The Sun Hates Us

Of course, that's to be expected - we're submariners.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received as a nub, other than “don’t piss off A-gang”, was to always bring sunscreen on patrol. Unlike the warning about A-gang, it didn’t make a lot of sense at the time (due to the lack of windows and whatnot), but it paid off the very first time we pulled in to Pearl and I didn’t fry my ass off like the other guys up in the sail. Several weeks underwater leaves you less than prepared to deal with those harmful UV rays; even more so if you live somewhere that the tanning season is a week in August when it’s not raining.

But, in this case, there’s another Sun that hates us, and this one I can at least unsubscribe to. Yes, I’m talking about our local “paper” (quotes most definitely intended, as their journalistic ability is roughly the same as the “fact of the day” the yeoman adds to the bottom of our POD); let me tell you what it’s like dealing with them.

The Sun is pretty much the only local paper here, and I’ll be honest when I say their online site isn’t too bad. It’s free, and the comments (especially in the 911 section) are especially amusing. Of course, the comments also occasionally add new info to the story, with lots of “I know this person and they would NEVER…”-type insight, some of which occasionally finds their way back into the original story. Sort of like a lazy reporter’s tip line. But I don’t begrudge them this, or when they basically just re-word info they’ve received from other news sources (mistakes and all) with MOTO skills that put us all to shame. It’s tough to get by with few subscribers and a community college degree in journalism.

What I really don’t like is their anti-military slant. It’s so blatant that I’m surprised they set up shop in our town, which exists almost solely because of the military. I’m even more surprised they continue to survive; no one I know subscribes.

You see, if some local punk gets in trouble, they basically report it as “A 19 year-old man was caught…”. They may also include what town the kid is from, but they more-or-less stick to the facts. If, on the other hand, the person involved was in the military, the headline will most certainly include “A 19 year-old Sailor was caught… “ or “Sailor on the USS Bonejob was caught…” (if they can somehow find out what boat he’s on via Facebook). Even though the person’s job usually has as much to do with the story as their hair color, it’s going to be in the headline.

There are two basic reasons for this. The first is that the story probably reflects poorly on the service, and that gives their staff a warm little chubby. The second is that it helps sell papers; a story about someone else you might know, or who is at least in the same line of work as you, is going to be more interesting. If I do happen to know the actual story (sometimes you do; I’ve got a few phone calls in the middle of the night about my guys in the past), I inevitably cringe the next day at how far off the Sun is from what really happened.

We've tried calling them on their bias, in the comments section, and with editorials. The Sun initially responded that they think military folks should be held to a higher standard, which is why they were being singled out. But you can look at this both ways: if you’re willing to literally lay down your life for your country, perhaps the community you protect should be willing to cut you some slack over the little things. Not at the Sun, however – if you screw up even a little, and they find out you’re in the military, you’re a headline.

More recently, the kind folks over at the Sun have changed their story (pardon the pun); they now claim that they include the fact someone is in the military as a way of letting the rest of us know what town they’re from. It’s true; some Sun articles about the locals will include this info (“A 19 year old Bumfuck man was caught…”), but most of the time they rightfully skip it as its irrelevant. If they really, REALLY needed to get that info out for some reason, why not just list where the sailor lives in the same way? Most of us live out in the town.

I’m not real crazy about them trumpeting the mistakes sailors make just to sell a paper. It’s not like a few months in the Navy is going to make a 19 year old kid much more mature than his local counterparts, and 19 year old kids do dumb things from time to time. Playing up the military angle every time they do just shows us how biased they are over at Sun Central, and may explain why they’ve taken to giving away free copies outside the mall in a desperate attempt to attract readers.

I believe the Sun staff should accept the same challenge and hold themselves to this “higher standard”; everyone from the editors on down to the delivery folks. Given how that last group drives when they’re in my neighborhood, I imagine the “traffic beat” section of the paper would at least double.