Jordan Candler · Jan. 24, 2017
The editors at USA Today were caught disseminating a pejorative headline that readers, assuming they actually clicked through for the story, could determine almost immediately was fake news. The piece was about a weekend shooting at a Texas mall, including the actions of a good guy with a gun. But that’s not the impression USA Today gave. Nor was it accidental.
The front-page headline incredulously declared, “Shopper who shot suspect did not have carry permit.” Once you clicked through for the details, the editors offered a slightly different, albeit still misleading, version: “Texas mall: Shopper who shot suspect not allowed to carry.” All but a few “constitutional carry” states require gun owners to obtain a license to pack heat outside the home. And the USA Today headline gives the impression said shopper was not legally sanctioned by the state to carry a firearm in public. Except that’s not true at all.