The Illinois State Journal-Register angered lots of us in their coverage of the Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day in Springfield.
They had a series of photos and the caption was as follows:
Hundreds of gun owners and supporters gathered on the lawn of the Capitol for a brief rally during the annual Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day in Springfield, Ill. Wednesday, March 6, 2013. The Illinois State Rifle Association, in partnership with IllinoisCarry.com and other groups, including Guns Save Life, the Sangamon County Rifle Association and the McHenry County Right to Carry Association, organized the event to encourage gun owners to lobby their legislators about gun rights. (AP Photo/The State Journal-Register, Ted Schurter) / AP
Hundreds of gun owners?
I sent an email (although I doubt I was the only one) to the big shots at the State Journal-Register Wednesday night before bed.
RE: “Hundreds of gun owners and supporters gathered on the lawn
of the Capitol for a brief rally during the annual Illinois Gun
Owners Lobby Day in Springfield on Wednesday. Click inside for
photos.”Gentlemen (and the Lady):
Hundreds of gun owners?
*Hundreds* of gun owners are what turn out at the monthly Guns Save Life meetings in Rantoul, IL (270 in January. 282 in Feburary, specifically).
Photo here:
*Thousands* of gun owners are what turned out today at IGOLD – Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day.
Photo here:
And you folks wonder why your readership continues to decline…
Your description of the rally today is either utterly inept reporting, or a biased revision of history. Regardless, it’s no wonder so few Americans trust the mainstream media, both nationally and at home in publications such as the State Journal-Register.
Shame on you.
John Boch
I did not receive a single response after carbon copying everyone from the publisher down to the political editor with that message, but when I skipped over there today, look what the captions have been changed to:
Gun owners and supporters gathered on the lawn of the Capitol for a brief rally after a march from downtown Springfield during the annual Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day in Springfield on Wednesday. Event organizers estimate about 8,000 people participated.
Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register
Thousands of gun owners and supporters march from Seventh Street onto Capitol Avenue and toward the Capitol during the annual Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day in Springfield Wednesday, March 6, 2013. The Illinois State Rifle Association in partnership with IllinoisCarry.com and other groups including Guns Save Life, the Sangamon County Rifle Association and the McHenry County Right to Carry Association, organized the event to encourage gun owners to lobby their legislators about gun rights.
Kudos to the State Journal-Register for their acknowledgement that their reporter’s analysis was grossly out of line.
Just goes to show what a little old-fashioned activism can do.
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