Two Ohio newspapers violate privacy of county CHL-holders

In the past two days, the Warren Tribune Chronicle (Trumbull Co.) and Elyria Chronicle-Telegram (Lorain Co.) have begun punishing the citizens of their respective counties as a means of protesting Ohio's new concealed carry law.

Both news outlets, known for a history of publishing vehemently anti-concealed carry editorials, published the names of every person who has been issued a CHL in the county.

This is a clear case of the journalistic class forgetting their duty to the people in favor of putting forward their own biases. In other words, these two papers have abandoned honor and abused their privileged position. While this may not sound like a big deal at first, it's significant because rarely have people in their position been willing to display their biases blatantly. Their power and influence derives from the perception of integrity -- that is, the idea that a journalist makes an effort to sort out the facts from the opinions and to responsibly present the major points of view.

When that respect is lost, so is the power. The media in general has already lost the trust of the people, who generally perceive the bias more clearly than they are given credit for. As their influence wanes, the media pundits -- like the editorial board of these papers -- will be driven to become even more shrill in attempting to force through their policies; all the while their readers will be slowly seeking alternatives sources of news.

That's the Internet, folks. It destroys the media influence block by providing alternative sources for information -- allowing people to doubt the accounts fed to them, and seek out better sources for themselves.