Extra! Don’t read about it! (media ignore story of teens who subdue gunman)

New Times (San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, California) ^ | Jan 25, 2003

[John Jorsett]

I’ve never seen anyone get ignored this much since I tried picking up that cute young thing at Merrymaker’s.

If you’re not dead, and thus able to read this week’s column, you’re abundantly and appallingly aware that last week two kids at Arroyo Grande High said "Let’s Roll!" when a whacked-out classmate was about to make sure a bunch of kids would be unable to read this week’s column.

It’s not often that students jump a gun-toting, teenage nut-ball who’s taken a classroom hostage at gunpoint, then wrestle him to the floor so their high school won’t become synonymous with Columbine and grape Kool-Aid.

Arroyo Grande High students Clay Gheza and Jonathan Griswold did. The kid who’d walked into their sophomore English class on Friday waving a 9 mm pistol with murder in mind was more interested in having a bloody good time than conjugating verbs. If Gheza and Griswold hadn’t grabbed him, we’d probably be attending a lot of funerals this week and I’d be so despairing that you wouldn’t be able to read this column because I wouldn’t be able to write it, and it’d be hard for you to read it anyway, blinking away all those tears.

Everybody in SLO County knows about it, and that’s the problem: Nobody else does. That’s what makes me more annoyed than usual. That’s what’s propelled my dander up far beyond those distant January clouds–I think it’s about halfway to Mars right now. No, it just got there. On to Jupiter.

There’s a stupid old journalism rule, that’s sometimes murmured in newsrooms by stupid old journalists, that when a dog bites a man, it’s not news, but when a man bites a dog, it is. Yes, that’s actually how news is decided, so now you know why New Times reporters hang out at Woods Humane Society looking for the latest poop. I think they changed it to "When a bunch of kids don’t get killed, it isn’t news so forget it, but when they do it, wow, what a great story!" They also say, "When it bleeds, it leads," an unfortunately tasteless way to give the public what they think it craves, I guess, I don’t know, whatever, it makes me sick, I want to go home.

But that’s what the national press apparently uses for it’s news-o-meter when determining what’s news, what’s hot, what’s not–at least judging from all the stories about Gheza and Griswold’s heroics that didn’t run on CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC, and didn’t make headlines on all the nation’s newspapers that were instead content with blabbing incessantly, endlessly, annoyingly about all the weapons of mass destruction Iraq doesn’t have, and sending reporters out to pour warm water in ice trays on New York sidewalks to demonstrate how cold it is back East–boy, can you believe how fast that froze? Back to you, Brent.

I can hardly wait for summer when we can watch eggs fry. Over easy, please.

I flipped the channels incessantly, endlessly, annoyingly on Friday and Saturday and all this week, hoping to see Gheza and Griswold being interviewed by Connie Chung and Wolf Blitzer about their amazing act of selfless regard on that Friday morning, how they leapt and struggled the kid to the ground, holding the his arm down, the gun waving, struggling more, it might go off, the students screaming, the bullet, the bullet, it might go off, we could all be killed, hold him, hold him–

And the inevitable lame question from our irrepressible, ubiquitous, and oh-so-coifed national news models: "And how did you feel?" Headlines across the nation, "Student Heroics Avert Classroom Murder," a phone call from the president, "Boys, your braveness and heroicking makes me proud–could sure use your help with that Baghdad bozo," and the talking heads nodding and blabbing, "McLaughlin," "McNeil," "The Capitol Gang," all bursting with amazed approval, astonishment, and praise, "Gosh, Jim, can you believe it? Amazing, simply amazing, why if they’d been on board those planes, there’d have been no Twin Towers disaster–we’ll be right back with an exclusive interview right after the break … "

Nope. Nothing. Zippola-nada-noodle. If there was a mention, I missed it, and so did everyone I know who has a TV remote and a national newspaper subscription and the sense to know that this is the stuff journalists stumble out of bed each morning nursing their hangovers over, hoping to find that big old dog with that big old bite for that big old Pulitzer, maybe today, maybe, maybe–Arroyo Grande? Where’s that? How many kids got killed? None? Bummer. Hey, I know! We could go make some ice cubes on the sidewalk!"

Sometimes I wish I’d become a sump pump sales geek or a beer caterer for the underaged instead of this stupid line of work. What a bunch of idiots.

