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GRNC Alert 7-16-12: Deliver A Message To WRAL-TV

rotorhead

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
862
Location
FL
GRNC Alert 7-16-12: Deliver A Message To WRAL-TV
Grass Roots North Carolina, P.O. Box 10665, Raleigh, NC 27605
919-664-8565, http://www.grnc.org, GRNC Alert Hotline: (919) 562-4137

Our Home Page | About Us | Join GRNC | Contact Us

DELIVER A MESSAGE TO WRAL-TV



On Thursday, WRAL-TV published an article on its site entitled “Rural areas lead in concealed weapons permit rates.” Unfortunately, within the article a section entitled “Find concealed carry permit-holders in your area” contained a database of permit-holders searchable by address, potentially revealing to criminals the homes from which firearms may be stolen.

WRAL web editor Kelly Hinchcliffe responded to complaints by insisting that permit information is public record, ignoring the fact that obtaining it requires a written request to the State Bureau of Investigation. Moreover, although the names of permit-holders were not disclosed, the partial address information (including apartment numbers), particularly on small streets, makes it possible for criminals to target specific homes for theft.

A lengthy conversation with WRAL General Manager Steve Hammel, while pleasant, produced no significant movement on the part of the station. Their position is that they have sufficiently de-identified the address information. When it was noted that street numbers had appeared initially for some records, he noted that it had been corrected by Friday. He also said they would “look at” trailing apartment numbers which are still part of the addresses. But the bottom line is that the station refuses to pull the link.

TIME FOR ACTION

It has been longstanding policy at GRNC that any media attempt to invade the privacy of either handgun purchase permit-holders or concealed handgun permit-holders would be met with economic action against the media outlet and its advertisers. It is now time for you to act: Help GRNC make an example that will leave an impression on media outlets to discourage them from further acts of journalistic irresponsibility!

GLASS HOUSES?

In an apparent attempt to shame gun owners, some media outlets have a history of publishing the names of gun purchasers. But that was many years ago, before the advent of the Internet. Things are now far more reciprocal. So let’s talk a bit about reporter Mark Binker, the apparent engineer of the piece to reveal concealed handgun permit-holders.

But first, an admonition: DO NOT THREATEN OR HARASS MARK BINKER. If you contact him to express your disappointment with the article …

BE POLITE, DO NOT THREATEN,
and CALL OR EMAIL ONLY ONCE!

MEET MARK BINKER


Mark Gerald Binker is an up-and-coming reporter. After making an excellent career move in leaving the Greensboro News & Record just three months ago, he landed a job with WRAL-TV. Mark and his lovely wife, Marla J. Binker, reside at 17XX Chadstone Ct., Raleigh, NC 27615-7403. His cell number is 919-621-0970 and his work email is mbinker@wral.com.

Mark has exceptional media experience, including:
1987-1991, 1997: Interim Reporter, Capital News Service, College Park, MD.
1996-1997: Associate Editor, CD Publications, Silver Springs, MD.
1998-2000: Suburban Staff Writer, Philadelphia Enquirer, Philadelphia, PA
2000-2005: Business/ local/ government Reporter, News & Record, Greensboro, NC
2005-March 2012: State Government & Politics Reporter, News & Record, Greensboro, NC
March 2012- Present: Multimedia Investigative Reporter, WRAL TV, Raleigh, NC

Mr. Binker is also very well educated, having received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (1995) at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; and his Masters of Arts in Journalism (1997 University of Maryland, College Park, MD).

Happily, Mark is one of the few reporters who is not a registered Democrat. According to the State Board of Elections, he is registered as Unaffiliated, with a gender of male, a race of white, and an ethnicity of “undesignated.” His voter registration number is 000099949361, his registration date is 08/29/2005, and his precinct is 01-42. For better or worse, he is, in fact, eligible to vote.

But it is Mark’s family for which he truly deserves commendation. In addition to his lovely wife Marla, whom he married slightly less than twelve years ago, Mark enjoys two fine sons, Mason and Max. (Mark, Marla, Mason and Max. Cute, no?)

