread my humble 'arsenal' on my bed, or preferably front yard, I have no reason to be embarrassed.
 
not proof of some sort of bias conspiracy.
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Proof, no....

And yet my contention is that a bias does exist.

All one has to do is read any of the info supplied by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to recognize that many politically appointed Police Chiefs adhere to an ideology which promotes the disarming of the citizenry. They in turn hire public affairs officers, whom much like politically appointed Chiefs were never street cops either, or were so bad at the job they were promoted out of harms way.
 
And yet my contention is that a bias does exist.
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Is there specific bias against guns and gun owners? Undoubtedly. But I bet it is less than we would flatter ourselves to believe. Bias certainly exists in the media, but I think it is mostly toward making money by sensationalizing things to get people to read, hear or watch the rest of the story. And the management and PR people of law enforcement agencies probably exaggerate things for the same reason people in other organizations do - to increase the stature and perceived value of the organization.
 
The media seeks to sensationalise everything they write a story about.

People seek out the most sensational stories to read or watch.

Readership or viewership is how they make their money. The more views they attract the more they can charge for add space.

Like it or not they do it because we like it. Sadly it is a reflection of our society that we see.

Also realise that without the freedom that the media in this country has to report these stories we would not be free. A state sponsored media such as the one in China only reports what the state wants the people to beleive not what is truly happening.

Does the media in the US always get it rite? Of course not but they do get it better than most places. Some sources lean firmly to the right and some to the left. As always the truth lyes some where in the middle but at least there is some truth in it.

Sorry for the rant.
 
PR people of law enforcement agencies probably exaggerate things for the same reason people in other organizations do - to increase the stature and perceived value of the organization.
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Yeap I was in Law Enforcement for 20 years...
I never meet a Chief of a 50 man Dept who did not want to be the Chief of a 100 man dept....
Exaggeration means more money, more troops and more perks....
 
While both terms are accurate it's the way they are used by media and PR reps.

The term arsenal in my mind conjures up visions of criminals. Which of course is why the media uses such language.
 
The term arsenal in my mind conjures up visions of criminals. Which of course is why the media uses such language.
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How about the term is used because it's accurate when referring to a collection of guns? And shorter to say, too. You (or I) have no way of knowing why any particular word was chosen, especially when the definition is exactly as described - a collection of guns.

That said, (and somewhat to your point) whenever I see the word "arsenal" I also want to read, within a sentence or two, an accurate count of the gun collection, and types. Because the devil is in the details. So far in the Aurora reporting we've seen that, mostly, and "arsenal" is just shorthand for "collection of guns."

As mentioned before the words in the OP are in quotes so the assumption is that the person being quoted used those words. If they were trying to create a stir, then so be it. People in positions of authority often are trying to stir the pudding (see: Current US election). And the "the media" are obligated to report what they said - ideally as accurately as possible - without boring the reader to sleep.

News stories are not court testimony; they are written to be concise (ideally), informative (ideally) and accurate (even more ideally). At least, for written news; the "if it bleeds, it leads" gorp on what passes for local TV news doesn't seem to even try to pass the first test.
 
The media does not use the term "Arsenal" because they think people will take it to mean "a gun collection". The term as used has a negative connotation.
 
Anyone else notice the new term magazine-clip being used? Bad enough the media always used the term clip to refer to mags, but magazine-clip? I'm picturing a 30rnd stripper clip.
 
"Arsenal" is a buzz word. Emotionally disturbed is kind of obvious. Buzz words (or phrases) that you've missed that have been posted recently on THR to watch for:

"I support the 2A, but..." or "I am a gun owner, but..."
"Reasonable/responsible/common sense gun laws"
"Gun violence"
"For the kids" or "keep guns off the streets"
"High-capacity magazine"
"Assault weapon"

Etcetera etcetera...
 
Assault magazine or assault style magazine is nothing.

I read an article that said the rifle used had a military style flash suppressor.

They fill find/create an evil sounding feature for anything.
 
Have any of you who like to assign neutrality to the press and believe they only sensationalize for the money and readership ever sat down and had an extended converstion with members of the press? Over the past twenty years I have been in various postions that allowed me to develop relationships with multiple people employed by a Gannett paper to the point that I was asked to serve two terms on their editorial board. By about a 90 to 1 ratio these people are hard core progressives and will do almost anything in their power to spin their news stories to match their personal philosophy. They have to because if you believe one thing but observe another you have to somehow justify your belief or you go crazy because your world is not in balance. Perhaps you are also trying to rationalize your beliefs that people in positions of authority are not out to destroy the republic and the ability of those of us who embrace liberty to resist their actions so you belittle people by accusing them of being conspirists or of ignorance. That is certainly the High Road, isn't it?
 
Just watched a video where Conn Governer Malloy used the words "30 magazine clip" multiple times on CNN. Not his exact words but basically: People don't need these 30 magazine clips.

Gun control advocates are trying to appear like they aren't totally ignorant about guns by using the word "magazine" but this guy didn't get the memo to not follow it with the word "clip".

Then he also implied that simply adding a 30 round magazine makes the gun exactly the same as the military version.

And last but not least, he claimed that there is nobody in the country who opposes these restrictions who is "in their right mind".

I wish I had the video so you could all have a laugh with me.
 
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