Acknowledging there are “a lot more stories than I can get to myself,” journalist Stephen Gutowski, founder of The Reload—an online gun-centric news platform started in April 2021—told a lunchtime audience at the Gun Rights Policy Conference the establishment media does not truly value gun-related stories unless they are sensational.
“There are not ‘gun beat’ reporters in the major media,” Gutowski observed. “It is not something that is valued in the major media…and frankly the only stories they think are stories happen to be mass shootings and occasionally legislation.”
Gutowski was the keynote speaker during the GRPC’s annual awards luncheon. The event was held in Dallas, Texas over the weekend, attracting attorneys, scholars and activists from across the country. It was sponsored by the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Formerly with the Washington Free Beacon, the veteran reporter started The Reload in his basement. He said in the past 18 months, The Reload has had an impact. Stories in the publication have been entered into the Congressional Record. The Reload reported on Joe Biden’s nomination of David Chipman to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which helped lead to the White House’s withdrawal of the nomination following confirmation hearings before a Senate committee.
Gutowski’s publication is one of several relatively recent examples of a new trend in journalism; a pro-rights, no-nonsense and frequently provocative publication that tells stories with a much different perspective than one expects from establishment media such as the New York Times or Washington Post. He told the audience it’s possible to start your own publication as well. He said it is something not available five years ago, but is needed much more today.
The publication has interviewed powerful politicians, published “leaked” ATF documents and reported on the “new generation” of gun owners.
According to Gutowski, a lot of the bias in today’s media is not political, although there is bias from people who do not like firearms.
“You are much more knowledgeable about firearms than most reporters,” he said. “A lot of general assignment reporters who cover mass shootings…don’t know anything about firearms.”
His advice to would-be citizen journalists is “don’t leave a story untold.”
“We need people to go out and report, fairly and accurately,” Gutowski said. “Don’t rely on your local ABC affiliate (or) the Washington Post to come down and tell your story.”
He said there are an estimated 1.6 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses every year, “and most of those stories go untold.”
“We try to tell some,” he stated, “but there are many more.”