Marla herself seems quite talented, with photo credits to her name, plus what appears to be a fascinating history of her family, from which it appears her maiden name was Smith and her family, perhaps, originally Jewish Russian. She keeps extensive photo albums of the family’s activities, including a Portland vacation, Christmases, birthday parties, pony rides and sailing expeditions in Washington state’s Gig Harbor.

But Mark is no slouch either, as evidenced by “adventures of the Binker family in Raleigh, NC.” The Binkers enjoy Disneyland vacations and, apparently, a strong family bond.

In deference to the fact that Mark’s article didn’t QUITE reveal the most personal information of concealed handgun permit-holders, we have withheld Mark’s exact address and additional information about his family even though they are available on the Internet as what WRAL apologist Kelly Hinchcliffe calls “public information.”



Immediate Action Required


We need you to do three things:

1. CONTACT WRAL GENERAL MANAGER STEVE HAMMEL and let him know that you will shun both the station and its advertisers until such time that the concealed handgun permit-holder search engine is removed and an apology is made to NC permit-holders;
2. CONTACT WRAL ADVERTISER CHRIS LEITH DODGE and let them know they are advertising with a media outlet bent on attacking gun rights, and that they should withdraw their advertising immediately.
3. CONTACT WRAL REPORTER MARK BINKER and politely let him know you don’t appreciate the invasion of the privacy of concealed handgun permit-holders.

CONTACT INFO

WRAL-TV General Manager STEVE HAMMEL: Email shammel@wral.com AND call him personally in his office at: 919-821-8520

WRAL advertiser CHRIS LEATH: Email sales@chrisleithdodge.com AND call him personally in his office at: 919-821-8520

Contact WRAL reporter MARK BINKER at: Aw, heck, you probably saw that in the article above.


Deliver This Message



Again: DO NOT BE RUDE OR THREATENING
-----------------------------------------------------------
To Chris Leith Dodge:

Dear Mr. Leith:

Unfortunately, your advertising dollars are being used to attack my rights. I’m sorry you have been caught up in this, but one of your major advertising venues, WRAL-TV, has attacked the rights of lawful North Carolina gun owners, subjecting them to criminal predation by releasing nearly complete addresses of concealed handgun permit-holders.

As you are probably aware, NC concealed handgun permit-holders are overwhelmingly law-abiding, politically conservative and fiscally responsible, making us your best customers.

Although I’m sure you have no intent to attack the right to keep and bear arms, your advertising dollars are being used to do precisely that. As such, I am asking you to contact WRAL and tell them to stop attacking law-abiding citizens and apologize for the attacks they have so far made.

If they fail to respond to your entreaties, I further ask that you withdraw all advertising expenditures from the station and let me know so that I can tout your Dodge truck dealership to lawful gun owners statewide as one who supports the rights of lawful Americans.

I look forward to patronizing your dealerships as supporters of the United States Constitution.

Respectfully,

-----------------------------------------------------

To WRAL & Mark Binker:

Gentlemen:

I find it difficult to fathom that you would be so journalistically irresponsible as to publish even partial addresses of concealed handgun permit-holders. Ignoring the fact that this group is overwhelmingly responsible, with a rate of criminal prosecutions just a fraction of the general population; ignoring the fact that permit-holders are threats to no one, making their location irrelevant to your readership, it amazes me that your legal department would allow you to print what may be tantamount to an invitation to burglarize unoccupied homes.

Your claims that the information is already public ring hollow: In truth, getting it requires a written inquiry from the State Bureau of Investigation. In truth, you are compromising the personal information of law-abiding North Carolinians not for public benefit, but instead as part of your effort to undermine the right to keep and bear arms.

Remove the information from your site immediately and make apologies to the concealed handgun permit-holders you have threatened. If you fail to do so, I will not only stop patronizing your station and website, I will actively work to deny you advertising revenue.

Respectfully,



TWITTER BLAST


Twitter users: send a message via this powerful social media by clicking the link below:

Take down the CHP database @WRAL and @Binker. #GRNC members will not stand for the invasion of privacy. http://bit.ly/Mrr4Re
Follow Us:


IN THIS ISSUE
WRAL-TV
Meet Mark Binker

Immediate Action
Twitter Blast
Support GRNC
Copyright Info
GRNC Sponsors
SUPPORT GRNC

If you haven't yet joined, DO IT NOW https://ssl4.westserver.net/grnc.org/join.html!

