[Arnisador]

Out of sight, out of mind...are you familiar with that phrase?

You want examples of how the media portrays anything that is scary looking?

example 1) Last night on W5...nice episode on the ETF in Toronto. They are profiling people who are here to serve and protect, and kill if necessary (reference, the hostage taker incident last year where a gunman was shot on national tv). Yet even then, because it sounds more dramatic to the viewers, the reporter expounds on the use of "sniper rifles" as opposed to just "rifle" or even "bolt-action rifle". Minor pet peeve...certainly.

example 2) during a drug bust here in Regina, in the past week, they reveal that lots of cash was recovered, 8 kg of cocaine (or something similar) and an arsenal of weapons. Which was a shotgun, a .22, and an undisclosed caliber hunting rifle. Apparently 3 guns is now an arsenal.

example 3) during a big tradeshow two weeks ago, an out of province farmer was found dead...they assume he was crushed by some farm equipment, but have no leads. Headlines the next morning in bold print FARMER SLAIN POLICE HAVE NO LEADS. Great sensationalism.

example 4) three weeks ago, an elderly woman at our local shopping mall slipped and was run over by a vehicle driven by another senior citizen. Headlines read Woman Run Down by Veteran. More sensationalism.

example 5) last year, a 13 year old boy was shot in the eye by a driveby paintball shooting, and he lost the use of the eye. One of my teammates who works at a local paintball field was asked if the local news could interview him about the paintball hobby. They said they were just inquiring about the popularity of the sport and the safety precautions used. During the interview, the reporter asked how easy it is for a person to get a paintball gun. Buddy answers the shop ensures they are dealing with parents etc if the kid is underaged, but outside of the shop, any kid could get their hands on a gun if they wanted to, they just had to go to walmart, Canadian tire, etc. During the airing of the segment, the report went like this "Paintball guns are a hazaard, anyone can get them. This paintball owner said so ... shoot to clip of buddy saying "...any kid could get their hands on a gun if they wanted to"

End of segment. Selective editing at its best.


Point is...media needs to sell copy, or get advertisers. Tame stories aren't good for business. Sensationalism IS. And what better than to pick a bunch of people in camo and gear running around, to show how in this day and age, with all the shootings in downtown Toronto, the "shooting each other" mentality is alive and well.

Sure to you and me it doesn't make sense. Neither did any of the above noted "news" reports that were made public. It still happens.


Go look for the other thread I put up about "why are we in Afghanistan". Some good examples there of what the media does or doesn't do. Sure it would be nice to talk about all the good things that our military can do, or how lots of airsofters are quite nice people who learn and value teamwork and camaraderie in their hobby. That kind of fuzzy warm story doesn't sell copy...so it doesn't hit the news.

You want REAL proof of media bias on things that go "bang"?

Take a look for the last time you read an article or saw a segment on competative shooting sports, or hunters, that portrays a gun owner as a decent human being, who is no different than most other people.

If such articles exist, they are vastly overshadowed by the crazy whack-job gun owner (refer to Dawson College, or Spiritwood SK where Mounties were killed)