CURRENTS

GUN COVERAGE:
STRAIGHT SHOOTING?

BY JOSHUA LIPTON

When Jane Amari, the publisher and editor of the Arizona Daily Star, decided last year to prohibit the advertisement of private gun sales in the newspaper, her newsroom found itself in a crossfire. Local gun owners accused the paper of prejudice against gun enthusiasts. Hundreds of readers withdrew their subscriptions.

Many in Arizona cherish gun ownership as a sacrosanct right, a position reflecting the conservative culture of the desert state. But the editorial board of the Star, which sees itself as a progressive voice in the Old West community of Tucson, has for years advocated tighter gun control regulations. If the two sides ever had a truce, the advertising ban ended it and the newsroom was pulled into the firefight.

Although the Star's editorial section and news section remain proudly independent of each other, that distinction was not necessarily clear to readers, many of whom questioned the paper's ability to remain objective and credible on guns -- a worry for managing editor Bobbie Jo Buel. Buel decided that the Star should host a forum, a chance for citizens to air their feelings about the paper's coverage. The idea was not a high-decibel debate on gun rights, but careful deliberation on how the paper reports gun-related stories and how it might improve.

Maria Parham, the Reader Advocate at the Star, moderated the forum. She invited seventeen Tucson residents well-known for their gun positions on both sides of the issue. She wanted to keep the meeting small and controlled to encourage meaningful discussion. Still, she had her worries. "You are inviting people to talk who you know are very vocal," Parham says. "We didn't know what to anticipate." Parham directed a large staff member from the newspaper to serve as designated bouncer, in case tempers flared.

At a local public library in May, about ten Star employees including the publisher, managing editor, two assistant managing editors, and the city editor listened as Tucson locals lectured them on the basics of good journalism: get your facts straight, remember to represent both sides of the argument, know your subject. Some participants thought that the journalists lacked rudimentary knowledge about different models and makes of guns and how they function. "I don't own a gun," Buel concedes. "I really don't know anything about guns. I don't think most reporters do."

But back at the office, there was a general reluctance to pursue all this public self-examination. The Star's newsroom was already somewhat defensive about a new editorial plan for shorter stories with more general appeal (see page 45), and on the gun issue, Buel says that her staff worried that the paper would overcompensate for the editorial page. "People were concerned that we would start kowtowing to gun advocates," she says. In addition, Star staffers questioned the need for such self-scrutiny because they detected no anti-gun bias in their reporting. Assistant editor D.J. Bartlett, a thirteen-year veteran of the Star says, "On the day-to-day coverage, we probably make mistakes. But as far as having an anti-gun agenda, that's ridiculous."

Joe Burchell, the city government reporter, attributes occasional misreporting on gun issues to shortcomings of individual journalists, not some paper-wide prejudice. Self-examination is always worthwhile for a newspaper, Burchell says. But he wonders why the Star concentrated only on guns, and why the self-scrutiny needed to be so public.

But Buel says that when so many readers complain, a public signal is a good idea. So the Star implemented an ambitious five-part action plan. First, the staff was invited to enroll in an intensive firearms workshop to learn about gun terminology and laws, and even receive hands-on instruction. Second, the newspaper is reviewing hundreds of articles that mentioned firearms published in the last three years for possible patterns of bias.

Third, the paper is establishing a set of style guidelines on guns; reporters will be able to consult the guidelines on what defines an "assault weapon," for example, or look up summaries of gun laws. The plan also calls for the creation of a grand Rolodex of gun experts. Finally, the Star will provide more outdoor sports coverage, including more stories about recreational gun activities.
The firearms classes will begin in a few weeks. "That's when we'll start to see how reporters feel," Parham says. So far, only a handful of staffers have expressed interest.