"In the beginning, some people thought a wave of shootings by license holders would occur, but those fears have proved to be unfounded, [Jessica Brown, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation] said."Now, I'm going to step back from the snark for a minute. While I don't believe that a BA in Journalism from a state college necessarily indicates that the holder of said degree is likely to stumble across the Unified Field Theory or write the next Great American Novel, I do accept that it probably proves that they are smarter than your average box of rocks. I also don't think that the typical journalist is maliciously eeevil, and would willfully write a lie so transparent that they know it would be pounced on within minutes of publication. This leaves only one explanation: Ignorance.
So, here is your journalist working for the Capital City Picayune in Capital City, Anystate. They've grown up in the 'burbs of Capital City, wrote for their high school paper, put in their four years of partying at Anystate U., and now have their dream job writing for the big paper that they grew up reading, maybe even on the editorial page. Guns are just not a part of their life, except what they've seen in the movies and on TV shows like Law & Order and CSI. Now the big news is that Anystate is about to vote on shall-issue concealed carry, so they express their opinion that it will lead to "Dodge City" and "shootouts over parking spaces."
And that is what I just don't understand. Is our hypothetical journalist's work ethic that poor? I mean, all the states bordering Anystate have concealed carry laws; some have had them for decades. Our journalist works in the news industry; don't they keep up with the news? Don't they think that if permit holders were likely to engage in shootouts that they'd have read about it occurring in neighboring states? If they hadn't been keeping up with the news from neighboring states, did they not do one iota of research before setting fingers to keyboard?
For heaven's sake people, if you are going to be that lazy at your job then you have no right to bitch and complain when the nasty wingnuts call you stupid or evil; you have only your own slack to blame.
7 comments:
Whoa up, friend. I think you misread the article. By my reading, the reporter showed facts and statements by others, who were responsible officials.
While I hold similar opinions toward journalists, I believe this writer, in this instance, did his job properly.
I wasn't riffing on that particular article, just the bit about "Dodge City" that turns up in every editorial in every state every time CCW legislation comes on the block.
I probably should have been more clear.
They use "Dodge City" because their spell-checker doesn't have "Tombstone" in its dictionary.
I'm fairly convinced that a BA in journalism pretty much prepares you to report on journalism. (Okay, having spent a few moments perusing the first college journo curriculum Google could turn up, it looks like it prepares you to report on journalism, and business OR politics.)
Personally, I think a sane J-school curriculum would produce a minor in journo, with a major in a useful field, and include a course or two in statistical analysis and critical thinking.
"They use "Dodge City" because their spell-checker doesn't have "Tombstone" in its dictionary."
Or possibly because they realize that the excuse for the massacre at the OK Corral was enforcing a town ordinance against carrying guns? Nah, no reporter is that well-informed...
My understanding of journalists is that they are, with some exception, exceedingly lazy. This would seem to explain why you see the same studies cited, the same sources, etc. To actually go out and find something out is just too much work. It's easier to ask, "Hey Al, who do we use for quotes on guns?" . . .
I used to go down and hang out among the "press" at UCSC - they had a little building where they put the student newspaper together and badgered each other about how much smarter (at working the system) they were - it was a good place to score recreational drugs back in the late 70's and get an uptick on attitude.
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