No One Should Be Surprised.....BTW Criminals Don't Register Their Firearms

The new journalism, courtesy Toronto Star: Tell one side, ignore the other

Posted: November 02, 2009, 4:00 PM by NP Editor

Great moments in journalism:

The Star has a story on its web site today headlined: "Tories move closer to killing gun registry."

As one-sided stories go, it's a classic. Nowhere in the story is there even a hint that there might be a valid reason for wanting to close the gun registry, or any attempt to talk to someone who holds that view.

Nope. Only registry opponents are welcome. Here's the lead, which makes it pretty clear where the Star editorial board -- oops, sorry, this is a news story -- stands on the issue:

Gun-control advocates say they are horrified and fearful that Canada's long-gun firearms registry is on the verge this week of being scrapped because the Conservatives may have enough support from the opposition to kill it.

Gee, now we know what "gun-control advocates" think, how about other people, what do they think? Well, you're not going to find out, because the Star isn't going to talk to any of them. Instead, it talks to Wendy Cukier, president of the Coalition for Gun Control, NDP MP Joe Comartin and Liberal MP Mark Holland, who all agree with the Star's point of view.

Now that's a deep and wide-ranging duscussion, examining all sides of the issue. And what's the conclusion?

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