Somebody at the Times knows his guns?

[azmjs]

If you look at the Times' website front page, they've got a picture of a rebel in Libya carrying what the caption describes as a "12.7mm machine gun."


I've been a Times reader for a long time, and I think it's the first time I've seen such a technically precise definition of a weapon they've pictured.

Oh the times they are a changin' .

 

[loadedround]

Which Times newspaper? New York Times?

 

[Double Naught Spy]

It is no more precise than calling it a .50 caliber machinegun. In fact, it is the same thing!

 

[MtnCreek]

Blind squirrel ???

 

[steelbird]

The journalists who cover war zones will sometimes know what they are talking about when it comes to weapon types and military tactics. I remember an article from earlier this year in the NY Times mentioning the rebels using old WWII MP-40's and post-war French MAT's. It's the journalists who stay in the USA or only do local news that often are ill-informed ( being generous here ) about guns and military subjects.

 

[Shear_stress]

If the article was by CJ Chivers, it's no surprise. He has reported extensively on the guns of Afghan fighters on both sides and even authored an exhaustive book on the AK-47. Chivers (a former Marine) probably knows more about guns than any other mainstream journalist around...and yes, he works at the NY Times.

 

[303tom]

Actually it is a 12.7x99 NATO !

 

[Snowdog]

If the article was by CJ Chivers, it's no surprise. He has reported extensively on the guns of Afghan fighters on both sides and even authored an exhaustive book on the AK-47.

That book is sitting right next to me, a birthday gift from the wife. When I'm done with Under The Dome (King), I'm getting started on it.

I shouldn't be disappointed, but I can help but be annoyed when they screw these things up. After the 3rd time a CNN anchorman called a gold-plated Dragnov SVD an AK47 during footage of the seige of Gadhafi's Tripoli compound by Libyan rebels, I had to change the channel.

It's nice to know there are some gun knowledgeable types among them.

 

[parsimonious_instead]

Chivers is a good writer that knows his stuff. Doesn't seem to like non-mil or non-LEO to have anything military style, though.
A lot of his blogging about Libya makes it sound as if he's gathering data to bolster the UN's small-arms control "agreements."

 

[Rshooter]

Chivers is a good writer that knows his stuff. Doesn't seem to like non-mil or non-LEO to have anything military style, though.
A lot of his blogging about Libya makes it sound as if he's gathering data to bolster the UN's small-arms control "agreements."

Sad thing a person covering the "liberation" of a country by citizens with military guns and NATO help being against citizens with military type firearms.

 

[KodiakBeer]

Actually, if the individual is carrying a .50 BMG, describing it as a "12.7" just displays the ignorance of the writer. The NYT is an American paper, so using the metric designation only reveals that he is repeating what some European or Libyan told him.

 

[mortablunt]

At least he doesn't use the journalist guide to gun identification.

Hear gunfire? AK-47
See anything feeding from a belt? 50 cal
See semiautomatic shotgun? Street Sweeper
See flare? RPG
See revolver? Magnum
See Pistol? Glock

I have a retired reporter friend who also knows his guns. When it comes to firearms, most reporters know just as little as the general public and they use scary names in order to sell more.

 

[Ole Coot]

At least he doesn't use the journalist guide to gun identification.

Hear gunfire? AK-47
See anything feeding from a belt? 50 cal
See semiautomatic shotgun? Street Sweeper
See flare? RPG
See revolver? Magnum
See Pistol? Glock

I have a retired reporter friend who also knows his guns. When it comes to firearms, most reporters know just as little as the general public and they use scary names in order to sell more.

Got a laugh out of that. Couldn't have said it better myself. I think you covered the whole reporting business.

 

[Single Action Six]

Don't Get Me Started..

Like my title says.. "Don't get me started" on the media because they're ALL (well 99% of them anyways), blockhead idiot liers when it comes to reporting anything that has to do with firearms. :banghead:

Single Action Six

 

[Ignition Override]

Shear_ stress:

I've read parts of Chiver's book, "The Gun". Some of it was available months ago on the Amazon website.

What I can't figure out is how a former Marine officer can reconcile his background with the overall New York Times' general attitude towards our soldiers, simply because he works for the paper.

When a soldier in Afghanistan was awarded one of our nations' highest military medals, the NYT placed the article back in the local news section.

 

[Shear_stress]

What I can't figure out is how a former Marine officer can reconcile his background with the overall New York Times' general attitude towards our soldiers, simply because he works for the paper.

When a soldier in Afghanistan was awarded one of our nations' highest military medals, the NYT placed the article back in the local news section.

Except for some of Chivers' stuff, I don't really read the NY Times and you didn't list the specific incident you're talking about or how (or even if) it was covered in other national news outlets. Still, there's a pretty big difference between insufficient adulation toward and a bias against something. Things have gotten to such a fever pitch nowadays that we assume that those who disagree with us on some issues must automatically disrespect the things we hold dear. The irony to all this is that the NY Times, through the editorials of Judith Miller, was a vocal pro-war voice leading up to the Iraq invasion.

Anyway, this is getting off topic from the OP. Guns are so inaccurately and negatively covered by the media, it's actually kind of shocking when they get something right.

 

[Liberation]

Always watching Libya footage myself, have seen several rebels with FALs and CIRAS or CIRAS knock offs.

Just fun watching it to look at what guns and equipment they are using... anyone else do it?

 

[smalls]

I don't understand the excuse "well, they're not gun guys". They're job is to report things, with as much detail as possible. If you're not a "gun guy", they can do research, yunno, like they're supposed to.
At the same time, what else to they report wrong? Some other thing that they don't enjoy as a hobby? But we don't care because we're just as uninformed as they ate, cause it's not our hobby.

 

[Jonah71]

What bugs me the most about reporters and news media, is they never seem to know or distinguish the difference between semi automatic and fully automatic. It seems at times that if it's not a BP musket or a revolver........it's of course an "automatic weapon".