Getting it wrong: Where are the solutions?
Braeden Keane
The mainstream media twists stories into sellers.
The saying that good news doesn’t sell is true, otherwise it wouldn’t be said. In news stories there is always a conflict, and that’s what builds the story. However, what I personally have noticed is that many mainstream media outlets have twisted headlines to gain attention.
Never before has the term “fake news” been used for mainstream media as much as it is with President Trump in office. Adding to it is the overstimulation from social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
As an example of media atrocities, many news outlets, such as nydailynews.com, reported in Feb. that there have been 18 school shootings in the first two months of 2018. What many don’t know, however, is that of these 18 “school shootings” only three consisted of a suspect walking into a school and firing upon students or teachers.
The “fake news” came from Everytown for Gun Safety, a group dedicated to “fighting for common-sense reforms to reduce gun violence.”
“A school shooting according to Everytown, is any live round fired within a school’s limits, whether there was injury or not,” wrote foxnews.com
With this misinformation, the media and gun control groups have claimed that school shootings can include events such as:
• a mix of shots being fired off campus and striking a window;
• one ex-student walking into a school that had been decommissioned for seven months and committing suicide;
• a student picking up what was believed to be a training weapon in a criminal justice class, and unknowingly firing a round at a wall target and breaking a window.
If the media wants people to take these situations seriously, as they should be, they must stop hunting headlines.
On top of media stimulation, there is the oh-so talked-about issue of gun control.
The AR-15, an assault rifle attributed to most mass shootings in the United States, isn’t the problem. It’s the person operating the weapon.
Gun control lobbyists have mentioned banning the AR-15 from regular gun stores. However, it would be much more effective to apply a more strict background check for gun purchases.
For instance, if a person were expelled from school for suspicious reasons, that person should be prevented from buying guns.
Gun banishment completely goes against the Second Constitutional Amendment, but it seems that as more and more mass shootings happen, the idea of banning weapons is discussed more and more.
Continue into the 2018 school year, as sad as it may be, there will be more mass shootings. The only way to correct the problem is to provide smaller steps toward the solution. Large gains dissolve, but small gains resolve.
