Washington Post crowdsources gun violence stories?

[mangle]

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/12/11/WAPO-Submit-Your-Gun-Violence-Story-For-Sandy-Hook-Anniversary

tldr; Washington Post is looking for personal stories of those affected by gun violence at the one-year mark of Sandy Hook.

I wonder how many would have to be fake stories to prevent them from publishing any?

[brimic]

Do hunting photos/stories count?  

[zxcvbob]

What makes you think they wouldn't post the fake stories?  Those are often the best kind.

[mangle]

What makes you think they wouldn't post the fake stories?  Those are often the best kind.

Oh, I think it would be great if they posted some completely over the top false story, ran with it, and let the anti-gun nuts run with it until it is demonstrated to be false.  My honest question is how many over-the-top stories like that would have to be submitted before they decide to publish none for fear of that exact scenario.

[Balog]

Oh, I think it would be great if they posted some completely over the top false story, ran with it, and let the anti-gun nuts run with it until it is demonstrated to be false.  My honest question is how many over-the-top stories like that would have to be submitted before they decide to publish none for fear of that exact scenario.

I fear you don't quite grok how the whole "false story" thing works in real life. They'd publish them all, maybe or maybe not publish a retraction, but the damage would have long been done. http://thefederalist.com/2013/11/22/new-satire-deception/

The initial impact of the “real” is a bell that cannot be un-rung. The emotional power of proof that we were right all along shapes our opinions and views even after the facts are exposed.

[mangle]

I fear you don't quite grok how the whole "false story" thing works in real life. They'd publish them all, maybe or maybe not publish a retraction, but the damage would have long been done. http://thefederalist.com/2013/11/22/new-satire-deception/

Sadly, you're right.  I do find it disturbing that I often find myself watching segments of John Stewart or SNL and having to actually think for a minute to figure out whether it's real or satire.  I thin kit speaks badly for our current state of affairs that satire is often indistinguishable from reality.

[Balog]

I think it's always been that way. We need narrative to understand the world, and stories have Black Hats and White Hats. So obviously no atrocity is too absurd for the BH's to have committed, those people are scarcely even human! It's almost impossible to viscerally hate someone because they're on the Blue Team instead of the Red, and yet acknowledge that they have good and bad sides.

I loathe feminism (as the phrase is generally used) and think her work on sexuality has helped a movement that's done incredible damage to our society, but I truly admire Camille Paglia's intellectual honesty and critique of academia and the war on masculinity.

Russ Feingold is a vile and loathesome creature who worked ceaselessly to undermine many important aspects of liberty and our Constitution, but he was also the only Senator with the balls to vote no on the Patriot Act in 2001 because it infringed on civil liberties.

[Sergeant Bob]

I think it's always been that way. We need narrative to understand the world, and stories have Black Hats and White Hats. So obviously no atrocity is too absurd for the BH's to have committed, those people are scarcely even human! It's almost impossible to viscerally hate someone because they're on the Blue Team instead of the Red, and yet acknowledge that they have good and bad sides.

I loathe feminism (as the phrase is generally used) and think her work on sexuality has helped a movement that's done incredible damage to our society, but I truly admire Camille Paglia's intellectual honesty and critique of academia and the war on masculinity.

Russ Feingold is a vile and loathesome creature who worked ceaselessly to undermine many important aspects of liberty and our Constitution, but he was also the only Senator with the balls to vote no on the Patriot Act in 2001 because it infringed on civil liberties.

I don't disagree with any of that, though it wouldn't surprise me if it starts a shyte storm. It's like when Mohammed Atta and friends crashed the planes. Everyone were calling them cowards, but Bill Maher (whom I loathe) said they weren't, and had his own storm.

Truth is often hard for people to take objectively, so those with the pulpit massage it to sell to the uneducated masses.

[freakazoid]

Maybe flood them with stories of guns saving lives, like the ones that some gun mags have.

[Perd Hapley]

I fear you don't quite grok how the whole "false story" thing works in real life. They'd publish them all, maybe or maybe not publish a retraction, but the damage would have long been done. http://thefederalist.com/2013/11/22/new-satire-deception/

Limbaugh coined the phrase "drive-by media." They'll spend two whole news cycles telling us that Sarah Palin thinks Africa is a nation, then drive on to the next Big Thing. By the time it's revealed that the story had no basis in fact, they're long gone, and can't be bothered to say much about it.

[French G.]

False story impact, see any episode of the George Zimmerman files.