And you wonder why mainstream media outlets in America are losing their credibility. Well, here it is in a nutshell: It’s more likely that they’ll spout off nonsense than stick to the facts.
Consider that Nina Burleigh, a political reporter for Newsweek, had this to say on Twitter: “Almost every single person I’ve ever heard of with an AR-15 has been a mass murderer.”
O … K …
So, if The Washington Post is correct when it says that 1.3 million modern sporting rifles are sold each year, that means we must have 1.3 million mass shooting incidents each year, right? And if that’s the case, it’s apparent that more than 1.29 million of them must go unreported.
OK, OK, let’s make an exception for the fact that Burleigh couldn’t possibly know 1.3 million AR-15 owners, much less 1.3 million mass murderers—unless she spent time in max with the likes of Charles Manson. Her statement is still so far-fetched it’s not even funny. Her own publication has run articles about people with AR-15s who aren’t murderers.
You could bet she’d say it was an intentional exaggeration. And, yes, she sent a follow-up tweet saying just that, admitting that she posted her tweet to bait gun owners. Then she acted all high-and-mighty blaming gun owners for calling her out. Not like law-abiding gun owners wouldn’t have a right to be angry after being unfairly stereotyped.
An exaggeration on Burleigh’s part? Yeah, we’d say so, but the scary thing is, she probably believes what she said. We just want to let everyone know how far off base her statement was.
The next question is, why would a reputable media outlet allow its reporters to post such nonsense on social media? They have to know it'll bring their publication's credibility rating down? Oh, wait. Credibility isn't nearly as important as ad revenue, and you can get that by sparking outrage, we guess.
