Missed opportunity

[Nomad]

So last night I'm watching the local news a young gal did a piece on gun owners here meeting downtown and working on oppostion to the Safe act. At the end she mentions that she went to two local gun shows to get more gun owners thoughts, but was "turned away".

Well I happen to know her ,so i sent her an email after the news ended and told her that most gun shows don't allow cameras.

She replied right away but said they were not very nice to her( to put it mildly).

WOW, she's there to get OUR opinions, so we lost a great chance to get OUR views on the news, then they are rude to her?

do these guys think thats going to help us ??? she is a class act though and simply said 'turned away'.

I gave her a couple names of guys in the local gun business who ARE well spoken class guys, she may try to put something togather with them next week.see after all that she still wants our side.....

Heres something to keep in mind, your local news, while not always perfect is NOT the papers opinion page, they are not a Piers Morgan tv show either.Some of them want balance, and some of the reporters at this station are gun owners as well.

I work hard at putting us in good light, then you get guys who are jerks to a young gal who wants nothing but to give them a chance to explain their side .

If you have a gun shop, gun show, gun club,perhaps you should pick out your best thinker ,talker and have him ready with facts to be your spokesman, embrace the News educate them,instead of being the rude ,crude, dim witted gun owner may think we are.

Gun control IS going to be in the news for sometime folks, how we look is up to us.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Larry302

[WingNut]

It's going to Roth either way. But at some point we are going to have to trust the 'Media' and our voice and opinion out there. Tell the young lady we apologize and the majority of us are still is shock over all of this. And be honest the media is not our friend.

[Doc]

I have to admit that it is truly impossible to determine at first glance what is the intention of any representative of the media. There are a lot of them that will be smiling to your face while they prepare to stick the knife in. The media has made a complete science of taking a single sentence and spinning it into a dozen different meanings. It's done every day. The media has moved from reporting the news, to making the news. So if some are a bit skeptical or guarded, it is only because the media has trained us to be that way. There are certain members of the media that have earned gun-owner's respect, cooperation, and trust through past columns, the rest are going to have to earn that trust. It's unfortunate, but it is a bed of their own making.

[ants]

There is no excuse for being rude to this young lady. Unfortunately a lot of the media have prooven ,time and time again, to be dishonest, one sided and to spin stories into what they want them to be.

I would give the lady the benefit of doubt and assume she would present a balanced story. But there of plenty of reporters out there who would go to a gun show, find the biggest toothless idiot to interview and present that interview as representative of all gun owners. Its really too bad, for people looking for the actual news and for honest reporters.

[Nomad]

Oh i get it.I scream at the radio and TV often, being a Gov. union guy rush limbaugh lies everyday about unions, but then he's not "news" from what i see its 20/20,dateline,piers morgan, national news etc. who spin things against us the most .Being guarded is all well and good, it is not being a jerk though. Lets say she was anti gun , you being a jerk will that help or hurt us ?

If you watch the local news I'm sure you have seen Fred from American Sportsman, the guys from jackson's guns. All very well spoken guys who got OUR point on the news nothing seemed twisted, seems like they want our side .

Its time for gun clubs,shows and shops, to put forth a good speaker just like those 2 gun shops do,with good points, give them your best guy, then they can't find the toothless idiot. You should expect the media to be there because they will be , you can control whats filmed, where they go, who they talk to and what that person says just plan ahead.

If you are in the gun bus. and don't have a polished, well spoken speaker,at the ready with facts, you have your head in the sand, pull it out.

I have a job that these gals cover, I'm guarded at times on what i say about certin things, but we still manage to laugh and have a good time .

being a jerk will never help us, she had the class to not point that out on the news, not sure if i would have held back.Hell i know i wouldn't, because that would have simply been reporting the truth,no spin needed.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Larry302

[ants]

I guess what Im saying is that I understand the reluctance to speak to the media, given what some of them do. The media, as a hole, is not pro gun but I think that there are reporters out there who will report fairly, no matter how he or she feels about the subject. The local media, at least where I live, has its share of Piers Morgan want'a bes. I have seen it first hand.

The reporter, you mentioned, should not have been treated rudely and I think that someone in charge at the show should have acted like a gentleman and found someone to at least make a few brief statements. Like it or not there is a lot of mistrust when it comes to the media and they did it to themselves.

