Spin on dog story (Huntsville: home, neighborhood, pit bulls)

[harry chickpea]

Media spin and selective reporting has been around since there has been media. What drives it can be a quest for more eyes on it and advertisers, pressure from activists and business groups, or the bias of the reporters and station management. I make no speculation on what happened to bias this reporting:



’You left me with a hole in my heart’: Family seeks clarity after Huntsville officer shoots, kills dog

"HPD tells the 48 newsroom that officers were responding to a call on Grizzard Road Sunday afternoon that the dog was roaming freely through the neighborhood.

Lt. Michael Johnson, a spokesman for the police department, explained the call. “They were run back in their house, if you will. They did not want to come back outside,"

When officers made contact with the dog, they report he was ‘not friendly.’ So, to follow protocol, they began looking for its owner, ...

At some point, things escalate(sic) and officers say they were forced to shoot the dog.

Shiquanna tells(sic) WAFF 48 News both her son and daughter were nearby when the officer fired. “What if my son, as you decided to shoot, ran to him. Can you stop a bullet? Can you train a bullet not to hit anyone that you don’t want it to hit? No you can’t!”


’You left me with a hole in my heart’: Family seeks clarity after Huntsville officer shoots, kills dog

Any media spokesperson representing a police department or other governmental body has to be circumspect. Any person who has experienced trauma is unlikely to be so, and can blurt out things that are untrue, biased, and even outrageous. Responsible media does not utilize such outbursts. Apparently, someone at 48 never got that memo.

The focus of the story is spinning towards the idea of (yet another, in the minds of activists) unprovoked police shooting. Bluntly, that spin is socially irresponsible to the point that if such reports continue they need to be brought forth at the station's next license renewal from the FCC.

As a direct response to Shiquanna; Here is the situation. Huntsville has a no loose dogs ordinance. Your pet was not properly secured- YOUR responsibility. It got loose and YOUR neighbors felt they had to call police for protection from it. When the police were doing their requested and required duty, your dog realized someone was on its home turf and became aggressive and agitated. As a consequence, it got shot. Don't try to shift blame to the police for your failing to keep your pit under control, and be thankful that it didn't maul a woman to death as happened just a few miles away. You owe the police and the public an apology.

As an open statement to WAFF; You have a statutory responsibility to uphold community standards and be an asset to the community where you are allowed to operate. Reporting that spins police doing their jobs as bad guys is despicable and even anti-social. Their jobs are hard enough. To take a quote from someone in distress and headline it is cheap and smacks of clickbait. To just give a passing mention to the ordinance, while otherwise being patronizing with repeated "turn around, don't drown" drivel shows a spinning moral compass with no true guidance. You also owe the public an apology.

[writerwife]

A news outlet taking a side???!!! Showing bias??!! Hang on while I muster my shocked look.....

[dijkstra]

Pit bull loose roaming the neighborhood with kids around = dead pitbull. That is how I feel about it. She is lucky someone called the police and let them handle it rather than one of the neighbors solving the problem themselves.

As for channel 48 and their click baiting, ratings chasing headline and poor reporting....it is business as usual for them. This sort of slanted reporting and agenda pushing is exactly why I quit watching the so called "news" about 10 years or so ago. Every single event that I have ever had personal first hand knowledge of that has made it on the local news the reporters have screwed all up by the time it made it to tv. Usually they are trying to put spin on the story to make it more dramatic to capture viewers. Everyone needs to realize they are not watching factual news when they tune in but instead are watching dramatized or slanted versions of them.

What can you say about it though? The current trend in the "news" media is to find any and every story involving a minority and spin it to sound like something was racially motivated. They are really doing minorities a disservice in my opinion because from my point of view race relations have taken a huge step backwards over the past 5 to 8 years.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

Pit bull loose roaming the neighborhood with kids around = dead pitbull. That is how I feel about it. She is lucky someone called the police and let them handle it rather than one of the neighbors solving the problem themselves.

As for channel 48 and their click baiting, ratings chasing headline and poor reporting....it is business as usual for them. This sort of slanted reporting and agenda pushing is exactly why I quit watching the so called "news" about 10 years or so ago. Every single event that I have ever had personal first hand knowledge of that has made it on the local news the reporters have screwed all up by the time it made it to tv. Usually they are trying to put spin on the story to make it more dramatic to capture viewers. Everyone needs to realize they are not watching factual news when they tune in but instead are watching dramatized or slanted versions of them.

What can you say about it though? The current trend in the "news" media is to find any and every story involving a minority and spin it to sound like something was racially motivated. They are really doing minorities a disservice in my opinion because from my point of view race relations have taken a huge step backwards over the past 5 to 8 years.

That's for sure. And it's not just the local media.

[harry chickpea]

"What can you say about it though? The current trend in the "news" media is to find any and every story involving a minority and spin it to sound like something was racially motivated. They are really doing minorities a disservice in my opinion because from my point of view race relations have taken a huge step backwards over the past 5 to 8 years."

