Tuesday, May 26, 2009

5/17/08: False headline re NRA convention foments user hatred (HuffPost: "Approved!!!")

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Also see:
Archive of false/misleading HuffPost headlines

On May 17, 2008, HuffPost published the following headline on its front page:


As noted, the sub-headline of this story read:
"NRA Bans Guns At Their Own Convention"

The story that this image linked to is here:
"Firearms WILL NOT Be Allowed In Hall"

The external story that the HuffPost thread linked to (NY Daily News), however, told “the rest of the story” – that the NRA had not banned firearms at this event. To the contrary, it was the U.S. Secret Service that banned firearms at this convention --- because presidential contender John McCain would be addressing the attendees.

The PDF of this thread shows how such a false, inflammatory headline incited a torrent of misperceptions among HuffPost's users --- many of which contained egregious violations of its reviewed, approved and published.

Examples:
pfc1369 See Profile I'm a Fan of pfc1369
What's the matter with these death merchants?
Ain't they never heard of the Second Amendment?
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 09:11 PM on 05/17/2008

lacasarosada See Profile I'm a Fan of lacasarosada
LOL!!!!
doesn't the NRA always say "guns don't kill people... people kill people". i guess the NRA doesn't trust its own people. smartest decision the NRA has made in years.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:57 PM on 05/17/2008

curmudgeon3 See Profile I'm a Fan of curmudgeon3
[...]
Wouldn't everyone be much more comfortable in a hall filled with literally hundreds of armed "deputies"? Did Huckleberry have to turn in his weapon at the door?
Question to those who advocate the NRA position -- If you come upon a situation cold where several people are firing away at each other, how do you know which one to shoot? What if one of the many armed persons present mistakenly identifies you as "the bad guy"?
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:46 PM on 05/17/2008

08timefortruth See Profile I'm a Fan of 08timefortruth
This cracks me up in a ticked off sort of way! Don't take a chance of shooting McCain but make "jokes" about Obama getting shot at the same convention. I do not blame the gun owners for the ignorance tho, they had no control over what the speakers said.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:15 PM on 05/17/2008

Felicty See Profile I'm a Fan of Felicty
How else could they protect their candidate from a housefly that might land on his head? Target practice is like second nature to gun lovers.
Publically sanctioned masturbation for their cause.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:13 PM on 05/17/2008

Trittydi See Profile I'm a Fan of Trittydi
My irony meter is working like a metronome on full.
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Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:07 PM on 05/17/2008

Fortunately, a handful of HuffPost users actually read the source article that HuffPost linked to, and denounced it for creating such a deliberately misleading headline:
1will See Profile I'm a Fan of 1will
The article (not the Huffpost blurb) stated that the Secret Service banned guns from the meeting not the NRA.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:50 PM on 05/17/2008

Rebochan See Profile I'm a Fan of Rebochan
Wow, what a terribly misleading headline. On the other hand, it's a great way to fact check which of the commentators read the article and which ones read the headline and posted without even bothering to read further. Reading comprehension at its finest, ladies and gentleman.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:17 PM on 05/17/2008

runningwithscissors See Profile I'm a Fan of runningwithscissors
Ya know, the title of this article is so disingenuous. It's written to imply hypocrisy; that the NRA chose to ban guns at their own event, as if no other variables exited. That decision was forced on them by the SS because of McCain's presence. This, the body of the article makes clear. Is this blog becoming as cheap as those it works to expose?
Shame.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 08:11 PM on 05/17/2008

And yet, as is (and will be) documented at Huff-Watch, this was actually one of the more inconsequential incidents of it creating egregiously misleading (if not false) headlines, which predictably fomented an outpouring of misperception-based and hate-filled, which it then reviewed, approved and published. Examples:
6/12/09: "Neocons Root For Ahmadinejad" --- NOT; users espouse hate based on lie (HuffPost: "Approved!!!")

8/23/09: Grossly misleading headline about Sen. Lieberman, incites user hate comments (HuffPost: "Approved!!!")

10/27/09: HuffPost publishes false, inflammatory story about Justice Scalia; user hate-fest erupts (HuffPost: "Approved!!!")

4/6/08: False headline, copy claim McCain wrong on Iran - al Qaeda connection; foments misconception-based hate comments (HuffPost: "Approved!!!")



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