'Fake' Journalism: LaPierre's CNN Gun-Reporting Criticism Dates to 2003 Story
December 26, 2012 09:45:04 am
Did CNN "fake" a gun story, as the NRA's Wayne LaPierre has claimed in his frequent criticisms of the media? The Washington Post's Erik Wemple unravels the story, which LaPierre referred to once again on Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Wemple says the issue relates to a "colossal" error in a CNN report on May 15, 2003. In a story about banned assault weapons, CNN’s John Zarrella went to a firing range with South Florida law enforcement officials to try to demonstrate the varying impacts of banned assault weapons vs. legal assault weapons.
A deputy fired a banned weapon at a cinder block, which suffered damage. He then fired a legal one, and there was no damage to the block. Zarrella called it "a pretty powerful demonstration of the firepower of these weapons." In fact, the second shot had not hit the block at all. When it realized its error, CNN aired a followe-up report that the force of the two guns was the same. LaPierre accused CNN of "fake" journalism in a contentious appearance the next day, and incident has lived on for the NRA.
Posted by Derick
Thursday, January 03, 2013 10:36
Bobby,I respectfully disrgaee with your assertions:Firstly, the definition of a “messed up” country seems to be quite subjective, and therefore not a good foundation upon which to build an argument. Your use of the term “normal neighborhood” has similar problems. You really can’t use such subjective and undefined terms while trying to make a statistical argument.Secondly, and more importantly, even if you are correct, your assertions seem to show the futility of gun control. Whether in the USA, Brazil, Mexico, or Russia, criminals who want guns will get them. In the USA, just look at Chicago, where handguns have been banned since before I was born, yet it is a rare day when someone is not shot or killed by a criminal who ignores the handgun ban. Or, consider the various school shootings, which all happened in “gun free zones,” showing that criminals don’t care about breaking gun control laws.Finally, your counter argument ignores the European countries such as Norway and Finland, where guns are much more widely available than the USA, yet gun misuse is much less common than the USA.