45 F
Oxford

Rep. Gipson’s Quest For Truth Reflects Misunderstanding

State Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, has his toga in a knot because a Delta newspaper publisher offered his opinion — opinion — that Gipson, who chairs House Judiciary B, went too far in mixing religion and public policy.

On a Facebook page (Mississippi Responsible Journalism Initiative) he launched earlier this month, Gipson says the column by Ray Mosby of Rolling Fork’s Deer Creek Pilot, pushed him into action. Gipson said he will spearhead a quest enlisting citizens to expose journalists who fail to verify facts before publishing.
Last week, Gipson said 28,000 people, similarly fed up, had signed on. (Note: This figure is being repeated without verification.)
The back story is this:
As a committee chairman, Gipson sat on and thus killed legislation in February to add domestic abuse to grounds upon which a divorce decree could be issued.
It was the well-considered opinion of Gipson, an attorney, that sufficient provisions already exist in state law for couples to escape matrimony in abusive situations.
But he added something else:
“We need to have policies that strengthen marriage,” Gipson was quoted as saying. “If a person is abusive, they (sic) need to have a change in behavior and a change of heart.”
That, said Mosby, crossed the line between Gipson’s legislative duty to protect citizens and his other job, pastor of Gum Springs Baptist Church in Braxton.
“No woman who signs her name on a marriage license and then says, ‘I do,’ is factoring ice packs, stitches, broken bones and periodic fear for her life into that would-be eternal union of which Gibson is apparently so desirous,” wrote Mosby, one of the state’s most-awarded writers. He went on to describe spousal abuse as a pathology more than a choice, and while respecting Gipson’s view of marriage as sacred, said an abused spouse merits a legal escape should counseling fail.
As things turned out, the Legislature did adopt wording more sharply defining existing “cruel and inhuman” provisions in existing law. Too, the state’s largest newspaper, which had printed the column, provided space for Gipson to respond.
That wasn’t enough.
Gipson conceded a couple of journalists are OK, but the rest are reckless purveyors of lies and misinformation.
It reminded me of calls from angry readers when I was an editor. A frequent statement was, “Y’all ought to know all the facts before printing anything.” It was tempting, but not once was my response, “Friend, look at your newspaper. See those obituaries? Not one member of our staff has been to the funeral home to take the pulse of any of those people.”
The gist: Reporting news is not perfection. There are times journalists multi-source information, and there are times we parrot. For example, every media outlet everywhere reported President Trump’s statement that Trump Tower was bugged by President Obama and followed up with Obama’s denial. Do we know the truth? Absolutely not. We know the president said it happened and the former president said it didn’t.
Yet in his first citation of “fake news” in Mississippi, Gipson said journalists are lazy stinking liars because they failed to verify a statement by state Sen. Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, that federal inspectors had closed more than 100 state bridges as unsafe. The statement, as with Trump’s, was reported accurately. Later, it was reported that the feds said the actual number was 72 that should be completely or partially closed. (Gipson is reporting 57.)
Two points need to be made here. The first is that Gipson and his faithful need to appreciate and understand that news evolves day by day, hour by hour. Under Gipson’s prescription for the media, we would have waited until World War II was over before revealing that it was taking place.
Journalists seek truth, but often tell the best available version. To spout off that this state’s media is irresponsible and/or intentionally misleads readers or viewers reflects a basic misunderstanding. For one thing, the public’s trust that we will seek truth and provide it is the only thing that keeps us in
business.
Second, Mosby’s opinion and Gipson’s opinion are 100 percent protected by the First Amendment. To trigger a crusade about factual reporting due to a difference of opinion is, well, shallow.
There are lots of quotes from Thomas Jefferson about the media. Look them up. They show that as a person, he, like Gipson, believed reporters were malingerers and/or incompetents. But as a founder he believed this: You either have a free press, with all its foibles, or you don’t have a democracy.


Charlie Mitchell mugshot 2014Charlie Mitchell is a Mississippi journalist. Write to him at cmitchell43@yahoo.com.
Follow HottyToddy.com on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat @hottytoddynews. Like its Facebook page: If You Love Oxford and Ole Miss…

