I want to share with you two breaking news stories written in very different style. Both stories were written for straight news venues as opposed to commentary. This distinction is important to keep in mind because I think we all come to expect certain wording in news stories versus editorials. We expect our news stories to be mostly fact driven not emotionally driven. Once presented with the facts, we expect to make up our own minds regarding the moral implications of each story. If I know for certain I am reading (or listening to) commentary I am free to agree or disagree with the writer’s point of view. Emotionally charged style or language in a straight news story, used solely for the purpose of inflaming the senses or building readership, is repugnant to me.
Both stories deal with murders, but in very different circumstances. One murder is getting nationwide coverage ad nausea. The other murder I would not know about save for talk radio. (Your access to this venue is being eroded you know. More about that later.) Both murders deal with issues very personal to me. Look at the language in the first story. The writer chose to heavily quote a left-leaning doctor who uses extremely inflammatory rhetoric. This comes from something called ‘The Colorado Independent’.
Late-term abortion doctor decries Tiller killing: ‘This is a fascist movement’
By Ernest Luning 5/31/09 5:11 PM
Hours after the Sunday morning shooting death of late-term abortion doctor George Tiller in Wichita, Kan., a Boulder physician — who says he could be the only doctor in the world still performing the procedure — said Tiller’s assassination was the “absolutely inevitable consequence” of decades of anti-abortion fanaticism.
“I’m profoundly sad and I’m furious and I think the American people need to understand that we have a fascist movement in this country,” Dr. Warren Hern told The Colorado Independent on Sunday. “We don’t have to invade Iraq to find terrorists. They’re right here killing abortion doctors.”
“Every doctor that does abortions has been under an assassination threat for decades,” Hern said. “The anti-abortion movement message is, ‘Do what we tell you to do or we will kill you,’ and they do. This is a fascist movement.”
Hern laid blame for Tiller’s death at the feet of the anti-abortion movement’s encouragement of violence against abortion providers and the Republican Party’s “exploitation” of the extremist rhetoric.
“Dr. Tiller is dead by an anti-abortion assassin, and this is the absolutely inevitable consequence of 35 years of anti-abortion fanatic rhetoric and intimidation and assassination violence and exploitation by the Republican Party of this movement,” Hern told the Independent.
Hern, who described Tiller as “a good friend of mine,” said he doesn’t “know of any other doctors in the world doing late abortions like I am.” The Boulder Abortion Clinic, run by Hern since he founded the practice in 1975, has as its motto “Specializing in Late Abortions for Fetal Disorders”.
Wow. This guy sounds pretty unhinged to me. Of course he used words like ‘fascism,’ ‘fanatic,’ ‘rhetoric,’ and ‘assassination’. This language is used frequently by those who seek to justify their actions in the face of strong moral opposition. Was it also quoted prominently by a news organization trying to sway public opinion? Or was this organization simply trying to draw more traffic to its website? I don’t know.
But to be fair, the very day of his killing the National Right to Life Committee condemned the murder of Dr. Tiller (who was nick-named Tiller the Baby Killer for his prolific practice.) You certainly would not know that from this piece.
Here is the second story from CNN.com:
Suspect arrested in Arkansas recruiting center shooting
(CNN) -- An Arkansas man was arrested Monday in connection with a shooting at a Little Rock military recruiting center that killed one soldier and wounded another, authorities said.
Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad -- a 24-year-old Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe -- faces a first-degree murder charge and 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act, Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said. The terrorist counts stem from the shots fired at an occupied building.
While authorities continued to investigate a motive, Thomas said Muhammad is a Muslim convert and, based on preliminary interviews with him, investigators believe there were "political and religious motives" in the shooting.
Military officials initially believed the shooting was a random act, but Thomas said police believe the shooter acted alone "with the specific purpose of targeting military personnel."
The soldier who was killed was identified as Pvt. William Long, 24, of Conway, and the wounded soldier is Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, Thomas said.
Ezeagwula is in stable condition and expected to recover, the police chief said.
"I'm relieved there's a suspect in custody," said Capt. Matthew Feehan, commander of the center.
Feehan said seven other recruiters were in the building, but nobody else was injured.
Thomas said police recovered three guns from Muhammad's black Ford SUV: an SKS semi-automatic rifle, a .22-caliber rifle and a pistol.
The victims were just out of basic training and had not been deployed, said Lt. Col. Thomas F. Artis, commander of the Oklahoma recruiting battalion that oversees the Little Rock recruiting center.
Melvin Bledsoe of Memphis, Tennesee , who was listed on the police report as Muhammad's father, declined to comment, referring questions to Little Rock Police.
The soldiers were part of a recruiting program called "hometown recruiting assistance," Artis said. Under the program, recruiters have the soldiers tell their stories to potential recruits. It's a volunteer position taken while soldiers are visiting or based back in their home region, Artis said.
The FBI has opened an investigation into the incident, said Steven Frazier, spokesman for the agency's Little Rock office. "Based on what we find, we will determine whether there is any federal jurisdiction to prosecute," he said.
I don’t see this called a hate crime. I don’t see the words ‘Muslim extremist’ here. I don’t see the word ‘assassin’ here. And I’ll be willing to bet the words that are here will be the last we see on this story. Could it be because the person murdered was in the military? I’ll let you make the call.
What I can plainly see is the difference in style between the two stories. I hope as the line between news and commentary becomes increasingly blurred, you will be able to plainly see the difference as well.
