Alligator Update
Background here. Hats off to them for issuing one helluva correction:
On Thursday, Feb. 8, we ran an article based on a report from the Gainesville Police Department about guns painted to look like toys. GPD provided us with a photo, which we ran in the paper and online. As far as we knew, the entire issue was about disguising guns in order to confuse law enforcement.
We were wrong.
This story should have been about gun laws, gun-owners and the concerns voiced by law enforcement, not just the perspective of law enforcement on this trend. We should have asked GPD where they got the photo of the rifle and followed up to make sure we could use it. (Turns out, the whole thing was handed down from New York.)
The owner of the Hello Kitty rifle contacted us and asked us to remove the photo. Still under the impression that he was manufacturing the guns, we edited the article with an editor’s note: “As per a request from the company that is making the Hello Kitty rifle, we have taken down the image.”
February 12th, 2008 at 11:50 am
From the way the correction reads, it seems the Alligator will be a little more diligent with their fact checking after receiving a press release from the GPD.
How much better would our country be if the local papers did fact checking for everything, rather than accepting press releases as writs from God.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Didn’t anybody learn from the Birdman Weapon Systems HoMeBoyz Nyte-Sytes incident?