The Kind of Coverage That Will NOT Improve Things
“Do Something Disease” is a name I have heard given to the desire to act in the wake of a tragedy. In the end it is really a way of working off the emotional turmoil that results from something like Newtown. In many cases, I find it a sign of emotional ill health. Newtown is immensely and inconceivably tragic. But it also happened a continent away to people I have never met. Newtown is a stop on a train I have taken from time-to-time visiting clients in the area. While I certainly am deeply saddened at the loss and highly compassionate towards the survivors, this simply does not evoke enough emotion in me to feel like I HAVE to do something. Something is wrong in the identity department if one feels that strongly about events that removed.
OR, one may be an opportunist. That is to say, one may choose to whip up disproportionate emotion in an effort to cancel out reason and achieve some otherwise unattainable goal. That, it seems to me, is clearly what is behind all the gun control talk in the wake of Newtown. And with such agendas, come sub-agendas – which is precisely what I wonder about this Buzzfeed piece from our old friend McKay Coppins:
In the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting, a Mormon Church-owned company announced Tuesday night it was suspending all gun listings on its popular classifieds site.
In addition to removing gun listings, KSL.com — the online hub for Salt Lake City’s NBC affiliate, which is operated by church-owned Deseret Digital Media — took down the “Firearms and Hunting” section from its website. A company statement that replaces the site’s gun section says they were “profoundly saddened” by the Newtown shooting.
Coppins spent the entire election cycle just begging for Romney’s religion to become a major media issue. He had positioned himself as the “go to” journalist on the matter and was bound and determined to see such bring him to journalistic prominence. To this day, I do not know if he was attempting to torpedo Romney’s chances or aid them in hopes of becoming the Mormon on the White House beat – but either way, I am not sure he “got it.”
This story is further evidence. We have already presented data showing that moderate Americans are leery of Mormons as somehow uber religious. In light of that, how helpful is it in these circumstances to tie that church to gun sales? Having been to Utah in deer hunting season, I find the fact the church is in the business terribly unsurprising. They do love their hunting there. The TV coverage of who bagged the biggest buck on opening day was enough to make me want to head to the gun store and get busy. But all this Coppins piece does is reinforce an image of the Mormon church as some sort of neanderthal organization. The piece is short and seems to have no purpose other than to emphasize that the church was in the gun business – well that and feed to gun control frenzy.
I was asked at a presentation a few weeks ago “If Mitt Romney is Al Smith, who will be Jack Kennedy?” If this is the kind of coverage the Mormon church is going to get – “nobody” is the answer.
Posted in Analyzing 2012, News Media Bias | 2 Comments » | 
Print this post
| 
Email This Post
kgbudge on 20 Dec 2012 at 8:58 am #
That is correct. No practicing Mormon is ever going to be elected President.
We offered the very best we had to offer, and he lost to the least competent President since at least Jimmy Carter.
In fairness, it should perhaps be pointed out that there hasn’t been a Catholic president since JFK. I am a bit skeptical there will ever be another one, though I wouldn’t rule it out.
The next big breakthrough will be an avowedly atheistic president. I expect to see that in my lifetime.
ltngroup on 20 Dec 2012 at 12:03 pm #
I find this whole thing quite strange… KSL is a media outlet, TV, radio, internet and such that is owned by the LDS Church. KSL Online is a kind of virtual swap-meet or yard-sale place to advertise stuff that you have for sale or maybe find some stuff, especially used stuff, that you may be looking to buy. I guess people could make contacts through KSL Online to buy and/or sell firearms. KSL has no part in the actual transactions that take place and are not a party to any sale or negotiations. I think it’s somewhat odd that they decided to take that section down, just as I think it odd of Dick’s Sporting Goods to stop selling firearms suddenly. Isn’t that like McDonalds stopping the sale of hamburgers? I know, this is totally different, but KSL is simply a link. I found an individual who was selling some restaurant chairs that I wanted at a quantity and price that I was interested in. We talked, made arrangements to meet to exchange money for chairs and I loaded them up and brought them home. How that translates into the church being in the gun business seems like a big of a stretch, but I think you’re right in pointing out reporters that seem to publish something just to get their name out there. Tying the church to the story is very often a way of getting the attention of the anti-church folks in the Intermountain area, which will usually spawn a lot of hateful rhetoric, no matter what the subject is, or whether it’s a negative or positive story. There are some very nasty people out there just waiting to pounce on anything that even slightly refers to the church. Oddly enough, I really don’t think that McKay Coppins has that goal in mind when he writes. As you said, though, he’s trying to get noticed and maybe move up in the world. He falls into the same trap that has snagged so many and held them in the MSM… stretch and embellish, leave a little out here and there, suggest intention, read between the lines, create some drama. You’re right. It doesn’t help… at all.