To the editor:
The title should have read “Zealots picket with guns as sheriff makes arrests at a high school kegger” and not “Paton man arrested for hosting Greene County kegger Friday.” That is how I interpret the content of the article published April 16, 2020.
I am confused at how peaceful demonstrations by Americans who feel their state governors are overstepping their powers in the states of “Michigan, North Carolina and elsewhere” have anything to do with a kegger where underage drinking was happening.
I understand that there were charges by the Greene County Sheriff for violations of the IDPH guidelines but, again, that has nothing to do with “Michigan, North Carolina, and elsewhere.” If you wish to report on those demonstrations, do so in an article where you can report the facts relevant to that news.
This brings me to the wording of the intertwined story of the demonstrations. I noticed the use of “zealots” and “gun-toting” to describe the citizens who were protesting and the use of a picture showing legally armed citizens peacefully demonstrating. It is apparent there were no visible firearms in the “North Carolina and elsewhere” demonstrations so, to me, this use of a photo showing legal firearms is being done to add opinionated, shock value to the article about a kegger.
This is not the first time you have inserted what appear to be opinionated sections into articles. In your story dated Feb. 5, 2020, it was insinuated that the sword falling from the hand of Lady Justice at the Dallas County Courthouse was due to President Trump being acquitted in the impeachment trial. Obviously, the two things had nothing to do with each other.
In this time when news is under scrutiny as being slanted to opinion and sometimes outright faked, it is more important than ever to be clear, concise and stick to facts. The public is bombarded by more and more information every day. We are asking our media to help us to be informed of the facts and to be more prepared to do everything from simple “water cooler” discussions to voting based on what is real, not slanted to an opinion.
Please, rise above the muddle of what news media has become, and help your readers.
Gary Mullen
Minburn
Gathering to protest at a State Capitol during a pandemic seems pretty “zealous” to me. Brandishing firearms, legal as they may be, to make a threat of sedition should be met with arrest. The saddest part is that these people don’t realize they are just being used as pawns by powerful interests that couldn’t care less about them or their family’s well being. On the other hand, how many of these anti-government types cashed that $1,200 check?
I completely agree with Mr. Mullen. These two stories are completely unrelated and should have never been mentioned together. How do you think people would have reacted if you were to combine your gun story with Easter celebrations that were also held in violation of the governor’s orders? I believe that is the very, very tiny connection you were trying to make Dr. Caufield. I could see the headlines now: “Easter Bunny hunters protest about stay at home orders”
The two stories are not “completely unrelated,” Mr. Cooper. They are both relevant to the issue of the state’s virus-mitigation efforts. One story is about local people violating the Iowa recommendations, and the other is about arms-bearing Trump supporters protesting other states’ recommendations. That is the not-so-tiny connection made between the stories. The latter story was not a “gun story” but a story of people gathering to protest at a state capitol during a pandemic.
This story gives three facts:
1. Shows power-hungry law enforcement overreaching authority to enforce a recommendation, imposing on private property rights of a citizen.
2. Shows reaction by citizens to overreaching power to enforce recommendations.
3. Shows the author engaged in political propaganda by stating that protesters are Trump supporters.
Your third so-called fact is not a fact but an absurd lie. Here is the relevant line from the story: “Gun-toting zealots in Michigan, North Carolina and elsewhere protested Wednesday against stay-at-home orders and other social-distancing policies enacted in an effort to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.” Here is the caption from the photo: “Zealous civil libertarians in Michigan brandished firearms in protest of stay-at-home orders Wednesday. Photo by Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images.”
Your claim that “the author engaged in political propaganda by stating that protesters are Trump supporters” is thus demonstrated to be factually inaccurate and, in fact, an absurd lie. No mention of Trump or of Trump supporters is made anywhere in this story. Maybe the Trump-Pence sign in the picture led you to misspeak. You are welcome to take whatever stance you care to take on stay-at-home orders or anything else, and you are welcome to express your opinions in ThePerryNewscom, but you are not welcome to lie about stories in ThePerryNews.com without your lies being identified as such, as here.
I was commenting to comment responding to the original letter, not the original letter itself. I did not lie about anything. You should be more objective in your interpretations instead of defensive. Furthermore, the “relevant” line is also propaganda. “Brandishing” and “zealots” are false exaggerations intended to reflect negatively on people trying to protect and preserve our civil liberties. Fake news.
The comment about Trump reporters was in a response to the original letter, I was commenting on that. No lie. Furthermore, the “relevant line”, is also propaganda. The use of “brandishing” and “zealots” were exaggerations intended to give negative impressions of the protesters as violent. Actually, they protest to protect civil liberties, which is the American thing to do.