The Denver Post Explains Their Edit

As you know, a classmate described the Arapahoe shooter as "a very opinionated Socialist."

Well that won't do. That won't do at all.

So the Denver Post edits this to say the boy was "very opinionated."

Now they explain the reason for cutting "Socialist" out of his description. You see, the student who described him that way probably didn't even understand (the wonders of) Socialism.

And yet they left in a statement that he was a Keynesian, deep into the article.

Here's how the Denver Post begins its article:

The teenage gunman who entered Arapahoe High School on Friday afternoon and shot two fellow students with a shotgun was outspoken about politics, was a gifted debater and might have been bullied for his beliefs, according to students who knew him.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson identified the gunman as Karl Pierson, an 18-year-old student.

"He had very strong beliefs about gun laws and stuff," said junior Abbey Skoda, who was in a class with Pierson during her freshman year. "I also heard he was bullied a lot."

You might imagine -- as the Denver Post would clearly like you to imagine -- that the boy's "very strong beliefs about gun laws and stuff" located him on the right. The average Low Information Voter, after all, would assume a school shooter's views on "gun laws and stuff" were pro-gun.

This is deliberately misleading. He was in fact a bitter opponent of gun rights (ironically, or maybe not so ironically, enough):

Pierson also appears to mock Republicans on another Facebook post, writing "you republicans are so cute" and posting an image that reads: "The Republican Party: Health Care: Let 'em Die, Climate Change: Let 'em Die, Gun Violence: Let 'em Die, Women's Rights: Let 'em Die, More War: Let 'em Die. Is this really the side you want to be on?"

The Denver Post reported that deeper in the article. If it was clear that he was anti-gun rights -- as it is clear -- why leave it vague in the important opening paragraphs of the article?

That makes their deletion of the Socialist descriptor all the more suspicious.

They will imply he's on the right while deliberately editing out facts placing him on the hard left.

posted by Ace at 05:32 PM

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