"Freedom of speech/free press" - What has happened to the traditional role?

[tulsamal]

I'm going to include this comprehensive video from last night's Channel 8 newscast. It is ten minutes long but I can't find an individual link to the exact story I want to ask about:

http://www.ktul.com/video?clipId=8858328&autostart=true

The story in question starts at 5:02.

Synopsis... Rogers County, video shows Claremore. LEO's were called to the scene by a neighbor who said the subject of the story had shot his cat. "During the investigation...." the LEO's discovered firearms and "several pipe bombs." They evacuated the neighborhood and called the bomb squad. At the end of the story, they say he was "arrested for possession of firearms and cruelty to animals." No mention of being arrested for explosives?

What I found particularly amazing was the video of the captured weaponry. There was a Daisy BB gun. Just like the one we got for Christmas when we were 6. There is another rifle above it that has BB's in a bag on top of it... I want to say that one is a BB gun too but I can't be sure. At the bottom of the screen is a lever action. Based on the size of the ejection port, it is either a .22 or anther BB gun. Then they show a couple of big knives. Scary. Then they show a handgun. Semi auto, like a Smith & Wesson model the cops used to carry. Until I noticed the bottom of the magazine well had a circular port. Another BB gun! Finally they showed a couple of single action revolvers. These really _were_ guns. And two boxes of open ammunition were shown. With the single actions, they showed a bit more centerfire pistol ammo (.45 Colt) and some bulk .22 LR boxes. In one of the video frames there is the bottom of a container that says "16 ounces" on it. I think that is the bottom of a pound of gunpowder but hard to be sure.

So one can be arrested now for "possession of a firearm?" My guess is that he will turn out to be a known convicted felon... at least I hope that's why he got arrested. But if they laid out all the firearms and BB guns to show what a danger to society he was... where are those deadly pipe bombs? And why weren't they part of the arrest? What did the bomb squad say about them?

And I can't help but be curious about the whole investigation and how it played out. The neighbor said the subject shot his cat. The cops went to check it out and talk to everybody. Somehow that ends up with them searching his property and arresting him?

As a gun owner (of real guns) and a serious reloader (with many pounds of gun powder).... these types of news stories give me the willies. I can just imagine everything I own all laid out on table after table for the media to broadcast and the public to gasp over. Not one illegal thing in the whole bunch but somehow it just "looks dangerous" when you pile it all up and put it next to a mug shot.

When I was watching the news story last night, I ended up very frustrated with the media. Which is the broader question than just this single arrest. Maybe the guy in Claremore really was five minutes away from blowing up a marathon somewhere and we just don't have all the facts yet. Maybe not. But why does the media just broadcast these stories without even a trace of skepticism or asking any questions? The whole point of a "free press" is that they are free to investigate and ask the embarrassing questions. Uncover abuse and unlawful searches. There HAD to be someone in the media that looked at those guns on those tables and knew darn good and well those were BB guns.... so why didn't they raise their hand and ask some questions?

I'm very uncomfortable with a media that just reports "as fact" anything released by "the people in charge." Come on.... ask some bloody questions!! Why did they search his house? Why did they arrest him for having guns? Why are you showing us pictures of BB guns and knives and single action revolvers? Where are these pipe bombs? Why no pictures or status about them? Why wasn't he arrested on those charges? Etc, etc!

Gregg

 

[MLRyan]

An article can be factual and few people will read it.Embellish the facts slightly(say gun instead of BB gun) and people will eat it up.

 

[cjjtulsa]

A couple of scenes on channel 6 showed an FAL - and I did protest loudly at the TV over it. Told my wife, "I wish he'd have sold it to me before he pulled that."

And IIRC, KOTV did say that he was a convicted felon.

We laughed at the pics of the pipe bombs; I've seen some like that before - used as fish bombs. Looked just like the homemade explosives guys would use years ago to try and get fish to float. I'm surprised they didn't order Claremore residents to "shelter in place". They missed a golden opportunity.

 

[tulsamal]

Sounds like Channel 6 did show some different pics and provide some more information.

 

[NightShade]

Below is something interesting that most of the stories on the news have. Ever really look at a news anchor? Many of the below pop out instantly one of the few that do not apply is number 18 mainly because they are broadcasting to many people and you can't be there. Then again most if not all also apply to politicians, no wonder why they are all so good at working together to spin the truth into their own views and opinions.

I don't watch the news and take what I read with a pound of salt.

We place a social premium on the ability to ferret out other people’s lies, especially, as we’ve seen just this week in the news, when they may hide brutal and ugly crimes.

Still, there is something darkly fascinating about those skilled in verbal legerdemain. And at least one team of scientists, led by Dutch psychologist Aldert Vrij , believes that it has identified the precise ingredients of "good liars." These researchers outline the following 18 traits that, if ever they were to coalesce in a perfect storm of a single perpetrator, would strain even seasoned interrogators’ lie-detection abilities:

(1) manipulativeness. "Machiavellians" are pragmatic liars who aren’t fearful or anxious. They are "scheming but not stupid," explain the authors. "In conversations, they tend to dominate, but they also seem relaxed, talented and confident."

(2) acting. Good actors make good liars; receptive audiences encourage confidence.

(3) expressiveness. Animated people create favorable first impressions, making liars seductive and their expressions distracting.

(4) physical attractiveness. Fair or unfair, pretty people are judged as being more honest than unattractive people.

(5) natural performers. These people can adapt to abrupt changes in the discourse with a convincing spontaneity.

(6) experience. Prior lying helps people manage familiar emotions, such as guilt and fear, which can “leak” behaviorally and tip off observers.

(7) confidence. Like anything else, believing in yourself is half the battle; you’ve got to believe in your ability to deceive others.

(8) emotional camouflage. Liars "mask their stark inclination to show the emotional expressions they truly feel" by feigning the opposite affect.

(9) eloquence. Eloquent speakers confound listeners with word play and buy extra time to ponder a plausible answer by giving long-winded responses.

(10) well-preparedness. This minimizes fabrication on the spot, which is vulnerable to detection.

(11) unverifiable responding. Concealing information ("I honestly don’t remember") is preferable to a constructed lie because it cannot be disconfirmed.

(12) information frugality. Saying as little as possible in response to pointed questions makes it all the more difficult to confirm or disconfirm details.

(13) original thinking. Even meticulous liars can be thrown by the unexpected, so the ability to give original, convincing, non-scripted responses comes in handy.

(14) rapid thinking. Delays and verbal fillers ("ums" and "ahs") signal deception, so good liars are quick-witted, thinking fast on their feet.

(15) intelligence. Intelligence enables an efficient shouldering of the “cognitive load” imposed by lying, since there are many complex, simultaneously occurring demands associated with monitoring one’s own deceptiveness.

(16) good memory. Interrogators’ ears will prick at inconsistencies. A good memory allows a liar to remember details without tripping in their own fibs.

(17) truth adherence. Lies that "bend the truth" are generally more convincing, and require less cognitive effort, than those that involve fabricating an entire story.

(18) decoding. The ability to detect suspicion in the listener allows the liar to make the necessary adjustments, borrowing from strategies in the preceding skill set.

 

[SoonerP226]

And IIRC, KOTV did say that he was a convicted felon.

If this is the same guy that the OKC stations covered, that's what they said--he was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm.