Paula Zahn

Spinning for Dummies By DtC

True dat. He should read the collected works of Karl Rove to see how a true spin master works.

Good cites. I was going to try doing this, but you beat me to it. The media loves guns, but only when it’s a Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis, or Bronson movie (complete with expoding cars and bodies flyin fifty yards backwards). But, when it comes to Joe Public, Da Media “knows what is best for us” (even when they don’t know shit).

Remember kids, guns don’t kill people, bullets kill people.

UncleBeer, I have to agree with DtC somewhat. A lot of those people were opinion columnists, whose job is to get peoplpe riled up. I did notice a couple editors though, and that is disturbing. But Gary Wills is by no means an example of the mainstream news media.

Dag Otto, if you give up you NRA membership, you’re handing the organization over to the whackos.

By weight? What the hell kind of qualification is that? So you’re telling us that plastic weighs less than steel? Stop the presses.

Editorial decisions are often, unfortunately, based on opinion. Many producers and editors really do try to toe a middle line with their decisions, but personal bias tends to find its way into broadcast and print. I find bias is expressed most often in the decisions of what story to run and sometimes in the way a story is presented.

Hard news, that is to say your average, nuts-and-bolts story, isn’t going to come out and explicitly say, “Guns are bad. Throw them all away.” It is more likely to say, “This tragedy occured, it involved guns.” This reflects negatively on gun ownership (albeit irresponsible ownership), but also tells the facts. Of course, if it doesn’t tell the facts, it’s egregiously irresponsible journalism.

Op-ed pieces and analyses are far more likely to explicitly decry gun ownership because the controversy is what drives ratings. To me, printed editorials are more measured in their arguments, possiblly for two reasons. One, you aren’t shouting across a table at someone. This drastically decreases the likelihood of spouting off some batshit-insane idea before thinking about it. Two, print editorialists aren’t driven by the ratings system. Therefore, they don’t have to be as “edgy” as tv personalities, or simply as blunt as a soup ladle. Some are that way, but it leaves room for subtlety.

Zahn’s a twit in an anchor’s clothing. She’s doing what is expected of her: keeping up the ratings with a fake controversy. I can’t find it within myself to call it irresponsible journalism because Paula Zahn is not a journalist.

I remember laughing at the little tempest-in-a-teapot she raised over the promos for her show that apparently used a “zippppppp” zipper sound. Because she doesn’t want to be objectified.

Pfft.

She won’t ever be anything else. Katie Couric, maybe.

Nah. Rove is far too sophisticated, intelligent and, well, effective for Dio.

I think that ship has sailed…

Well, maybe by “some metal detectors” she meant the ones in the road that make the light change if a car is over them. I bet Glocks don’t have enough metal to set those off. And criminals just hate the lights changing while they walk through intersections with their guns.

No kidding. I thought the purpose of giving money to the NRA was so that they could bug the shit out of you for more money. Fucking relentless in their begging for funds.

Has anyone figured out how the Glock caused the accident? I bet a real gun like a Ruger wouldn’t cause a Ferrari to crack up.

That was my first thought. Based on the story, I was reaching to find a way it had anything to do with the handling, or lackthreof, of the car. Or the driving skills, or lackthereof, of the operator.

I’d say the media was trying to include it in some negative light, but we’ve already been shown that can’t be the reason. The media isn’t likely to project a negative view on firearms.

The other thing I’m wondering is this. Was the driver on his way to a place that has a metal detector so he could sneak through and unleash hellfire? If not, why the fuck make up such a ridiculous claim that a Glock can get through one?

At this rate it’s only a few years before they find a pack of smokes and a cheeseburger to claim a car crash should be blamed on Camel and Burger King. :rolleyes:

On my piece if I yank the slide, the barrel comes with it and the whole thing is about the size of a pack of Starburst. FYI. Looks like a fairly simple thing to smuggle into one’s carry-on.

As for the rest of my Glock, there’s about as much metal as a Gillette Fusion.

Back to reality, Lemur866 is absolutely correct. The slugs are the toughest shit to get through security. (Don’t) try this sometime: buy one of those fake 9mm hollow point keychains and sneak it into your computer bag. TSA’s got high-tech space-age machines that’ll send you straight to Cavity Search Central. You’d think a top-notch journalist like Paula Zahn would know that.

My G-22 is mostly metal. The slide and barrel are hard to miss, if you’re trained to look for gun bits. The upper-metal/lower-poly design is becoming more common: the H&K USP uses it, the FN Five-Seven uses it, Glock uses it, Sig-Sauer’s SigPro uses it.

As for Zahn, she’s eye candy. Keep those heels high, skirts short, and the Blonde mane poofy.

If I want smart and pretty, I’ll go find Rudi Bakhtiar.

Sigh. The barrel, the springs, the guide rod, and trigger group. And the notion that because the frame is “plastic” (a polymer composite) won’t show up on luggage scanners is wrong. It’ll show up just fine, and looking like nothing other than a handgun frame. If you think otherwise, I invite you to attempt to carry one through your luggage, though you may want to retain the services of a lawyer first (who will definitely advise you not to conduct such a foolish experiement).

This is yet another of the pernecious misapprehensions–perpetuated either out of ignorance or a desire to inflame public outrage and boost ratings–that the news media perpetrates on the population. Never mind that there is not one single recorded instance of someone smuggling a Glock or any other polymer framed pistol though airport security. Never mind that, outside of a Richard Donner film, no police officer has ever been killed with so-called “cop killer” KTW bullets. Never mind that a plastic stock, a bayonet lug, or a pistol grip doesn’t make a rifle any more dangerous. If it sells papers or ad time, it’s good enough for news organizations.

Stranger

Yeah, exactly my point. I never get flagged. I could practically wear it through Security in my holster.

If you really want to show the point, pack a blue gun in your bags. I’m sure that the TSA will just have fun with you.

Guns getting through metal detectors will somehow be justified by this.

Just give it time. They’ll be linked somehow. I don’t know how yet, but they’ll work the gun in the OP’s story to it somehow to show how dangerous the gun is.

DtC, as long as we’re on the topic of handguns, and just out of curiosity, has the bloodshed in the streets up in Minnesotta that you predicted ever come true?

Blood in the streets in the town of New Richmond
Blood stains the roofs and the pine trees of Savage