Media Slant: I have no respect for "The Media"

Aaron Hernandez leased secret ‘flop house’ with boxes of ammo found by�police | SI Wire:

The evidence continues to mount against former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.
 After being charged with first-degree murder in June for the execution-style shooting of acquaintance Odin Lloyd, and subsequent findings of links to other shootings and incidents, the 23-year old Hernandez is now reported to have rented a secret “flop house,” a place typically reserved for minimal services such as storage.
SI Wire: Report Aaron Hernandez involved in domestic disturbance incident last year
According to a report Wednesday from the Associated Press, Hernandez, who is now one of 29 NFL players arrested since the Super Bowl, had reportedly leased a $1,200 per month apartment in Franklin, Mass., where state police found boxes of ammunition, a sweatshirt and a baseball cap, among other items.

I don't really know what the facts are behind this story.  I don't care for spectator sports (such as football) and certainly I don't pay much attention to sports stories.

But this story caught my eye, because of the way the media instinctively slants news stories to support their preconceived notions.

Primary in their first three paragraphs are the words "flop house" and "boxes of ammunition".

First ... a $1,200 apartment isn't a "flop house" to most of us.  I recognize that Hernandez (about whom I've never heard before this week, and I know absolutely nothing about .. what's his first name?) is probably making more money in a month than I make a year.  But $1200 a month isn't chump change to most of us.

The use of words to make a point is the definition of  'yellow journalism'.  The author is painting a picture which exists in his mind's eye.  It doesn't exist in mine.

Second, the use of the phrase "boxes of ammunition" is vague ...

• Five boxes of .45 ammunition (the caliber of the shells found on Lloyd’s body), five boxes of rifle ammunition, and one box of .22-caliber ammunition.

Let's interpret:

1.  ... five boxes of .45 (one assumes that's ".45 ACP") is at 50 rounds per box ...  250 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition.  I take that much ammunition to a single IPSC match, because the minimum round count at even a club match is ~130 rounds, and you never know if you're going to have to reshoot a stage or two.  For some people, that may constitute "an arsenal"; for others of us, it's the Minimum Daily Requirement for "A Day At The Range".
2.  ...  five boxes of rifle ammunition.  That's also the MDR for a day of varmint shooting. At 20 rounds per box, it's 100 rounds.  A bit more than I would usually carry for deer hunting, I admit.  But when you add in sight-in days at the range before the start of season, it's ample for the entire annual season if you want to be sure that all of your ammunition will perform at the same level of expectation.
3. ... one box of .22-caliber ammunition.  Again, that's at 50 rounds for box.  (NOTE: a "BRICK" is ten boxes, for a total of 500 rounds.  The article said "Box", not "Brick".) Generally speaking these rounds are appropriate for plinking, or small-size varmint hunting, or for target shooting.

Given the level of hype which The Media has apparently applied to this story, it's impossible to tell what the kid was planning to do  with this ammunition.  And  that's The Point.

The Point is that the news story presents the possession of less ammunition as "A Bad Thing" .. by strong inference, since it's the main issue of the story.

NOBODY has been convicted of a crime in court, as well as I can determine.

NOBODY has even charged with the egregious  attempt to overthrow the government with (at my best guess) 400 hundred rounds of mixed ammunition.   Somebody died in relation to this individual, the "Hernandez".

Here, the Media in the person of Sports Illustrated Wire has not-too-subtly insinuated that this individual must have had nefarious intent when he accumulated 400 rounds of ammunition in a "flop house" .. the inference is that he kept the ammo in a throw-away residence for the purpose of nefarious activity.  Yes, I know know I used the word "nefarious" twice;  that's the effect of the article in it's yellow-journalism phraseology.

I have no views on the Hernandez meme in terms of the presentation .. which is hypothetical at best, and misleading at worst.  As I said, I don't know the facts of the story and I don't much care.

What bothers me more (with apologies to Hernandez, if I seem to be ignoring the main point in HIS life story) is the careless use of inference that mere (legal) possession of (legal) ammunition somehow infers or implies guilt.

After all, if he was an "Honest Citizen", why would he need to own 'so much ammunition'. And why would he 'hide it' in a 'flop house'???

The answer is .. the man has broken no laws here.   IMPLYING that he has done so, or that the mere possession of ammunition suggests that he had nefarious intent, is entirely irresponsible for a publication which purports to be about sports; not about politics.

THAT, my friends, is the very definition of Yellow Journalism.

And it sucks.