NEW YORK TIMES' RARE FRONT-PAGE EDITORIAL URGES GUN LAW CHANGES

The New York Times today ran a rare Page One editorial urging tighter restrictions on what it deemed "weapons of war."

The editorial stated, in part:

It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency. These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection. America’s elected leaders offer prayers for gun victims and then, callously and without fear of consequence, reject the most basic restrictions on weapons of mass killing, as they did on Thursday. They distract us with arguments about the word terrorism. Let’s be clear: These spree killings are all, in their own ways, acts of terrorism.

The Times reported it was the first such front-page editorial in 95 years, with the last a criticism of the nomination of Warren Harding to be president in 1920.

Read today's editorial HERE and see it below:

CALIFORNIA MASSACRE FRONT PAGES OF NOTE

Too much to say about the San Bernardino shooting, but the coverage so far has been heavy.

Two front pages caught my eye today.

This from The Sun of San Bernardino, the local daily in the heart of the crime scene:

 

And this from the New York Daily News, which takes a direct stand on violence and guns and public officials lack of action:

 

I cannot let this go with out noting how close this tragedy was to my former workplace at the Riverside Press-Enterprise's San Bernardino County bureau on Hospitality Lane, now closed. 

I spent nearly two years there and worked with a great team who reconnected a bit online after this terrible shooting.

See the P-E Page One below:

 

 

STEVE BARTMAN ANNIVERSARY ALSO A SUN-TIMES BLACK EYE REMINDER

As the Chicago Cubs celebrate their victory in the National League division series and look forward to their next round of the playoffs, it is also being noted that today is the 12th Anniversary of the infamous Steve Bartman game.

Bartman, you may recall, was the Cubs fan who interfered with a foul ball in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship series. A game that the Cubs were leading, 3-0, but later lost, 8-3. 

Angry, despicable fans took their frustrations out on Bartman right after the play, forcing him to leave the ballpark. And after the loss, there was a hatred that lasted for years in same cases.

But almost as despicable was the work of the Chicago Sun-Times, which published Bartman's name, address and place of employment. At the time, I was at Editor & Publisher magazine and wrote about this disgraceful misuse of journalism.

The Sun-Times told me it was considered proper journalism.

Not quite. Revealing his name and other information made him an easier target for fans who wanted to blame him for the team loss, which he had no part in.

The Society of Professional Journalists later noted the actions, calling them, "the media's foul ball."

A great ESPN 30 for 30 documentary recounted the entire episode and the detestable reaction from some fans.

It has been reported that fans are urging Bartman's return to Wrigley Field during the playoffs to accept their apologies. That would be the least they could do.

As for the Sun-Times, they are lucky they were not sued for endangering this fan's life. It has also been noted many times that Bartman made no money off of his infamy, not one dime.

But the Sun-Times did hurt their own reputation, at least in my eyes. 

Whenever talk turns to Steve Bartman, I think of how unfair he was treated, but also how this major newspaper abused its power of the press.

NEW YORK TABLOIDS' GRAPHIC PAGE ONE

Did these New York front pages go too far?





 

HOW THE HOMETOWN PAPER COVERED THE HORRIBLE ROANOKE TV SHOOTING

Here is The Roanoke Times Page One today
 

HOW A VIRGINIA TV STATION HANDLED TWO OF ITS JOURNALISTS KILLED ON THE JOB

A horrible tragedy in Virginia this morning as two journalists were murdered while doing their jobs.

Anyone who thinks reporters do not work in danger sometimes need only look at this terrible attack on our profession.

The Roanoke, Va., T.V. station, WDBJ, offered a brave, personal report on the incident that ended with the deaths of videographer Adam Ward, 27, and reporter Alison Parker, 24, during their morning news program soon after it happened. 

Among the sad elements is that both of them were in relationships with others at the station, including Ward, who was engaged to a colleague at WDBJ.

Watch it below:

DEMANDS ISSUED TO DROP CHARGES AGAINST REPORTERS WHO COVERED FERGUSON STORY

As the one-year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., passed last week, the unwarranted charges filed against two reporters covering the story also made news.

And two major journalist groups, supported by dozens of news outlets, are calling for charges in those cases to be dropped.

A week ago, the Newspaper Guild of America issued its call for prosecutors to back off with a statement that said, in part:

The NewsGuild-CWA joins with other outraged journalists in demanding that the St. Louis County prosecutor drop the trumped-up charges against two reporters who were arrested a year ago covering the Ferguson protests.

Wesley Lowery of The Washington Post and Ryan J. Reilly of the Huffington Post were doing absolutely nothing wrong when police stormed the McDonald’s restaurant the journalists were using for a reporting base.

While attempting to comply with officers’ orders to leave the restaurant, police decided they weren’t acting quickly enough. As The Washington Post reported, “Lowery said he was given conflicting information about where to exit and was attempting to gather his bag when officers grabbed him, slammed him into a soda machine and placed plastic cuffs on him. Reilly, speaking to the Huffington Post last year, said the police gave the reporters “a countdown like we were 5-year-olds.”

The reporters were taken to a holding cell at the Ferguson police station. After a half hour, they were told they could leave without any charges filed.

Now, inexplicably and reprehensibly, Prosecutor Robert P. McCulloch has made the decision to formally charge the two journalists with trespassing and interfering with a police officer. The counts carry a fine of up to $1,000 and up to a year in a county jail.

“The prosecutor’s actions are a gross abuse of power and a vile assault on the First Amendment,” NewsGuild-CWA President Bernie Lunzer said.

Then, just today, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, stated, in part:

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, joined by 38 other news outlets and media organizations, has sent a letter to St. Louis County officials protesting the recent filing of criminal charges against two reporters over incidents that occurred during the protests in Ferguson, Mo., last summer.

"The best way for Ferguson to show that it will respect the First Amendment rights of journalists covering the continuing controversy there is to rescind these charges immediately," the letter stated.

Joining the Reporters Committee on the letter are: American Society of News Editors; AOL Inc. - The Huffington Post; The Associated Press; Association of Alternative Newsmedia; Bloomberg News; Cable News Network, Inc.; California Newspaper Publishers Association; and the Center for Investigative Reporting, as well as dozens of others.

The rights of journalists to cover news and not be unfairly prosecuted is paramount to the public receiving the news it needs, especially when it involves such serious, sensitive issues.