Most Popular

Recent Comments

scamasdscamith on News Watch Ole Miss
Frances Phillips on A Bigger, Better Student Union
Grace Hudditon on A Bigger, Better Student Union
Millie Johnston on A Bigger, Better Student Union
Binary options + Bitcoin = $ 1643 per week: https://8000-usd-per-day.blogspot.com.tr?b=46 on Beta Upsilon Chi: A Christian Brotherhood
Jay Mitchell on Reflections: The Square
Terry Wilcox SFCV USA RET on Oxford's Five Guys Announces Opening Date
Stephanie on Throwback Summer
organized religion is mans downfall on VP of Palmer Home Devotes Life to Finding Homes for Children
Paige Williams on Boyer: Best 10 Books of 2018
Keith mansel on Cleveland On Medgar Evans
Debbie Nader McManus on Cofield on Oxford — Lest We Forget
Bettye H. Galloway on Galloway: The Last of His Kind
Richard Burns on A William Faulkner Sighting
Bettye H. Galloway on Galloway: Faulkner's Small World
Bettye H Galloway on Galloway: Faulkner's Small World
Bettye H Galloway on Galloway: Faulkner's Small World
Bettye H. Galloway on Galloway: Faulkner's Small World
Ruby Begonia on Family Catching Rebel Fever
Greg Millar on The Hoka
Greg Millar on The Hoka
Greg Millar on The Hoka
Greg Millar on The Hoka
jeff the busy eater on Cooking With Kimme: Baked Brie
Travis Yarborough on Reflections: The Square
BAD TASTE IN MY MOUTH on Oxford is About to Receive a Sweet Treat
baby travel systems australia on Heaton: 8 Southern Ways to Heckle in SEC Baseball
Rajka Radenkovich on Eating Oxford: Restaurant Watch
Richard Burns on Reflections: The Square
Guillermo Perez Arguello on Mississippi Quote Of The Day
A Friend with a Heavy Heart on Remembering Dr. Stacy Davidson
Harold M. "Hal" Frost, Ph.D. on UM Physical Acoustics Research Center Turns 30
Educated Citizen on Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving
Debbie Crenshaw on Trump’s Tough Road Ahead
Treadway Strickland on Wicker Looks Ahead to New Congress
Tony Ryals on parking
Heather Lee Hitchcock on ‘Pray for Oxford’ by Shane Brown
Heather Lee Hitchcock on ‘Pray for Oxford’ by Shane Brown
Dr Donald and Priscilla Powell on Deadly Plane Crash Leaves Eleven Children Behind
Dr Donald and Priscilla Powell on Deadly Plane Crash Leaves Eleven Children Behind
C. Scott Fischer on I Stand With Coach Hugh Freeze
Sylvia Williams on I Stand With Coach Hugh Freeze
Will Patterson on I Stand With Coach Hugh Freeze
Rick Henderson on I Stand With Coach Hugh Freeze
George L Price on I Stand With Coach Hugh Freeze
on
Morgan Shands on Cleveland: On Ed Reed
Richard McGraw on Cleveland: On Cissye Gallagher
Branan Southerland on Gameday RV Parking at HottyToddy.com
Tom and Randa Baddley on Vassallo: Ole Miss Alum Finds His Niche
26 years and continuously learning on Ole Miss Puts History In Context With Plaque
a Paterson on Beyond Barton v. Barnett
Phil Higginbotham on ‘Unpublished’ by Shane Brown
Bettina Willie@www.yahoo.com.102Martinez St.Batesville,Ms.38606 on Bomb Threat: South Panola High School Evacuated This Morning
Anita M Fellenz, (Emilly Hoffman's CA grandmother on Ole Miss Spirit Groups Rank High in National Finals
Marilyn Moore Hughes on Vassallo: Ole Miss Alum Finds His Niche
Jaqundacotten@gmail williams on HottyToddy Hometown: Hollandale, Mississippi
Finney moore on Can Ole Miss Grow Too Big?
diane faulkner cawlley on Oxford’s Olden Days: Miss Annie’s Yard
Phil Higginbotham on ‘November 24’ by Shane Brown
Maralyn Bullion on Neely-Dorsey: Hog Killing Time
Beth Carr on A Letter To Mom
Becky on A Letter To Mom
Marilyn Tinnnin on A Letter To Mom
Roger ulmer on UM Takes Down State Flag
Chris Pool on UM Takes Down State Flag
TampaRebel on UM Takes Down State Flag
david smith on UM Takes Down State Flag
Boyd Harris on UM Takes Down State Flag
Jim (Herc @ UM) on Cleveland: Fall Vacations
Robert Hollingsworth on Rebels on the Road: Memphis Eateries
