The notion of an “anti-gun media” is crap! It is a lame excuse to explain why shooting fails to make mainstream media and, sometimes, as a boogeyman to scare people into giving money to political and lobby group fundraisers.

Garnering publicity and earning media coverage is a long row to hoe for every organization. Outside your circle of colleagues and friends, nobody cares. Trying to convince an editor or publisher in print, broadcast or online media requires hosting an on-going series of regular, interesting events and continuous promotion. It is a process of years with no guarantee of success.

No gun or hunting organization today is doing this effectively which is a large reason why pro gun publicity is so sparse.

“Oh, but we can’t blame ourselves! It’s not our fault that we fail to host interesting events and consistently promote them. No, we’re victims of the “anti-gun media” that have a liberal agenda to censor us.”

Hogwash! Take off your tin foil hat, Sparky. This is a problem for everyone. Check out this story:

Rotary District 5840 (http://www.rotary5840.org/) held a fundraiser billed as the “Million Dollar Dinner.” They exceeded their goal and raised $1,070,000 for the Rotary Foundation Permanent Fund, which is used for literacy programs and Polio eradication.

Pictured below is Chairman of the District Rotary Foundation Committee Doug Whinnery (left) and 5840 District Governor Sherri Muniz (right) presenting $1.07 Million to Rotary International President Kalyan Banerjee (center) at the District’s Million Dollar Dinner on October 28 in San Antonio.

The money raised goes to the Permanent Fund of the Rotary Foundation, ensuring the work of the Foundation can continue in the future.

A week later at a Rotary meeting one of the event organizers mentioned having problems with uncooperative local reporters to cover the event. He noted it was hard to get coverage during sweeps for something not directly impacting the local community.

They raised and gave away over $1 million and couldn’t land a story. When was the last time your shooting club gave away a million bucks? Other than Wayne LaPierre’s annual salary, when was the last time the NRA donated a million dollars?

So, following the rhetoric of pro gun lobby groups, the media must also be “anti-Rotary” and “anti-charity.” Or, maybe, publicity is not a promise. It is a long, imperfect effort fraught with difficulties. No single event can be expected to catch everyone’s attention.