Traditional, old-school Main-Stream-Media, (MSM) has a decidedly liberal bent.  If this were not so, Fox News and the vast majority of talk-radio outlets would not be surviving and competitive, let alone dominating ratings in key categories and time slots across a wide array of demographic types.  Clearly, there was a pent-up demand for news and information sought from a dramatically different perspective.  The modern iterations of media, outside of this fossilized formula from the past, identified that demand and now successfully fulfills it.

What follows are three local examples of the MSM shaping and manipulating the narrative as opposed to simply and honestly reporting.

The recent shooting in Buffalo was allegedly carried out by a local young man here in the Broome County area of New York.  In reporting this incident on local television, the exact location, including photos and video of the suspect’s parent’s home address were broadcast to the public.  Additionally, the local gun store where the suspect purchased the firearm was photographed and videotaped showing the name of the business and identifying the street address.

There is absolutely no news-value in identifying the address of the suspect’s family or the location and name of the firearms dealer.  In doing so, this forced the family to go into hiding and actually relocate, putting those people’s lives in danger.  The gun dealer was forced to shut down his shop for more than a week as threatening and menacing acts disrupted his life and business.

Any family enduring the horror of living with the realization that one of their own children or siblings did such a heinous thing are not the appropriate targets for the media to put at risk of their safety and even their lives.  By doing so, the media was leveling on them a kind of misplaced punishment they have no right to wield.

Reportedly the gun dealer acted lawfully in making the transaction with the suspect.  Upon what theory of decent journalism did putting him and his business at risk rest upon?

And finally, the MSM has been incorrectly using the term, “assault weapon” for years in describing what is a civilian version of a military rifle.  Although the two firearms share similar cosmetics, the military version is more lethal while the civilian version is no different, in performance, than any other traditional hunting and sports rifle.  A purposeful misrepresentation repeated millions of times by searing the word “assault” into the consciousness of people who are less than adequately informed creates a mind-set of conclusion based on lies.

This illustrates that the MSM has an undeniable bias against guns and that pathology drives their justification for doing whatever they can to vilify and mis-represent the facts as they truly are.  This, amongst a host of other shortcomings explains why the reach, value and credibility of the MSM is so incredibly strained by the exposure they have finally had to face in the sunshine and the fresh air that is the truth offered by the new media.