The mainstream media has spectacularly failed in their job to inform the public and the proof of it is in the numbers. As was reported yesterday, a Pew Research study found that gun crime has plunged, homicides, assaults, robberies and other crimes committed with a gun, all down, yet only 12 percent of the public has been informed and knew it.
Compared with 1993, the peak of U.S. gun homicides, the firearm homicide rate was 49% lower in 2010, and there were fewer deaths, even though the nation’s population grew. The victimization rate for other violent crimes with a firearm—assaults, robberies and sex crimes—was 75% lower in 2011 than in 1993. Violent non-fatal crime victimization overall (with or without a firearm) also is down markedly (72%) over two decades.
Yet 56 percent of Americans believe gun crime is higher than 20 years ago.
Think about why that is... how could Americans be that misinformed, that ignorant of the facts, the numbers, the news?
One of the few major news outlets, LA Times, that are bothering to inform the public of these latest figures states:
Despite the remarkable drop in gun crime, only 12% of Americans surveyed said gun crime had declined compared with two decades ago, according to Pew, which surveyed more than 900 adults this spring. Twenty-six percent said it had stayed the same, and 56% thought it had increased.
It’s unclear whether media coverage is driving the misconception that such violence is up. The mass shootings in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., were among the news stories most closely watched by Americans last year, Pew found. Crime has also been a growing focus for national newscasts and morning network shows in the past five years but has become less common on local television news.
Emphasis mine.
Unclear? Really?
Despite the fact that the Pew study came out yesterday, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics report was released Tuesday, looking through Google News, keywords "Pew Research gun crime", there are only a handful reporting it today, including the LA Times article quoted from above.
Reuters, Fox News, International Business Times USA Today, NPR, Beaufort Observer, and MSNnow, is what you find, so far.
There is nothing unclear about this, contrary to the LA times assertion.
I stand by what I said yesterday: "Maybe the media should do a better job of providing the public with actual data instead of pushing their political gun control agenda and ignoring anything that does not conform with their ideology."
The very first item listed for the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics is "Seek Truth and Report It."
The Preamble:
Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice.
A few of the ethical rules listed under that "Seek Truth and Report It" category.
• Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
• Examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others.
• Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
The other categories are "Minimize Harm," Act Independently," and "Be Accountable."
By every standard set forth in journalistic ethics, the major media has utterly failed to do the one and only job they have... inform the public with no agenda other than telling the truth.
