Dear Ms. Hammerstrom,
Your paper's website doesn't include an email address for you, so I'm sending this to its editorial department to forward to you, as well as for their cognizance.
I'm writing in response to your July 9 story in The Monitor titled "TARGETING A NEED" because it makes some remarkable, and frankly, unbelievable claims.
You say golfers at Tierra Santa golf course in Weslaco are subjected to "bullets zinging overhead," and give credence to the assertion that "residents living nearby would probably appreciate if the bullets could go somewhere else."
Is this true? Is a gun range operated so dangerously and incompetently that the public is exposed to potentially lethal gunfire, and no one is doing anything to stop it? How could a fair reading of your carefully chosen and edited words conclude otherwise?
That seems to be quite a story you have stumbled on to. It's baffling why your biggest concern seems to be some golfers' games being off at the 6th hole due to noise.
Questions I would be interested in seeing you follow up on:
How much expended ammunition has been recovered off the gun range property?
Have any homes or other property been hit?
With "bullets zinging overhead," have police reports been made?
What do the police have to say about such obviously hazardous conditions endangering lives and property?
Has anyone appealed to a court to shut the range down? If not, why not?
Or, Ms. Hammerstrom, is it more likely that this is not a straight news story at all, but intentional hyperbole designed to shape public attitudes by implying a danger that does not exist?
If that's the case, do you think you are rigorously upholding the canons of journalism, or have you given that up and embraced the role of an agenda-driven propagandist?
Let me save you the time of doing further research, Ms. Hammerstrom--I have done it for you, from my armchair in Southern California, and it took me a matter of mere minutes.
Since your story was datelined in Edinburg, I called their police department. The lady I spoke with had heard nothing about "bullets zinging overhead" at a local golf course, but said I would need to check with the Weslaco police and gave me their number. I called there and spoke to another lady in charge of records and asked her if there was anyone I could speak with on the record about the matter. She gave me the name of her lieutenant and took down my number for him to get back to me. She also volunteered that if something like that had happened, she thought she would have heard about it--and hadn't.
A few hours later, I got a return call from Lt. Raul Vallejo, who informed me that when he heard about my inquiry, he personally went out to the area to see if he could find anything out about it. I explained who I was and why I was checking out your claims and his for the record response was:
"I have not received complaints of that nature and would fully investigate anything that was brought before me like that."
Lt. Vallejo seemed like a real and genuine person, easy to talk with, and honest and forthright in his answers. You would have enjoyed speaking with him, Ms. Hammerstrom, assuming you were interested in giving your assertions a reality check.
Isn't it curious that a professional reporter, backed by the resources of a professional newsgathering organization, would make such outrageous and misleading claims and present them to the public as factual? Especially when divining the truth of the matter is almost effortless, assuming that is what one seeks? Do you attribute your false claims to carelessness, Ms. Hammerstrom, or to something more deliberate?
To your editors, I would ask if this is representative of the quality of reporting we can expect from The Monitor and its sister publications at Freedom Communications, Inc.?
In any event, I'll be monitoring The Monitor, Ms. Hammerstrom, as well as sister publications where your story has appeared, to see if a deserved correction to their readers is forthcoming. And while I hold no illusions about professional sanctions for work that can only be described as either negligent or deceptive, perhaps this will give your editors pause to scrutinize your submissions a little more closely in the future.
9 comments:
That was KICK ASS!
Please advise if you get ANY response?
It should be noted that although her email address is not stated this item is at the bottom of the article.
"Cari Hammerstrom covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4424."
I suppose giving her a ring is not out of the question.
Outstanding!
The best read I've had in days. Sadly I'm fairly certain we'll get no closure on this.
"Hyperbole" reporter here.
First of all, let me say that none of this is the opinion of The Monitor, my employer. It is my personal rebuttal, because I don't like my credibility to be attacked.
Today, I got a call from a Denny Church, (sp?), inquiring about the article I wrote that appeared in Saturday's edition of The Monitor.
He referred me to this website.
I've read your attack on my credentials and have this to say.
According to the golf pro at Tierra Santa, he and fellow golfers have heard the distinctive zinging of bullets going over their heads.
My own co-workers and husband, which of course I did not interview for this article, too, have heard bullets zinging over their heads at this golf course. It was told to me by the golf pro that these bullets came from a range to the north of the course. He never said whether he had found bullets anywhere on the course.
It could be possible that this person was mistaken and doesn't know which direction the sun comes up. According to Lt. Raul Vallejo of the Weslaco Police Department, there is another range west of the course where "uncontolled" shooting goes on. The bullets may have come from there.
The northern range is property of the Weslaco police department; however, I did not know this at the time at I wrote the article.
Vallejo (the firearms instructor) informed me that, yes, you are correct, no complaints have been filed. However, does a formal complaint necessarily need to be filed for an action to have actually happened? I think not.
"Nobody's out there shooting willy nilly," Vallejo said. No citizens are shooting at the range. He told me the range points due west, and yet, the course is to the south. Highly improbable that the bullet came from the police department's range, yes. But could it happen. Sure. Or, like I said, the golf pro didn't know which range the bullets zinged from, or worse yet, he may have lied because he doesn't like guns.
Who knows?
But he said he heard bullets going over his head and it bothers him and his clients. A worthy point to consider when trying to highlight the need for an indoor range.
You obviously missed the point of the article, which was obvious by the headline, "Targeting a need."
Law enforcement officers would like an indoor range to shoot at. People, or at least golfers, would prefer if law enforcement and anybody who shoots go inside and do it. This new shooting range is obviously wanted by some. (If you still want to shoot outside, fine.)
This account of one golfer's ire was merely a way of illustrating that. And the "bang, bang...bang, bang, bang!" was a way of putting the reader in a golfer's shoes. An "overanalyzing" golfer at that.
Don't point out bias where it does not exist.
You simply chose to read my article a certain way. I'm sure others got the point.
Just so you know, my husband owns a gun. I like guns. I have two shotgun shells and a bullet casing sitting on my desk, from the times I shot with law enforcement. (I've gone through McAllen Police Citizen's Academy and the Border Patrol Citizen's Academy)
I also recently went skeet shooting for the first time and blasted that clay right out of the sky on my first try. What a feeling!
So, no, this was not some liberal media attack on the right to bear arms. This article simply pointed out the need for another indoor shooting range in Hidalgo County. Thank you very much.
Respectfully,
Cari Hammerstrom
I've never had one go over(that I know of), what does a bullet 'zinging' over sound like?
Firehand,
... what does a bullet 'zinging' over sound like?
Perhaps ... "zing"? I don't know either and I have had bullets go over my head as the result of a shooter who did not know I was below him. All I saw was the dirt flying and knew he was behind me. We had some words on etiquette and parted friends.
I believe what the golfers are hearing are ghost shots. They hear the shots fired, and then they believe they hear the bullets over head. They sound like zings because thats what they heard in Band of Brothers and similar movies. The bullets never leave the range. The monitor and its sister papers in the valley are very left wing and tend to be anti gun. And yes I have been in a situations where shots have been fired both by me and at me
Oh yeah, and one more point of contention, where do these golfers get off naming a course Tierra Santa (Holy Land) as a Catholic Gentleman and Knight I find this offesnive.
Having had slugs pass hither and yon past my body (and into), I can testify they don't "zing." If you've been sniped, and it is otherwise quiet, you will hear a whistle when they get a smidge close. The 'zing thing' is the upper frequencies of the "report" echoeing off various objects. Oft times, I think the lower frequencies die out whilst the "zing" sound carries a bit farther as it echoes.
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