Posted on 07/13/2004 11:16:12 PM PDT by weegee
Readers take apart the Chronicle
By Kevin Whited
Several readers emailed today to point out problems with Chronicle copy:
Greg Gotlieb notes the following:
Cleland, a fellow Vietnam veteran who lost three limbs during the war, was defeated in the 2002 election after Republicans questioned his patriotism. Cleland has been a political martyr of sorts for Kerry as he accuses Republicans of trying to tear down real American patriots.
That excerpt came from an AP story that ran in the Chronicle and in many other news outlets. It shows just how pervasive the bias in the mainstream news media is, and never should have made it into print. No Republican questioned Max Cleland's patriotism. What Republicans questioned was his record on the issues. Lo and behold, voters also questioned that record - and decided to retire him.
Jerry Kobos emails the following:
The Sunday, July 11, 2004 Houston Chronicle posted an article (page A3) on the expiration of the "assault weapons" ban. The so called "assault weapons" ban does not ban assault weapons, firearms capable of automatic fire (machine guns), but bans semiautomatic firearms (one trigger pull = one shot) that look like assault weapons. Fully automatic firearms (machine guns) were banned in 1934. Semiautomatic actions are common in shotguns, rifles and pistols legally used by civilians in the United States.
The writer, Gebe Martinez, correctly states, in the body of the article, that the assault weapons legislation "bans 19 types of semiautomatic weapons." However the pictures to the right of the article display weapons that are "automatic," "submachinegun," "machine guns," "automatic pistols" and "Avtomat Kalashnikovs."
This is a blatant attempt to make people think that machine guns will be loosed in the general population.
Those who pushed the "assault weapons" ban in the first place knew they had a PR battle as much as a legislative battle. They won both. The name "assault weapons" ban conjures up scary images of really nasty weapons (never mind those really nasty weapons are already illegal, and have been for years). In reality, as Mr. Kobos points out, what was banned were semiautomatic weapons that looked scary (to people who hate guns). And so the campaign continues, with either gullible or partisan media outlets fully engaged. The anti-Bush spin in that article was notable, as well.
Combined Houston/Media Bias PING:
Damn it folks don't cloud the issue with facts... it upsets the editors
How did they cover Joe Wilson being outed as a fraud?? oh, never mind.
{That very phrase makes me feel anxious, nauseated and dizzy....}
A world where John Fn Kerry is President
A world where the U.N. solves all our problems
A world where the Lee Brown Death Train NEVER has a wreck
Please, do not bother them with the facts.
Never read them. Life is so nice without them.
[/sarcasm]
Next November, voters in the city and across the Metropolitan Transit Authority service area will cast a truly important vote: They will decide whether Metro should be permitted to expand our rail rail system beyond the 7-mile South Main line.There isn't a more critical issue on the horizon. I propose a series of editorials, editorial cartoons and Sounding Board columns leading up to the rail referendum, with this specific objective: Continuing our long standing efforts to make rail a permanent part of the transit mix here.
The timing, language and approach of the paper's editorials would, of course, be the decision of the Editorial Board. But I suggest that they could be built upon and informed by a news-feature package with an equally specific focus: Telling the story of rail here by examining the long term relationship of the two key players in the local transit wars -- Rep. Tom DeLay and former Mayor Bob Lanier. For better or worse, (mostly worse, I would argue) no two have had a more significant impact on transit decisions here...
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