I haven’t had a lot of time to pay attention in any great detail to what the media has been yammering about. For now we have gun owners to mobilize. SayUncle has a pretty good roundup of some of the hysterics. One thing to watch for us it looks like our opposition is breaking up the assault weapons from the magazine issue. I’m expecting these will likely appear as separate bills. They’ll be looking to spread us thin and sow confusion.
Category: The Media
Two Men Want to Tell Women What to Think on Guns
I had to check out this video of two male Wall Street Journal reporters talking about how Smith & Wesson will need to go back to the drawing board on their new marketing efforts because those efforts included outreach to female NRA members.
The logic here astounds me. Their assumption that Smith & Wesson will need to give up their women’s advertising is based on the idea that women who are already involved in the gun culture enough to join NRA and follow NRA’s Women’s Network channels will suddenly no longer be interested in guns.
But, then they show a picture of a man browsing Smith & Wesson products and say that those core customers probably haven’t changed their attitudes. I guess we women can’t be relied upon, we’re too flakey or wishy washy. These two apparently think that we’re simply not as principled as men. *ahem*
Boys at the WSJ, let me give you a little lecture on females with strong views rooted in constitutional principles and concern for self-defense and that of our homes. We’re dedicated. We’re the biggest advocates and loudest supporters of efforts like the Friends of NRA to raise money for advancing the Second Amendment through safety programs and legal programs. We’re the ones who, when we get involved, bring the entire family along with us. I see more women – even those who aren’t NRA members – share images promoting the Second Amendment on Facebook than I see from men. When we come on board to the cause, we’re vocal. We don’t sit back and listen to men tell us what they think we “should want” to hear. We’ll make up our own minds about messages that resonate with us.
Bias Much?
Apparently it’s a media story when four anti-gun protesters show up at the White House. You know, we get 6x that many people to show up to my local club’s monthly meeting. Will whatever media outlet conducting that interview note that there were only four protesters?
The New Red Dawn
Last night, Sebastian treated me to a movie and finally had a movie theater experience that he found remotely pleasant. We picked the 10:35pm mid-week showing of a movie that’s already been running for several weeks, so the theater was empty. Warning, there are some spoiler-like comments ahead. But then again, it’s a damn remake. You should already know the larger plot.
There was a line in the opening sequence about everyone asking how the North Koreans could actually manage to become a serious military strength to threaten a country like the United States. That’s exactly what serious viewers would ask, too. Now, I realize that the North Koreans weren’t supposed to be the original enemy, but that’s how the final product was released. Therefore, I think it’s reasonable to criticize just how much the filmmakers expected us to suspend disbelief.
I did miss the line about the 4473s from the original, but I can understand why they would want to cut that for a wider audience. The fact is that only gun owners who seriously understand the political process of gun regulation really got that reference.
Other than that, I thought it was reasonable entertainment. As Sebastian noted, the urban warfare environment made far more sense for guerrilla tactics than the open countryside setting of the original movie. The heavier reliance upon explosives, even when they just ended with a gun battle, was also a bit more realistic to the narrative of causing problems for the invading enemy with more troops and firepower than the Wolverines.
I’m not going to pretend that the flick is a highbrow cultural masterpiece. It’s just a little fun with some reminders about how there are people out there willing to fight for basic freedoms. It’s better than we both thought it would be based on initial previews. It’s not an exact replica of the original Red Dawn, but it’s not so wildly off from the original that anyone who loved the fun of the original will be lost.
If you haven’t caught it yet, the number of theaters showing it after tonight will drop since it’s been out for several weeks. However, it is still performing in the top 10 of movies. In fact, in the early release, Red Dawn pulled in almost as much per screen as Life of Pi which was based on a book that became an Oprah-recommended best seller. It’s worth a few bucks to go see it.
Comment on Weekend Twitter Outrage over Costas’ Remark
I like it when I can take a break over a weekend to work on my basement office, get a new crown fitted at the Dentist Monday morning, and not have to worry about some media personality spewing nonsense about guns, because the other parts of the center-right coalition, and even some not part of it, are already on it like stink on s**t. Zumboing has seemingly gone mainstream.
UPDATE: More here.
A Blogger’s Worry: Media Getting Better on Guns?
As much as we beat up on the media for getting it wrong, or outright bias, there is a certain amount of buzz that’s necessary for a political gun writer to have something to talk about. Lately that buzz on gun news has been simple and positive. The media is writing stories left and right about the spike in guns sales, but there’s only so much to say about that, and the story formula is pretty much the same — reporter speaks generally of the election, of the FBI reporting the spike in gun sales, then goes an interviews a local gun shop which says something like, “Yep, seeing a lot of sales. Women especially.”
When I started this blog, I never would have believed this could even be a worry. Even though the election went badly for us, this is a positive development, because it’s getting an important meme out there: normal people buy guns. I’ve seen precious few stories that paint these buyers as paranoid militia nuts getting more guns to stow away in their bunkers, thought here have been a few of those, but it’s increasingly coming from outfits that matter little, in naturally hostile media markets. Most articles do speak of anxiety about what the President will do on guns, or speak of unease about the world situation, but it’s rarely painted as delusional paranoia in the majority of stories I’ve run across.
While the media environment is far from perfect, as I can still find the classic bias that’s long been there, it is vastly improved, and keeps improving. The media is starting to get it right on guns. We have been schooling them, and I think our letters, blog posts, and e-mails are making a difference in how journalists approach the issue. This is good, but it does make it more difficult to write on the subject, since the media has long been a foil for political gun bloggers.
I am probably not the only one who is quietly worried by the development. The NRA has long benefitted from a media environment hostile to gun ownership, and while the media is still quite hostile to the NRA, it’ll be interesting to see what happens in a media environment more fair to gun ownership but still hostile to the organization which defends it.
Speaking of NRA in Hawaii …
… a quite balanced account of David Keene’s visit:
Keene said most people associate the NRA with its high-profile lobbying and political activity. In fact, he said, only about 12 percent of its budget goes toward those activities.
The bulk of the NRA’s work involves instructing youth how to use guns safely and responsibly.
A statistic that I’m sure astounds a good many people, including our opponents, who revel in myths about the NRA and its members.
Covering Up the Truth
What’s good is the truth when there’s an election to win? Politicians lying is one of those bowl me over with a feather things, but we used to have a media in this country that wasn’t afraid to take down Presidents who lied.
Outdoor Channel Programming for Download?
And hopefully, this means…
MORE SPORTSMAN’S/OUTDOOR CHANNEL CONTENT AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
Seriously guys, we’ve had downloaded TV shows for what, five, ten years now? Get with the program (pun intended). Podcasts are nice, NetFlix is nicer.
Netflix might be a possibility, but the big problem with making media available for download is the Cable TV and Satellite providers, who are the primary customers for this programming, aren’t going to appreciate if the content providers try to cut the middle man out. I doubt most Cable TV content providers could survive on revenue from Internet media and Netflix. The more content is available online, the less we need the cable companies to be anything other than Internet providers. The Cable companies don’t like that. I think they are dinosaurs, but they still control access to the vast majority of American TV sets.
Sometimes the Media Surprises You
I’m surprised to see USA Today running an op-ed by Wayne LaPierre before the election that takes issue with a previous anti-gun editorial regarding the election. Traditionally, it’s been rather difficult for NRA to get opinion pieces placed with hostile media outlets. I guess the mainstreaming of the issue has its advantages.