David McCullough on Shepard Leaves Ole Miss Football
Gayle G. Henry on Meet Your 2015 Miss Ole Miss
Guillermo F. Perez-Argüello on Neely-Dorsey: Elvis Presley’s Big Homecoming
Jennifer Mooneyham on ESPN: Ole Miss No. 1 in Nation
Wes McIngvale on Ole Miss Defeats Alabama
BARRY MCCAMMON on Ole Miss Defeats Alabama
Laughing out Loud on ESPN: Ole Miss No. 1 in Nation
Dr.Bill Priester on Cleveland: On Bob Priester
A woman who has no WHITE PRIVILEGE on Oxford Removes Mississippi Flag from City Property
A woman who has no WHITE PRIVILEGE on Oxford Removes Mississippi Flag from City Property
paulette holmes langbecker on Cofield on Oxford – Rising Ole Miss Rookie
Ruth Shipp Yarbrough on Cofield on Oxford — Lest We Forget
Karllen Smith on ‘Rilee’ by Shane Brown
Jean Baker Pinion on ‘The Cool Pad’ by Shane Brown
Janet Hollingsworth (Cavanaugh) on John Cofield on Oxford: A Beacon
Proud Mississippi Voter on Gunn Calls for Change in Mississippi Flag
Deloris Brown-Thompson on Bebe’s Letters: A WWII Love Story
Sue Ellen Parker Stubbs on Bebe’s Letters: A WWII Love Story
Tim Heaton on Heaton: Who is Southern?
Tim Heaton on Heaton: Who is Southern?
Karen fowler on Heaton: Who is Southern?
Don't Go to Law School on Four Legal Rebels Rising in the Real World
bernadette on Feeding the Blues
bernadette on Feeding the Blues
Joanne and Mark Wilkinson on Ron Vernon: a Fellowship of Music
Mary Ellen (Dring) Gamble on Ron Vernon: a Fellowship of Music
Cyndy Carroll on Filming it Up in Mississippi
Dottie Dewberry on Top 10 Secret Southern Sayings
Brother Everett Childers on ‘The Shack’ by Shane Brown
Mark McElreath on ‘The Shack’ by Shane Brown
Bill Wilkes, UM '57, '58, '63 on A Letter from Chancellor Dan Jones
Sandra Caffey Neal on Mississippi Has Proud Irish Heritage
Teresa Enyeart, and Terry Enyeat on Death of Ole Miss Grad, U.S. Vet Stuns Rebel Nation
P. D. Fyke on Wells: Steelhead Run
Johnny Neumann on Freeze Staying with Rebels
Maralyn Bullion on On Cooking Southern: Chess Pie
Kaye Bryant on Henry: E. for Congress
charles Eichorn on Hotty Tamales, Gosh Almighty
Jack of All Trades on Roll Over Bear Bryant
w nadler on Roll Over Bear Bryant
Stacey Berryhill on Oxford Man Dies in Crash
John Appleton on Grovin' Gameday Memories
Charlotte Lamb on Grovin' Gameday Memories
Guillermo F. Perez-Argüello on Two True Mississippi Icons
Morgan Williamson on A College Education is a MUST
Morgan Williamson on A College Education is a MUST
Jeanette Berryhill Wells on HottyToddy Hometown: Senatobia, Mississippi
Tire of the same ole news on 3 "Must Eat" Breakfast Spots in Oxford
gonna be a rebelution on Walking Rebel Fans Back Off the Ledge
Nora Jaccaud on Rickshaws in Oxford
Martha Marshall on Educating the Delta — Or Not
Nita McVeigh on 'I'm So Oxford' Goes Viral
Guillermo F. Perez-Argüello on How a Visit to the Magnolia State Can Inspire You
Charlie Fowler Jr. on Prawns? In the Mississippi Delta?
Martha Marshall on A Salute to 37 Years of Sparky
Sylvia Hartness Williams on Oxford Approves Diversity Resolution
Jerry Greenfield on Wine Tip: Problem Corks
Cheryl Obrentz on I Won the Lottery! Now What?
Bnogas on Food for the Soul
Barbeque Memphis on History of Tennessee Barbecue
Josephine Bass on The Delta and the Civil War
Nicolas Morrison on The Walking Man
Pete Williams on Blog: MPACT’s Future
Laurie Triplette on On Cooking Southern: Fall Veggies
Harvey Faust on The Kream Kup of the Krop
StarReb on The Hoka
Scott Whodatty Keetereaux Keet on Hip Hop — Yo or No, What’s Your Call
Johnathan Doeman on Oxford Man Dies in Crash
Andy McWilliams on The Warden & The Chief
Kathryn McElroy on Think Like A Writer
Claire Duff Sullivan on Alert Dogs Give Diabetics Peace of Mind
Jesse Yancy on The Hoka
Jennifer Thompson Walker on Ole Miss, Gameday From The Eyes of a Freshman
HottyToddy.com