austin news paper

Chris presented a pretty good point.

I have already talked to Mike by PM. I read the article before I read alot negative remarks about it. Therefore I was not biased. My opinion the article was not written biased either. It presented the facts, and by the writers comments, I do not feel he was biased but wrote the article very well to the general public to allow them to make up their own minds, I find that rare these days, so very good job Mr.Leggett!

Here lies the problem, when talking to reporters, they have a way of presenting it in their own opinion in a way to influence the their readers. Therefore it can be very dangerous to talk to reporters at all, if you don't want your words twisted and turned against you, the dog hunting, and hunting in general.

Some of you may remember an article that came out in a Dallas free publication, then it was reprinted in the Houston edition also. Scott Trammell a dog hunter and owner of a bay pen in Nixon, had only the best intentions and prepared to present Hog Dog Hunting in an educational manner. However when the paper was printed it caused alot of havoc, Scott was ectremely embarrassed. He had spent alot of time and trouble to take the writer along on a few hunts. The article presented them as blood thirsty rednecks, that were teaching this blood sport to children and cruelty was apparent.

Sooooo... If you feel the need to speak to a reporter, please research their background and find out who you are dealing with, make sure they are hunters, farmer, or rancher supportive, and go out of your way to choose your words carefully. The writers are trying to do a job, earn a living, and the more interesting their story the more oppertunities they have to get paid, in turn will usually mean writing controversial subjects. I am contacted a few times year, I will take the time to speak to them, however, they usually decide my version, is not interesting enough to write about, and that is the end of it!