Virginia – -(Ammoland.com)- “Creative” editing by Katie Couric, who must have graduated from the Joseph Goebbels School of Journalism, has intentionally and significantly changed the response of Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) members in a new video called “Under the Gun” – and I have PROOF.
VCDL APPROACHED TO BE PART OF A “DOCUMENTARY”
I received an email in March of 2015 from Kristin Lazure, a producer for Atlas Films, asking if VCDL would be part of “a documentary about the gun violence prevention movement in America.”
In the email, Kristin said, “Some of the storylines we’re exploring include the legislative process on the federal and state level, how the Second Amendment has been interpreted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Heller ruling, and what impact mass shootings like Aurora and Sandy Hook have on gun reform legislation.”
She continued, “In order to fully understand the complexities of this hot button topic and speak to an audience with varied viewpoints, Ms. Couric is very eager to include all perspectives in this discussion.”
As is VCDL’s general policy with the media, we do our best to accommodate their requests, as it gives us a chance to get our message out to the public. It is a policy that has worked well for as long as VCDL has been around, with the exception of four times, and this was to be one of those exceptions.
Katie’s team was set up to film in Washington, DC, and Kristin wanted to know if I could come there for the interview. I said that I would not come to DC, so they rented a conference room in a hotel in Northern Virginia and brought down their crew for what ended up being a two hour interview with Katie on April 13, 2015. (The audio of the raw interview is below).
Later, Dennis O’Connor and I took Katie and her crew to Blue Ridge Arsenal to film Katie learning how to shoot on May 11, 2015. While there, she also interviewed Dennis.
GROUP INTERVIEW
Later, Kristin contacted me about arranging an interview of a group of VCDL members.
The group interview was held in the room where VCDL meetings are held and ended just as VCDL members were coming in for the regularly scheduled Annandale membership meeting on June 18, 2015.
Participating in the group session were Ed Levine, Patricia Webb, Terrell Prude’, Dan Hawes, Leonard Harris, John Wilburn, Rubiner Toor, Barak Ulrich James, and Judy Rudek.
THE “DOCUMENTARY” TURNS OUT TO BE AN “INFOMERCIAL” FOR GUN CONTROL
While the movie claims to be a documentary, it’s clear after watching it that it was never intended to be a balanced presentation of the issues.
People from other gun groups were also interviewed, but in the end the video dedicated a mere fifteen minutes or so to the pro-self-defense side (of which VCDL had only about four minutes), while giving an hour and a half to the antis.
CREATIVE EDITING BY KATIE COURIC CHANGES THE VCDL GROUP’S ANSWER TO A KEY QUESTION
Katie apparently wasn’t getting anything from either the group or me that she could use to further her pro-gun-control arguments. In fact my entire two-hour interview was left on the cutting room floor, but some of the group interview made it into the final film.
However, one of the question/answer responses was altered – and therein lies the problem.
Watching the video, you hear Katie ask, “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorist from walking into, say, a licensed gun dealer and purchasing a gun?” The camera then shows the group members TOTALLY SILENT FOR EIGHT SECONDS. The camera zooms in on one member, who looks down.
The clear implication is that none of the group had an answer for that question and was being evasive and avoiding eye contact.
The truth is, and as you will hear in the audio, below, that the group responded to Katie immediately, with answers to her question! Yet the video shows no one responding. Clearly, when Katie didn’t get the answer(s) she wanted, she changed the group’s answers by replacing them with other video of the group sitting around quietly between questions.
Unbelievable. And extremely unprofessional. In essence Katie lied about the VCDL members’ answers. If she so cavalierly lied in this instance, what other things did she alter in this movie or any of her previous reporting to advance her own personal agendas?
While I am used to our side being given less time in the press than the antis are given, I’m not used to having our words changed. That is a big journalistic “no no.”