If already a member, DONATE to keep the pressure effectively applied https://ssl4.westserver.net/grnc.org/join.html!



COPYRIGHT

© 2012 GRNCFFE, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution is permitted provided full attribution is given and the item is reprinted in its entirety. Address questions to: President@GRNC.org



GRNC Sponsors

Support these PRO RKBA merchants who, as GRNC sponsors, are supporting your Second Amendment rights:




NCGunOwners.com: North Carolina's friendliest firearm community, working to promote gun ownership in NC. http://www.NCGunOwners.com

Hyatt Gun Shop, 3332 Wilkinson Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28208, 704-394-0387, http://www.hyattguns.com
C & E Gun Shows, 4225 Fortress Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24060; Phone 540-953-0016 or 888-715-0606; http://www.cegunshows.com/
Dixie Gun and Knife Shows, PO Box 21049, Raleigh, NC 27619, ph: 919-781-1287, http://www.dixiegunandknifeshow.com/
Down South Ammo, Home of "SOUTHERN THUNDER" Exploding Targets, http://downsouthammo.com/
Duncan Gun & Pawn, 414 Second St., North Wilkesboro, NC 28659, 336-667-6303, http://www.duncangun.com
Shooter's Express, 2 Caldwell Dr., Belmont, NC 28012, 800-358-GUNS, http://www.shootersexpress.com
The Aisle Pawn Shop, 216 N. Main St., Mooresville, NC 28115, 704-663-5656
Gunner's Alley, LLC, 203 N. Harrison Ave., Ste. 130, Cary, NC 27513, http://www.gunnersalley.com, 919-388-1991, contact: Ed Guerriero, ed@gunnersalley.com
Lake Norman Firearms, Inc., 20823 N. Main Street, Cornelius, NC 28031, http://www.lknfirearms.com, 704-892-7839
Vanguard Security Consulting, LLC, 19135 W. Catawba Ave, Cornelius, NC 28031
DoubleD Media, 8300 Raintree Lane, Charlotte, NC 28277, ph: 704-650-5555, fx: 704-544-0326 donna@doubledme.com
Sterling Pistols, custom pistols, FFL transfers, general repairs, Glock enhancements, 704-840-7625
 

rotorhead

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
862
Location
FL
CORRECTION



The telephone contact information for WRAL advertiser CHRIS LEITH was incorrect in last night's Alert.

Please call him personally in his office at: 919-556-3137. Tell him that he is advertising with a media outlet bent on attacking gun rights, and that he should withdraw their advertising immediately.


If you have not yet done so, please also call WRAL-TV General Manager STEVE HAMMEL in his office at: 919-821-8520, and WRAL reporter MARK BINKER at: 919-621-0970. Tell them you will shun both the station and its advertisers until such time that the concealed handgun permit-holder search engine is removed and an apology is made to NC permit-holders.
 

brutus1776

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Mar 29, 2010
Messages
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Location
, ,
all the more reason to never get a CCW and ask the govt for permission to exercise your rights
 

REDFIVE48

Regular Member
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
255
Location
Charlotte, NC
Reply from Jim the station manager, I'm still working on my reply

Dear Mr. __________,

Thank you for your email.

Our story on concealed weapon permits in NC has generated a passionate response. Public debate about the issues is good for our community. As always, we welcome your comments, questions and concerns about our coverage. Our commitment since 1956 has been to inform the public without favor or bias.

We believe that access to public information is a freedom that extends to everyone — not just to those who have the time, expertise and persistence to find it on their own. Public records are often difficult to locate, assemble and organize. This database as well as other public records provides easy access to data that is open and available to all citizens. Federal and state law protects the public's right to know. Our intention was to help readers better relate to the story by seeing how many permit holders live near them. For example, showing that 2.1% of Wake County’s population has concealed weapon permits is not the same information as half the people on my street have permits.

