memeorandum: The media should be ashamed of its Connecticut coverage (The Week)

4:05 PM ET, December 16, 2012

Top Items:

The media should be ashamed of its Connecticut coverage — What journalistic rationale could compel a reporter to interview young children at a mass-murder scene? — I — t's time to have a national conversation... about the media. — But first, let's recount how they've blown …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP lawmaker wishes Sandy Hook principal was armed with assault rifle — Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican from Texas, says he wishes Dawn Hochsprung, the principal of the Sandy Hook Elementary School, was armed with an M-4 assault rifle when she confronted Adam Lanza, the shooter who killed 20 children.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and Prairie Weather

Chris Wallace / Fox News:

Connecticut school shooting reignites gun control debate — Special Guests: Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas — This is a rush transcript from “Fox News Sunday,” December 16, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

Discussion: Althouse and Right Turn

Garry Wills / New York Review of Books:

Our Moloch — Few crimes are more harshly forbidden in the Old Testament than sacrifice to the god Moloch (for which see Leviticus 18.21, 20.1-5). The sacrifice referred to was of living children consumed in the fires of offering to Moloch. Ever since then, worship of Moloch has been the sign of a deeply degraded culture.

Discussion: Firedoglake, New York Times, Connecting.the.Dots, Wonkblog, Outside the Beltway, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balloon Juice, News Desk, WorldViews and CNN

Dave Jamieson / The Huffington Post:

Louie Gohmert Says More Guns Are Answer To Preventing Mass Killings … FOLLOW: — Gun Control, Louie Gohmert, Assault Weapons Ban, Guns, Mass Shootings, Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting, Politics News — (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) — WASHINGTON — In the wake …

Discussion: Truthdig, AMERICAblog and The Fix

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
Democratic Senator Will Introduce New Assault Weapons Ban In January

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Durbin: Assault weapons ban more likely in wake of Newtown school shootings

Discussion: Politico

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Texas congressman: Principal should have been armed for self-defense

Discussion: Politico

James Poniewozik / TIME:
Kids at Tragedies: Turn Off the Cameras

Discussion: Mediaite

Politico:
Schumer, Feinstein push changes on gun laws

Discussion: Washington Monthly

New York Times:
Killer's Mother, His First Victim, Was a Gun Enthusiast, Friends Say

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Gothamist, Mediaite, U.S. News, New Jersey Online, Capital New York, American Power, Washington Post, Daily Mail, Guardian, Telegraph, The Democratic Daily, New York Post, The Other McCain, Associated Press, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and The Daily Caller

Hartford Courant:
Mourners Flood Sandy Hook; Obama To Meet With Victims' Families

Discussion: Examiner, Wake up America, Daily Mail, BuzzFeed, WUTC, Poynter and TheBlaze.com, more at Mediagazer »

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
The Sandy Hook Murders: What To Do?

Discussion: TBogg, Little Green Footballs and No More Mister Nice Blog

The Anarchist Soccer Mom:

Thinking the Unthinkable — In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it's easy to talk about guns. But it's time to talk about mental illness. — Three days before 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners …

Discussion: Wake up America, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, The Agonist and FIRST DRAFT

Liza Long / Gawker:
I Am Adam Lanza's Mother

Discussion: Feministe and Mashable!

Associated Press:

IND. MAN WITH 47 GUNS ARRESTED AFTER SCHOOL THREAT — CEDAR LAKE, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana man who allegedly threatened to “kill as many people as he could” at an elementary school near his home was arrested by officers who later found 47 guns and ammunition hidden throughout his home.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, The Hinterland Gazette, Balloon Juice, Gawker and The Raw Story

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:

Every Single Pro-Gun Rights Senator Declined To Appear On Meet The Press Today — In the wake of the Newtown, CT shooting, all of the Sunday shows are dominated by gun control politics. — Meet The Press producer Betsy Fischer Martin tweets the following... Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Hinterland Gazette and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

David Lauter / Los Angeles Times:

Three lessons from the near-final popular vote — Here's what the near-final tally reveals: — The election really wasn't close. — On election night, President Obama's victory margin seemed fairly narrow - just slightly more than 2 percentage points.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and PoliticusUSA

People.com:

Connecticut Shooting: Hero Teacher Died Saving Students — Out of the chaos and horror emerged an incredible act of selflessness and bravery by one teacher who spent her final moments trying to protect her young students from harm. — Victoria Soto, 27, a first-grade teacher …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and Israel Matzav

Jonathan Allen / Politico:

After Connecticut school shooting, Washington quiet on gun control — They've watched mass shootings of college kids and schoolchildren, issued countless statements of sympathy, and lived through a colleague taking a bullet to the brain, but Friday's rampage in Newtown, Conn. …

Discussion: CNN, The Moderate Voice and Reuters

Ashley Killough / CNN:
Connecticut governor wants tougher federal laws

Discussion: This Just In and Business Insider

James Barron / New York Times:
Children at School Were All Shot Multiple Times

Discussion: IHT Rendezvous, Xinhua News Agency, Daily Kos, U.S. News, The Reaction, The Caucus, Weasel Zippers, Balloon Juice and Associated Press

Politico:

Fiscal cliff talks: Speaker John Boehner pitches millionaire tax hike — Speaker John Boehner has proposed allowing tax rates to rise for the wealthiest Americans if President Barack Obama agrees to major entitlement cuts, according to several sources close to the talks.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, Business Insider, CNN and This Just In

Jim Kuhnhenn / Associated Press:
AP SOURCE: BOEHNER OFFERS MILLIONAIRE TAX HIKE

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Reuters, The Lonely Conservative and americanthinker.com

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

MSNBC Guest: If CT Mass Shooter Was Not White, Public Debate Would Be ‘Much Uglier’ — David Sirota, a columnist for Salon.com, appeared on Up with Chris Hayes on Sunday for a discussion about the possible policy recommendations that could be adopted in the wake of the mass shooting …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Reuters:

Egyptians narrowly back constitution, say rival camps — (Reuters) - Egyptians voted narrowly in favor of a constitution shaped by Islamists but opposed by other groups who fear it will divide the Arab world's biggest nation, officials in rival camps said on Sunday after the first round of a two-stage referendum.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Via Meadia, Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs and Jihad Watch

Susan Heavey / Reuters:

Users should not be targeted in states that legalized pot: Obama — (Reuters) - President Barack Obama says federal authorities should not target recreational marijuana use in two Western states that voted to make it legal, given limited government resources and growing public acceptance of the controlled substance.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and Main Justice