Back in 1993, Dateline faked an accidental explosion of a truck to show that model truck was dangerous if involved in a collision. Dateline couldn’t actually create an explosion by crashing vehicles into the truck, so they ultimately, and shamefully, planted incendiary devices on the truck to force it to blow up.
What Katie did is similar.
Speaking of cheerleading for gun control, at the end of the infomercial the names of eight anti-self-defense groups that participated in the project are prominently listed under the title of “Join Those Already Making a Difference,” with viewers encouraged to contact them for more information. Not one single pro-self-defense group, including VCDL, is listed as a source of information.
The audio of the full group interview is here, skip to the 36 minute and 43 second mark to hear the question on felons and the answers the group provided. There is no silence, but Katie needed something to show gun owners are unreasonable in their opposition to universal background checks, so she provided eight seconds of silence for us:
Feel free to listen to the entire interview. I think the group did a phenomenal job defending our gun rights and that’s why the group doesn’t appear in the infomercial but for a few minutes, with a key part edited to serve a gun-control agenda.
You can watch Katie Curic’s gun control infomercial for free at: https://www.epix.com/movie/under-the-gun/
(The Epix web site for the movie says “with a narration from renowned journalist Katie Couric”. Renowned for what? Lying?)
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As an FYI, my full interview (raw) can be heard here:
About Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL):
Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
For more information, visit: www.vcdl.org.
OK, although I tend to agree with the cunning runt remark, the FIRST Amendment has to do with the press. The SECOND Amendment has to do with guns. This says volumes about what the framers thought was more important.
Can’t pick & choose which right to support.
Everyone knows of someone who did not exercise the second amendment responsibly; obviously there are those that don’t exercise the First Amendment responsibly either… probably like most of them.
Hey B-Boy, “GFYS”
Why does katie couric fly to Epstein kiddie sex island? She is thoroughly disgusting and I hop I never see her picture or printed words again.
Katie curic should hide her face in shame and never be given even an ounce of credibility. She has made trips to Epstein’s kiddie sex island and I find that to be disgusting. It is not surprising that someone as disgusting as her would try to destroy our Second Amendment Rights because she is going to try to eliminate everything which is good for us and the country because that is obviously what she is about. Hopefully I will never seen her ugly picture or a printed word of what she has to say ever again.
Tex, don’t worry ( I know you’re not) If Spankmeister gets there you will have no less than 50 Navy SEALS, my BUDS and Blood Brothers, at your disposal. B better have an Army of 1,000 or more, to infiltrate your premises! Of that, I assure you! I’m just gonna ignore that Dunce B. If you knew, what I know about B you’d would have a good laugh! Take care and Be well. Josey
Hola from INSIDE the B-man’s hard drive ……coming to you live from Washurass North Dakata! Wow B nice pictures in here you Commie Spankmeister! Wow. He really is a dunce! I could show the world what a freak you are but good Lord I’d almost feel sorry for you! To all REGULARS ignore B!!! After seeing all this here, just ignore this Pigdog! He’s mild to moderately “behind” us adults. LOL. B please crawl back under you’re rock! I FOUGHT for this country and watched my buddies die for you! JUST GO BACK TO YOUR ROCK AND LEAVE PEOPLE THAT… Read more »
Some of us are old enough to remember the lying CBS “Guns of Autumn” piece supposedly about hunting.
I’m so tired of the lying media and their agenda to help and carry this administration, we need to get control back and make these people pay for what they have done to conservatives like myself.
I haven’t read ALL of the comments, but why didn’t anyone in the interview bring up that to stop criminals, is to actually PREVENT them from becoming criminals to begin with?! PARENTS are responsible for their child’s upbringing! SCHOOLS are responsible in large part in a child’s upbringing…. When parents step up, and HELP their own children, and teach their children to be good, respectable adults, then crime might just slow down a bit! And man, just for the record, Katie sure is one dumb, blind Bitch, isn’t she? GEEZ!!!! She got mad when they talked about the mass stabbing… Read more »
Thanks, TEX!