"I just thought, ‘I’m going to take him down,’" Jonathan Griswold told the Tribune. "We didn’t want him to hurt anyone," said Clay Gheza, with humble modesty that makes me feel like a jerk. I could learn from him.

So could Dan Rather, as soon as he pulls his head out of his butt.

[maxwell]

BUMP for a story I never saw...

[2timothy3.16]

So could Dan Rather, as soon as he pulls his head out of his butt.

Correction,
So could Dan Rather, as soon as he pulls his head out of petey jennings butt.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Any links? This is a great story, and I never saw it either. Anybody have a source for this?

[Blood of Tyrants]

The news has studiously ignored it. I haven't heard a word in Tennessee.

[ralph rotten]

Click on link under title

[John Jorsett]

Any links? This is a great story, and I never saw it either. Anybody have a source for this?

Besides the link to this article itself, the only other places that this appeared are:
The San Jose Mercury

The Fresno Bee

[docmcb]

Hmmm. Are we sure this really happened? It's SUCH a good story that it's hard to imagine FOX or Rush or Hannity not picking it up.

[csvset]

Nothing escapes the scope of FR.

The story was posted on the 17th.

Teen Holds Classmates Hostage in Arroyo Grande -- But is Tackled by Other Students !

[docmcb]

Okay, it happened. Bet Rush talks about it Monday. Love to see Dubya invite these folks (teacher also( to the State of the Union address.

[harpseal]

This should also be on the bang list

[WorkingClassFilth]

Thanks for the additional links!

I was looking for original articles from the mainstream media. I had already downloaded the story, checked the source link and the keyword link for the original sources without luck. I try to archive original stories in full whenever I can to provide my own reference before they evaporate. Thanks again for your replies.

[WFTR]

This is an excellent commentary! I've been saying all along that the September 11 attacks succeeded for two reasons. The first is that the airlines' hijacking procedures at that time called for the pilots to open the cockpit door, step into the cabin, and try to establish a "rapport" with the hijackers. This policy was stupid in the 70's when it was created by fuzzy-headed psychobabblers. It is inexcusable after 20 years of suicide attacks from Muslim terrorists. The second reason is that the passengers responded to evil by dialing 9-1-1 and waiting for "proper authorities" to handle the situation. I'm not faulting them. They did as they have been conditioned to believe is right under horrible stress, and doing what you believe is right under those circumstances takes courage. However, I blame our society for conditioning people to be passive in the face of evil.

I'm thankful that these young men were not conditioned to be passive. I'm thankful that they stepped forward when they realized that "proper authorities" would not have time to respond to the situation before lives were lost. Their example should be held up to the nation for all of us to be prepared to emulate. If more people read of stories like this one and were taught that this is the right way to handle situations, the terrorist attacks would not have succeeded.

WFTR
Bill

[Redcloak]

"All the news that's fit to ignore"

[antaresequity]

I emailed Hannity on this.

[Fiddlstix]

Bump

[MeekOneGOP]

bttt for later read. Thanks, Maxwell !

[ASOC]

So - when does the perp get out of the hospital? Please tell me that they beat the living cr@p out of the perp....please.

hoo-ah

[MeekOneGOP]

There’s a stupid old journalism rule, that’s sometimes murmured in newsrooms by stupid old journalists, that when a dog bites a man, it’s not news, but when a man bites a dog, it is. Yes, that’s actually how news is decided, so now you know why New Times reporters hang out at Woods Humane Society looking for the latest poop. I think they changed it to "When a bunch of kids don’t get killed, it isn’t news so forget it, but when they do it, wow, what a great story!" They also say, "When it bleeds, it leads," an unfortunately tasteless way to give the public what they think it craves, I guess, I don’t know, whatever, it makes me sick, I want to go home.

But that’s what the national press apparently uses for it’s news-o-meter when determining what’s news, what’s hot, what’s not–at least judging from all the stories about Gheza and Griswold’s heroics that didn’t run on CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC, and didn’t make headlines on all the nation’s newspapers that were instead content with blabbing incessantly, endlessly, annoyingly about all the weapons of mass destruction Iraq doesn’t have, and sending reporters out to pour warm water in ice trays on New York sidewalks to demonstrate how cold it is back East–boy, can you believe how fast that froze? Back to you, Brent.

I can hardly wait for summer when we can watch eggs fry. Over easy, please.

Bang !

[geedee]

Dan Blather would be the fellow on the right. Peter Achmed Jennings is on the left.