Comments on: Secrecy is trumping public interest in gun control coverage

By: phim hay

phim hay — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 01:54:44 +0000

You need no longer fear

By: LA Observed features the relaunch of Online Journalism Review | Inside Annenberg

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:48:20 +0000

[...] first article posted by OJR since the revamped website went live on Feb. 25 was an op-ed by Journalism Director Geneva Overholser about the importance of public interest when covering the [...]

By: El

El — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:53:08 +0000

Exactly what “public interest” can be derived from revealing the names and home addresses of permit holders? Perhaps it’s also in the public interest to know what YOUR home address is, Geneva Overholser….

By: BOKE

BOKE — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:25:42 +0000

Journalists tend to PRESUME to know and speak for “the public interest” … but as a rhetorical expert, I assure you, that is usually presumptuous.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:50:54 +0000

A point of reassurance, for all those media companies who might have cold feet about requesting the data: You need no longer fear. The NRA has been doing it for years: http://t.co/nyTUVrzfem

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:00:48 +0000

As a former journalist I strongly disagree with your desire to ” Let every newspaper in the country publish records on gun permits” for a few reasons. First, the information can be used by criminals to seek reprisals against cops and prison guards. Second, the addresses of domestic violence victims will be available to their abusers and opens the door to further abuse. Third, listing the home addresses of gun owners simply makes it too easy for house-breakers to pick up new supplies of guns to trade on the black market. Finally, if a news outlet follows your wisdom then, inevitably, there will be a crime committed that leads to an injury or death — and that’s when the news outlets’ legal teams will face lawsuits for the role they played in enabling the crime to take place. Thankfully in Virginia a new law was passed prohibiting the publication of conceal carry permit holders’ home addresses.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 08:25:40 +0000

Unfortunately the problem with this article is that it assumes journalists present information objectively and without bias. Sadly this is not true, journalists frequently misuse public information to misinform and manipulate the public, fail to check the information presented for accuracy, or sensationalize information to boost ratings and page hits. Reporting incorrect or biased information is just as bad as not reporting bad behavior by government officials. It seems as though journalism has become more about what’s good for the balance sheet rather than reporting the unbiased facts for the good of the people. I do agree with many of the points discussed in your article though, especially about the importance of government transparency. I would argue however that there is a big difference between transparency in the records of government and government officials behavior and who hold a gun permit. Knowing the salary of a public employee who is paid with taxpayer money is entirely different than knowing the name and address of permit holders. Knowing the causes of death of people is entirely different than publishing an interactive map of permit holders names and addresses including satellite imagery and street view photographs. If you are concerned about whether or not your neighbors are exposing your kids to guns maybe you should be a good parent and go get to know your neighbors and teach your kids what to do and not do around guns. What ever happened to personal responsibility? Just because some states have chosen to make gun permit information public record doesn’t mean it should be. That kind of information should at minimum be anonymized to preserve privacy and prevent people from being targeted.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:33:16 +0000

So why not just be accurate when you talk about YOUR map, which you were not in your earlier comment? That’s what I don’t understand.

By: Dwight R. Worley

Dwight R. Worley — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:12:15 +0000

That distinction is made clear in the map we ran: “Being included in this map does not mean the individual at a specific location owns a weapon, just that they are licensed to do so.”

But we’re probably not going to repeat that statement every time we discuss guns on every forum Internet-wide.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:38:13 +0000

Again — they’re not gun owners. They’re permit-holders. Just like someone with a driver’s license doesn’t necessarily own a car. It’s an important distinction, and it’s disappointing that you as the reporter can’t be bothered to make it.