AP Hack Job on Barrett

I read over at Say Uncle that an AP reporter lied to gain access to Barrett Firearms so she could write a factually inaccurate politically motivated hatchet job. We are all surprised by this behavior, aren’t we? No? Damn. I guess the fine folks at AP have managed to spark a wee bit o' cynicism about their motives in the reading public.

Of course, I’ve noticed one aspect of this story before now. While there are some exceptions, notable by the extreme rarity, most journalists know nothing about military equipment. When they can’t even get the most basic details of weapon systems right, what makes anyone think the rest of the story is accurate? One might credibly begin to think that perhaps journalists don’t know anything about anything and just mindlessly parrot what they are told by others. They’re similar in many respects to education majors. Of course, both of my degrees actually required me to learn how to do things, so I can’t really relate.