There is far more private information available in the concealed weapon permit public records. Those records include full name, full address, date of birth and identifying marks (birth marks and tattoos), date of issuance and date of expiration. We proactively stripped all personal information from the 78,000 files in the public records before publishing them online, however that information has always been available by request to the public.

Additionally, as you likely know, in NC, you don't need a permit to own a handgun or shotgun, so the database is not a gun database by street. If the database indicates there are zero concealed weapons permits on a street, one should not conclude there are no guns. There are many streets where guns are located that are not indicated in the database. The database only identifies how many concealed permit holders there are on any given street.

Thank you again for writing.


Jim Rothschild
Station Manager
WRAL-TV
2619 Western Boulevard
Raleigh, NC 27606
WRAL.com
 

ncwabbit

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Joined
Nov 2, 2011
Messages
670
Location
rural religious usa
Interesting to note, capitol broadcasting company, a privately owned corportation, owns a myriad of communication media outlets in NC as well as the Durham Bulls is a privately held company whose president/ceo is James F. Goodmon.

I cannot locate a viable methodology (fone/email) to contact Mr. Goodman directly but have sent an email to the NRA ILA asking them to please contact Mr. Goodman and point out the negative publicity for his overal organization for WRAL's position.

wabbit

PS: NRA ILA note stated:
Please contact WRAL.com’s general manager, John Conway by clicking here or calling (919) 821-8555, and demand that he removes this permit holder’s database from the website.

This is a different name than what GRNC listed in their alert...??
 
Last edited:

cricketdad

Regular Member
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
381
Location
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Interesting to note, capitol broadcasting company, a privately owned corportation, owns a myriad of communication media outlets in NC as well as the Durham Bulls is a privately held company whose president/ceo is James F. Goodmon.

I cannot locate a viable methodology (fone/email) to contact Mr. Goodman directly but have sent an email to the NRA ILA asking them to please contact Mr. Goodman and point out the negative publicity for his overal organization for WRAL's position.

wabbit

PS: NRA ILA note stated:
Please contact WRAL.com’s general manager, John Conway by clicking here or calling (919) 821-8555, and demand that he removes this permit holder’s database from the website.

This is a different name than what GRNC listed in their alert...??

On the web site John Conway is listed a a general manager and Steve Hammel is listed as vice president and general manager. He's the bigger fish.
 

rotorhead

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
862
Location
FL
Interesting to note, capitol broadcasting company, a privately owned corportation, owns a myriad of communication media outlets in NC as well as the Durham Bulls is a privately held company whose president/ceo is James F. Goodmon.

I cannot locate a viable methodology (fone/email) to contact Mr. Goodman directly but have sent an email to the NRA ILA asking them to please contact Mr. Goodman and point out the negative publicity for his overal organization for WRAL's position.

wabbit

PS: NRA ILA note stated:
Please contact WRAL.com’s general manager, John Conway by clicking here or calling (919) 821-8555, and demand that he removes this permit holder’s database from the website.

This is a different name than what GRNC listed in their alert...??

The NRA, as usual, is coming in late to this one. While the help is appreciated, they would do well to contact GRNC for updated info :)
 

NCBobD

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Joined
May 12, 2010
Messages
57
Location
, ,
The NRA, as usual, is coming in late to this one. While the help is appreciated, they would do well to contact GRNC for updated info :)

Really? GRNC's original response to this situation was that they weren't going to take any action... only "monitor the situation." They were basically pushed into action by members of a popular NC shooting website. As best as I've been able to tell NRA jumped in as soon as they were made aware of the situation. But hey, believe whatever makes you happy.
 

American Patriot

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Mar 5, 2009
Messages
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Location
, ,
http://www.nraila.org/legislation/s...a-has-put-law-abiding-gun-owners-at-risk.aspx


With the North Carolina General Assembly out of session, the NRA will seek introduction of legislation that would provide confidentiality for permit holders when the legislature reconvenes next year. Honest North Carolinians who have chosen to acquire a Right-to-Carry permit should not have their privacy invaded by anti-gun groups and media outlets.
 
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