Journalists advocate for gun control after Florida shooting
Many in media lash out about gun laws after Parkland, Florida school shooting; Howard Kurtz shares his analysis of the coverage on 'The Story with Martha MacCallum.'
Most national journalists seem to hate guns, gun owners and gun defenders. When the media report on a shooting tragedy they often go after all three.
The Parkland, Florida, high school attack on Wednesday was incredibly horrible. Seventeen people were killed by a former student known to both police and the FBI. The bodies weren’t cold before many in the news media immediately tried to politicize the tragedy.
Journalists mostly stuck to their script – demonizing guns and gun owners, getting gun facts wrong and attacking the National Rifle Association.
NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd noted how President Trump decided “not to address any policy ideas at all in his remarks” and focused on an “empathetic tone.”
CNN actually tweeted: “In Florida, you don't need a permit to conceal carry a rifle or shotgun.” Apparently, no one on CNN’s staff has ever tried to put a rifle (more than 32 inches long) in a coat pocket. And NBC’s Megyn Kelly tried to appease her new audience with an anti-NRA rant: “The NRA is too powerful, our politicians are too weak and the guns are too ubiquitous.”
Journalists repeated a false statement from the hard-left, gun-grabber group Everytown for Gun Safety. The group, “founded and funded” with millions from former New York City liberal Mayor Michael Bloomberg, pushed a disturbing claim about the number of school shootings in 2018. It was so outlandish that The Washington Post had to wreck it.
The Post’s headline was unusually honest: “No, there haven’t been 18 school shootings in 2018. That number is flat wrong.” The paper blasted the fake news, saying: “It is a horrifying statistic. And it is wrong.” It continued: “Everytown has long inflated its total by including incidents of gunfire that are not really school shootings.” The phony stats included one case where a man killed himself outside a school that had been closed for seven months.
The two networks battling for The Resistance viewers – CNN and MSNBC – fought to outdo one another on guns. As usual, CNN won.
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer harassed Florida Gov. Rick Scott, demanding he fix the problem. “So I just want you to tell our viewers you're going to take action,” Blitzer told the governor.
Anchor Don Lemon said all Americans are at a big risk for gun violence. “Every single one of us is just playing the odds at this point.”
Anchor Chris Cuomo, from the Democratic family of Cuomos, declared: “You can’t deal with this issue without dealing with the availability of guns.” Then he pressed for gun control to be a Trump agenda item. “How can you not include this issue in part of that agenda?” he asked, seemingly forgetting Trump’s strong support of gun rights.
Over at MSNBC, the Thrill-Up-My-Leg Host Chris Matthews, spent nearly 39 minutes hyping gun control. That was more than twice the time he devoted to the actual shooting. And a network guest expert compared the Second Amendment to a “suicide pact.” “Morning Joe” simply wouldn’t allow pro-gun voices on its show.
Once again news that fit the media agenda was proven too good to be true. The AP reported: “A white nationalist appears to have lied to The Associated Press and other news organizations when he claimed that Florida school-shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz was a member of his obscure group.”
2. “The View” Hosts Attack Christians: An episode of ABC’s “The View” skewered Vice President Mike Pence so badly that a panelist claimed his Christian faith was a “mental illness.” Host Joy Behar, who has perennial foot-in-mouth disease, mocked Pence: “Like I said before, it's one thing to talk to Jesus. It's another thing when Jesus talks to you.”
The fallout was huge. Pence himself criticized the network, saying, “it's an insult not to me, but to the vast majority of American people who like me, cherish their faith.”
The response from the right put the far-left show on the defensive. The next day saw the hosts scrambling to pretend they weren’t bigoted. Behar claimed that if she thought that all Christians were insane, that would include her and many of those close to her, counting others on the show. “I don’t mean to offend people, but apparently I keep doing it,” she said, playing her response for a laugh. Then she added, “It was a joke. Comedians are in danger these days.”
Poor Joy. Life is so tough for liberals on liberal shows on liberal networks. But when the show’s lone conservative, Meghan McCain, tried to respond, she was cut off. Can’t have someone calling out Joy for her bigotry.
3. Gold Medal Bias: The Olympic love fest between American media and North Korea’s mass-murdering regime continued. All so journalists could antagonize Trump.
NBC, which has been acting as the propaganda arm of the Olympics, deflected criticism of North Korea. NBC News Correspondent Stephanie Gosk was oddly neutral describing the regime’s cheerleading squad. “Critics are calling them propaganda performers sent by Kim Jong Un to put a smiling face on a brutal regime.” CBS anchor Jeff Glor was more direct: “North Korea brought its own cheering squad, gold medalists in propaganda.”
New York Times Opinion Editor Bari Weiss caught flack for falsely linking U.S. skater Mirai Nagasu to the immigration debate. Nagasu landed an incredible triple axel (Watch!) and was the first female U.S. Olympian to do it. Weiss congratulated Nagasu by touting, “immigrants get the job done.” One problem, Nagasu was born and raised in California. Weiss defended her claim as “poetic license.”
Katie Couric, the journalist who delivered fake news about guns in a documentary and former co-host of the “Today” show, managed to remind viewers of the agony of defeat or possibly de-feet. Couric ridiculously claimed that athletes from the Netherlands do well in speed skating because, well, this is too good: “So as long as those canals have existed the Dutch have skated on them to get from place to place, to race each other and to have some fun.” Nope. Not true.
4. Celebrate President’s Day: Just in time for the annual holiday honoring presidents, we have even more examples of how much the news media hate the current man with that title. Or, as NBC Political Analyst Anand Giridharadas referred to Trump, "the commander in chief of American rape culture."
CNN Editor-at-Large Chris Cillizza actually compared Trump to former presidents, including impeached and discredited President Bill Clinton, as a moral leader. “I will tell you all modern Presidents, Brooke, saw the job, whether it’s George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush, they saw the job as sort of, in part, being a leader of the American people, taking the high road…” he explained, apparently forgetting the lying and Monica Lewinsky scandal.
5. Just In Case You Thought Journalists Were Neutral: CNN even oohed and ahhed over the portraits of President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. No matter your feelings about the former president, the pair deserved better artwork. Still, CNN was there to hype. Reporter Kate Bennett called it “probably the most anticipated unveiling of presidential portraits and first lady portraits that we’ve had so far to date.”
The New York Times is still refighting the Cold War – for the communists – by depicting East German women as better off than those in the West. “Eastern women, who were part of the work force and with free child care, were more emancipated than their western sisters.” Maybe the Times meant “more emaciated” and it was just a typo.
Univision’s activist/journalist/Anchor Jorge Ramos responded to a possible immigration compromise with this “neutral” nugget: “I mean, do they really want to make America white again?” And “CBS This Morning” Co-host Gayle King, who gives to Democrats and doesn’t even pretend neutrality, is lobbying for her friend Oprah Winfrey to run for president. According to Oprah, King was repeatedly urging, “You should think about it.”