Local News Stations....

[cowtownup]

My local television news stations cover at least 2-5 different shootings every night. I think that there are more shootings occurring today than say 10 years ago, however I think the news is really focusing on the ones today making it seem more prevalent.. I've got to where I don't even watch the local news because I feel like it makes me more paranoid about going out in public. It has increased my situational awareness though. Are your local news station following suit here or am I just crazy?

 

[TRX]

I quit watching the news years ago. I got tired of paranoia and violence being rammed down my throat when all I wanted was the weather report.

 

[HoosierQ]

Well we've got a bit of a war going on here in Indianapolis. So we get a lot of news coverage. Our own police chief came out with a statistic that 79% of the murder victims in the city had prior arrests or convictions for shootings, rapes, robery, assault...violent crimes...and broke down each. 84% of the suspects of the same murders had almost identical stats. So we've got a war going on where the thugs are killing other thugs. You can always tell as there is usually a "convenient" photo of the victim...you know, with numbers underneath it!

So here, it really is news I think. However, what the local stations don't do is point out the chief's stats. As in the rest of America, violent crime against innocent people continues to decline rather rapidly. We had a bad year for shooting due to what is obviously some kind of war going on here. I believe heroin is making a big surge here as a result of the Afghan war and an equilibrium of power and distribution is being sought. I am guessing here as this the police chief does not discuss. That you have to infer from the medical stats which show a dramatic increase in heroin overdoses here.

 

[Schwing]

Though several very high profile school shootings and "Mass shootings" have been in the media in the last few years, school shootings and "Mass shootings" are actually on the decline. If you are interested, I was just reading an article about it here:

http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/287145/81/Stats-School-shootings-leave-legacies-but-not-on-the-rise

They are all tragedies and I am not trying to play down any time a child is killed but in the last few years, the media has almost rabidly latched on to these shootings to promote their agenda. If you will notice, you never hear about the guy at the mall who stopped a shooting spree, the school resource officer that ended what would have been a rampage or the home owner who defends himself successfully. These stories happen regularly and NEVER make national news.

 

[PJSprog]

It's the same here in the St. Louis area, cowtownup. While I don't watch television news, I do listen to local news radio every day. They report it daily as well.

It's almost funny around here when the FBI crime stats are released every year, and STL is perpetually at or near the top. Without fail, the local politicians immediately start crying about how those stats aren't truly reflective of crime rates in this area as compared to other areas, where they supposedly count differently (?). Yet every day, also without fail, the local news is full of shootings and murder.

I'm not really sure if there really are more shootings these days, or if it's just getting more coverage. The skeptic in me has an opinion, though.

 

[GlowinPontiac]

My local news station is very anti-gun. If a shooting happens in an inner city area and it happens to be anywhere near a school they will call it a school shooting.

They conveniently leave out the fact that almost all the time the shooter and the victims are both convicted criminals with stolen guns.

 

[Bluelight]

Local news has become somewhat of a joke. I watch in the morning to get weather and traffic reports. Other than that you get shootings and violence. If there are not enough locally they go across country to fill the agenda.

 

[oneounceload]

As mentioned, the actual numbers are down, but the media sensationalism has increased. "If it bleeds it leads" is an old saying in the news circles

 

[TanklessPro]

Local news? I did not know they still did that........

 

[gunnutery]

I don't really watch or upload local news much at all. My wife checks out the local stuff online. I think one thing in my area that the local news is good at is broadcasting news about felons with guns getting busted.

A lot of times guys who've been charged and convicted with major crimes are always out a LOT sooner than one would think, so then they get busted again and they're carrying a firearm as a felon, when in reality they shouldn't have had the opportunity to get busted again because they shouldn't be on the streets anyway. I think the PD and local news work together to make sure those stories get put out there because we're all fed up with the "judicial" system.

 

[SouthernBoy]

There's a saying on news stations. "If it bleeds, it leads".

 

[ngnrd]

I'm surprised there's any gun violence at all right now. The way some of the threads here read, there's no ammo available anywhere.

Of course, if these criminals were the least bit intelligent, they could make a killing (pun intended) just by selling off any ammo they might actually have stashed away.