[Doc]

Ok, think about it .... given the media's track record, if you were running a gun show would you cheerfully turn these guys loose with a camera and full permission to interview any loser they can find that can give the biggest black-eye to hunters and gun owners. Can you imagine how that would come out in 90% of the cases. She may have had nothing but the purest intentions, but that whole industry has built up a reputation for for being anti gun, and for doing whatever underhanded, tale-spinning tactics that it takes to do a hatchet job on gun owners. No there is no need to be rude, but there is reason to be firm and not willfully providing them with the tools and opportunities to do what they have shown themselves to be so skillful at. At the very least, I would have demanded known references and adequate credentials. How about this ..... It seems fair that all media-types be subjected to a back-ground check before they can be allowed to enter with a TV camera......lol. Just kidding, but the point is that we have a lot more to lose than win when it comes to reporters that we have had no track record on. What a playground that would be for an anti-gun TV reporter to make her next promotion off the backs of unsuspecting gun show attendees.

No, keep it civil, but definitely keep the guard up. If we seem to be a bit paranoid about the news media, it's only because with very rare known exceptions, we have got good reason to be. I'm afraid it reasonably is "guilty until proven innocent" when it comes to the media.

[Nomad]

Doc did you read what I said ? Turn them loose ? I said CONTROL what they film and who they talk to .Pretty simple, we can continue to not speak, the other side will be more than happy with that. If you don't want to send a well spoken guy who can think to talk to them fine, but don't get mad when some wacko who's willing to speak approaches them and speaks for you.

Last night this ch. covered the local safe act meeting. They showed one guy ask a question, then followed up with him after the meeting. he was clean cut,well spoken wearing a button down shirt and tie.....I'd imagine that reporter will be fined or something .

We can continue to say.'no comment,no comment", like all the guilty people do leaving court on the way to jail, OR we can have a well groomed spokesman to calmly expain things .

Edited January 30, 2013 by Larry302

[Doc]

Doc did you read what I said ? Turn them loose ? I said CONTROL what they film and who they talk to .Pretty simple, we can continue to not speak, the other side will be more than happy with that. If you don't want to send a well spoken guy who can think to talk to them fine, but don't get mad when some wacko who's willing to speak approaches them and speaks for you.

Last night this ch. covered the local safe act meeting. They showed one guy ask a question, then followed up with him after the meeting. he was clean cut,well spoken wearing a button down shirt and tie.....I'd imagine that reporter will be fined or something .

We can continue to say.'no comment,no comment", like all the guilty people do leaving court on the way to jail, OR we can have a well groomed spokesman to calmly expain things .

Well, just remember that they are the one's with the camera, and how does it look when they approach some gomer that starts saying goofy things and then you try to jump in to stop that conversation from showing up on the news. What do you say while you are being filmed? ..... "Ok that's enough. We don't want you talking to this guy". That would look good on the evening news. No, you can do whatever you want on an organized, planned, one-on-one interview in another venue, but I agree with the decision to exclude cameras from gun shows. It really isn't all that smart to provide them with means and opportunity to do a hatchet job on guns and gun ownership.

Now you happen to know, and can vouch for, this one reporter. Apparently those running the show could not. Tell me, would you let a Piers Morgan in with his camera crew? Think how well that would go. Well, if these guys didn't know your reporter friend, then in my opinion, they did the right thing by barring them from the show. There are many other reporters who are just as rabidly anti-gun as Piers Morgan. They just aren't as easily identifiable. Yes, safety first. Handle the PR activity in some other more controlled and coordinated fashion.

[ants]

Doc did you read what I said ? Turn them loose ? I said CONTROL what they film and who they talk to .Pretty simple, we can continue to not speak, the other side will be more than happy with that. If you don't want to send a well spoken guy who can think to talk to them fine, but don't get mad when some wacko who's willing to speak approaches them and speaks for you.

Last night this ch. covered the local safe act meeting. They showed one guy ask a question, then followed up with him after the meeting. he was clean cut,well spoken wearing a button down shirt and tie.....I'd imagine that reporter will be fined or something .

We can continue to say.'no comment,no comment", like all the guilty people do leaving court on the way to jail, OR we can have a well groomed spokesman to calmly expain things .

I agree that we should put well spoken, intelligent people out there to speak for us. That makes perfect sense. But, there is a big difference between a pre arranged interview, with a well spoken pro gun person, and a news crew just showing up at an event and wanting to just start interviewing people. How would you "control" who they speak to? If they start talking to an idiot, do you cut them of in mid sentence and move on until they find someone who sounds like they have half a brain?

Again, I feel sorry that your friend was treated poorly, but I understand why pro gun people are leery of the media.

Edited January 31, 2013 by ants