Eric Pfeiffer of YahooNews, how can he get a story so factually wrong?

Question

Eric Pfeiffer of yahoo news wrote the following blog

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/shotgun-wedding-buy-engagement-ring-free-gun-184529691.html

Now, we'll for the moment set aside the fact that of all the Remington 870 models that could have been posted Mr Pfeiffer chose one that many people would think looks more 'scary' and 'military' than 'hunting'.

Eric Pfeiffer starts out his article with a picture of a Remington 870 shotgun and states as much in the caption.  He then goes on to call the shotgun a rifle twice in a row.  

A shotgun is a shotgun
A rifle is a rifle
A rifle is not a shotgun
A shotgun is not a rifle.

Come on! how about some basic fact checking.  That's like calling a horse a cow.

Second, Eric mentions that Iowa is a 'Shall Issue' state.  This has nothing to do with buying a shotgun.  'Shall Issue' refers to the fact that in Iowa if you want to carry a concealed handgun you need a permit, and the Sheriff can no longer deny anyone a permit unless the Sheriff has a good reason.  (In the past Sheriffs have denied permits to people based on race and religion, or because the person didn't donate to the Sheriff's re-election campaign)

Yahoo News should be changed to Yahoo Spouting Off Uninformed Drivel if they continue to be associated with this nutball.

Does Yahoo care nothing for facts and journalism in their news department?

Mushu · Accepted Answer

He just writes what they tell him to write, and he does it badly. His articles are rife with grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors. Yahoo news isn't news at all. It's crap.

Grinch · Answer

'Does Yahoo care nothing for facts and journalism in their news department?' ...

Yahoo! employs Chris Chase ... 'nuff said?

You are obviously knowledgeable about firearms.  MOST of us are not.  Some of us could look at a gun and determine whether that weapon was a handgun or ... NOT a handgun ... but my guess is that not many of us know the difference between a shotgun and a rifle.  I know that handguns are for killing people.  And that other guns are for ... maybe killing people, too ... but maybe for other stuff.

I get similarly twerked when some journalist refers to a 'Labradoodle' or 'Chiweenie' as a dog BREED.  Because it ISN'T.  It's 'Uninformed Drivel' at its finest.

I don't think Yahoo! is all that diligent on fact-checking before publishing.  I've found SO many errors in Yahoo! News articles.

What, actually, IS a shotgun?  How does it differ from a rifle?  I know that a rifle can be modified and highly-specialized for a particular purpose, and that a 'shotgun' is typically referred to as that gun kept behind the door for the purpose of deterring intruders and maybe threatening/intimidating one's daughter's boyfriend ... but beyond that ...?

Trending News

Eric Pfeiffer of YahooNews, how can he get a story so factually wrong?

2 Answers