A new “journalism startup” funded by anti-gun advocate Michael Bloomberg debuts this week promising to change the debate on guns in America — though the direction is a secret.
Called “The Trace,” the website will track news about guns in the nation, but not necessarily parallel Bloomberg’s pro gun-control views, according to insiders. “It is not anti-gun,” said one associate of the site.
In Washington, where the site will be unveiled at a preview party, some close to the startup said that backers will include Republicans and Democrats in a demonstration of its effort to promote “moderate” gun policy.
The invitation for the Tuesday night event, obtained by the Washington Examiner, reads: “Please join us for a preview of The Trace. The journalism startup dedicated to changing the conversation about guns in America.”
The National Rifle Association doesn’t buy it. “This project is yet another illustration of Bloomberg’s ego-driven zeal to control other Americans and diminish, not just their rights, but their access to reliable information about their rights,” its lobbying shop said.
The news site is headed by former New Republic story editor James Burnett. He didn’t respond to an email question about the project, one sign of the secrecy around it. His Twitter account describes him as “editorial director, a site to be named later.” But his Twitter handle gives it away: “TraceBurnett.”
The Examiner also was provided an email from a Texas reporter who has written on police shootings who described herself as “a freelance writer for The Trace, a soon-to-be-launched online news magazine about guns and gun rights.”
In the only story about The Trace, New York’s “Capital” said the site will be associated with Bloomberg’s anti-gun group “Everytown for Gun Safety.” The group draws attention to gun violence, builds protests against organizations and companies that don’t ban guns in stores, and promotes background checks.
While the associates wouldn’t provide details about what the site will cover or even the genesis of its name, “tracing” is a commonly used reference to how police track down the ownership of guns involved in violence.
BID TO GET 1,000 PREACHERS RUNNING FOR OFFICE HITS 200
That was fast.
An effort backed by several presidential candidates, including Sen. Ted Cruz, to convince 1,000 preachers to run for office has already hit its mark of 200.
More than 500, mostly pastors, have signed up for special political training offered in Oklahoma, South Carolina and Louisiana by evangelical political organizer David Lane and his American Renewal Project. Some 200 are ready to make the jump, Lane said, well ahead of the end-of-year target.
“Pastors are kicking the tires to determine if God is calling them to run for city council, county commissioner, school board, mayor or Congress in 2016,” said Lane of his “Issachar Training.”
The effort has the support of national politicians such as Cruz, who promoted the program in a letter that said in part, “It is my hope that you will hear God’s call on your life to restore American governance to its God-given purpose.”
TV NEWS DISTORTS WHITES AS CRIME VICTIMS, POLICE HEROES
Local TV crime coverage is in love with white America.
An in-depth study published in the authoritative journal Communication Research finds that whites are disproportionately portrayed as victims and shown as police heroes in TV newscasts.
The study from the University of Illinois reviewed five years of coverage in Los Angeles. The good news: African Americans are now portrayed accurately in news stories, based on actual police crime and hiring records.
Crime reports show that whites in LA account for 13 percent of all homicide victims, but made up 35 percent of the victim stories. And when it came to showing police on TV, 73 percent were white but they make up just 53 percent of local police agencies.
The study, provided to the Examiner, had bad news for the coverage of Latinos. They accounted for the highest victim rate in Los Angeles, but were portrayed as victims in only 10 percent of newscasts.
The study didn’t give a cause, other than to suggest that the media is behaving “like a sentry for the power structure within society.”
QUOTE
“This is not an educational campaign, this is not a protest campaign, this is a campaign to win.”
Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders on his uphill battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential primaries
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