 

[horsemen61]

They just use them to try and get ratings up IMHO

 

[JTHunter]

PJSprog said:

It's the same here in the St. Louis area, cowtownup. While I don't watch television news, I do listen to local news radio every day. They report it daily as well.

It's almost funny around here when the FBI crime stats are released every year, and STL is perpetually at or near the top. Without fail, the local politicians immediately start crying about how those stats aren't truly reflective of crime rates in this area as compared to other areas, where they supposedly count differently (?). Yet every day, also without fail, the local news is full of shootings and murder.

And over half of those shootings in the city are in the northern third where most of the poor live.

SouthernBoy said:

There's a saying on news stations. "If it bleeds, it leads".

Always has - always will.

 

[Blue Thunder]

Yes it is a slow day in the news room when you lead with blood. Back when I worked in Broadcast TV in the 1970's, one station was and still is in a Southern Mansion Fronted building had the window shutters backed with Steel panels. We all carried guns in the station and all the Engineers and Directors in the station were Special Deputy Sheriff's. The second station I worked for was the same, no shutters, just carried guns to work, especially at night. Of course now you cannot get near any TV station with a gun now...
Yes, back then there were TV stations that were taken over by Gun Toting BG's.

 

[torqem]

We should cheer when punks shoot other punks, or when good folks shoot them. The numbers aint necessarily bad, just on the face of them. If you want to see violent people (and thieves) locked up more often and for longer periods of time, you first have to end the war on drugs. Because 3/4 of the people cluttering up the prisons and the courts are there because dope is illegal. Half are there for dope directly, half of the remainder are there because they did something to get money to buy dope, or they did it for dope debts, "turf" arguments,, etc.

Portugal has had no dope laws for many years now. Portugal is a leader in world problems,right? They are always in the news about some horrific, dope related crime?

For the record, I think dope use is stupid in the extreme. But I think the same thing about alcohol and tobacco (and I'm quite demonstrably correct, too).

 

[Hardtarget]

I was talking with a local police officer and wondered how much crime would "go away" if we could get rid of the drugs. I thought maybe 50% but he thought as high as 85%.

So, I do think we are hearing of more shootings. Mostly its "thug on thug". If you don't do criminal activities then maybe you have a much reduced chance of getting tangled up in a shoot out. Of course, there are many criminal acts directed onto a "chosen victim" because they look easy. That has always been the way of thugs and will always be.

Seems the local news here in Nashville is also showing plenty of shootings. It does keep the possibility in the back of your mind.

Stay safe out there!

Mark

 

[Blue Thunder]

The big problem with Thug on Thug shootings is when you are downrange of the boolits that is a problem as none of them can shoot straight and hit what they shoot at. Best thing to do is stay miles away from where the shooting is going on, unless it follows you home.....

 

[redneck383]

Sadly, my local news is just close enough to also be Flint's local news. They have no shortage of shootings to cover, and regularly update us on whether or not our lovely city is on course to break its record from the previous year or how our number of murders compares to our nearest competitor (Saginaw). It's almost become a score-keeping outlet.

 

[Red Wind]

Between 1993 and 2011 firearm homicides have decreased by 40% and nonfatal firearm injuries declined nearly 70% in the same time period. These figures were released by the Department of Justice last year.

Those are incredibly positive numbers. So it's mainly perception. Local and cable channels now report almost every shooting no matter how mundane,items that only the "locals" would have known about 40 to 50 years ago. Even school shootings have remained fairly constant on a yearly basis for decades.

It's the isolated mass shootings that have increased. The media feeds on these adding to the false perception of more violent gun crime. The truth is the exact opposite.

http://thefederalist.com/2014/01/16/if-guns-cause-more-violence-wheres-the-exploding-crime-rate/

Last year the Department of Justice released a report revealing that firearm homicides declined nearly 40% between 1993 and 2011, and nonfatal firearm injuries declined nearly 70% within the same time period. Every year since 2002 has seen a rise in the number of NICS background checks performed, yet in 2011 the firearm homicide rate was lower than it was in 2002; in fact, all firearm violence, both fatal and nonfatal, was lower the former year than the latter.