IIRC, Raycom was sold to a national media company. The bias of Raycom owners should not follow. What you can do is lodge a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. It is pretty easy, I've had to do it before against a telcom company (I won).

Biased coverage with the intent of sowing racial discord is NOT going to be taken lightly. I've no problem with legit racial or minority suppression issues being given full exposure, and I suspect that most people feel a sense of fairness. This is one of those subtle cases with deniability, but effects that any reasonable person on the omnibus could expect.

For me, the bottom line is that I could give a rodent's derriere if the pet owner was white, green, red, black,or fuscia, or the pet was a dog, lion, bear, or catfish. If you own or take responsibility a pet, you have an obligation to take care of it. Period, end of story. That an individual pet owner, failing in that responsibility, in a state of shock and grief, gets overly emotional and blames others is human. RESPONSIBLE media doesn't capitalize on that or attempt to spin a larger story out of it.

Citizens do not have to put up with biased and untrue and unfair coverage of news. We have the clear ways of stating so to those who can stop it.

[who_knows_42]

Don’t own a vicious dog like a pit bull.
Know where your dog is.
Keep it on a leash.
Dog won’t get shot.

Had the police been there and this dog bit a child the nation would be up in arms. Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.

[Nlambert]

Originally Posted by who_knows_42

Don’t own a vicious dog like a pit bull.
Know where your dog is.
Keep it on a leash.
Dog won’t get shot.

Had the police been there and this dog bit a child the nation would be up in arms. Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.

Pit bulls are not always vicious by nature. They learn that behavior. This is yet again a bias that the media has fed people because of neglectful owners.

My 8 year old son has a Blue Pit. He's a big baby. Despite that, we are extra careful with him to make sure he can't get out because (along with our other dogs) there is always a risk that a dog could bite and that responsibility would fall on us.

If my dogs were to get out and harm someone else, that falls on me as the owner and is not the fault of the police or whomever puts it down.

[dijkstra]

Originally Posted by Nlambert

Pit bulls are not always vicious by nature. They learn that behavior. This is yet again a bias that the media has fed people because of neglectful owners.

My 8 year old son has a Blue Pit. He's a big baby. Despite that, we are extra careful with him to make sure he can't get out because (along with our other dogs) there is always a risk that a dog could bite and that responsibility would fall on us.

If my dogs were to get out and harm someone else, that falls on me as the owner and is not the fault of the police or whomever puts it down.

It isn't that they are viscious. Pit Bulls have a natural instinct that kicks in when they fell threatened or they believe their masters are in danger or someone/something has invaded their territory. They don't "learn that behavior," it is instinct that comes with the breed. I know because I had one and know others that have had them and they have a very strong protective instinct that can be triggered, sometimes without warrant. You also never know how they might react to something or someone when you are not present.



People don't believe these things of pit bulls for the heck of it. Pit bulls earn their reputation because they are one of the few breeds that have such an aggressive instinct that can be so easily triggered at times. The worst part is it can happen unexpectedly by something as seemingly insignificant like a 4 year old reaching for a tennis ball next to the family pit bull. You just never know.



So when I hear someone talking about how their pit bull is a big baby and would never attack someone, I say pfffft. The hell they won't. lol Just hope a kid is never around and somehow flips the pit bulls switch because people are now beginning to be prosecuted for pit bulls attacking people, especially kids.

[harry chickpea]

There is a lot of denial about pits and other dogs, and a lot of under-education about animals in general. Some of this stuff used to be obvious, as people were much closer to agriculture and the country.

People have bred animals over generations to encourage certain characteristics and reduce others. Any educated dog lover will tell you that Australian Shepherds NEED a job to be happy, that they are too smart to just lie around a house. Huskies LOVE cold weather and have been bred to enjoy the pack experience of pulling a sled. Blue Heelers will nip at passing ankles. Terriers tend to be nippy and sometimes ill tempered as well.

Look in a pet store and you will see some of the most beautiful fish are in individual little cups. That is because they tear each other apart if housed together. Ask a farmer about which breeds of cattle are more docile and which are more dangerous, and get an education. Hang around a Siamese cat and be prepared for constant vocalizations. Rag Doll cats go limp when held.

Pit bulls were originally bred for brutal dog fighting in a dog pit. Their characteristics were purposely chosen, and breeders worked to enhance the aggression. It is possible to - over time - breed out some of those characteristics, and individual dogs may not run true to breed, but to deny the reality of breeds is a dangerous form of Pollyanna thinking. Those who have pits and love them may have experiences that are wonderful, but there is a larger element of chance that the pet will aggress than many other breeds.

Bringing it back on topic, news media is supposed to educate. To not do so, so as not to offend, doesn't fly with me.

[writerwife]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

Bringing it back on topic, news media is supposed to educate. To not do so, so as not to offend, doesn't fly with me.

The news media is supposed to report the news. Not put spin, not put opinion, nor to educate in my opinion. They are not educators. They are supposed to be reporters. Most are now commentators.