CNN blasted for misleading stories on gun sales, COVID deaths related to a reopened school in France

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Media top headlines May 5

The Facebook Advisory Board’s ruling on former President Donald Trump’s account and more round out today’s top media headlines.

CNN was the focus of criticism Tuesday following two misleading stories concerning the number of background checks completed for gun purchases in April and the number of coronavirus related deaths in French families with students attending schools in person. 

The first story, a piece on Eugene Delacroix High School in France that reopened amid the coronavirus pandemic last September, highlighted the deaths of some students' family members from the coronavirus, as well as their fears concerning reopening.

The article claimed in its headline that France kept classrooms open "at all costs," and that some said "the price was too high" for Eugene Delacroix students because 20 of them lost family members to the virus. 

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Within the article, however, the author briefly noted that the deaths of the students' family members may have had nothing to do with the reopening, writing, "Nothing suggests these deaths were caused by infections at the school."

CNN was quickly called out on social media for the misleading headline. 

The second story, a CNN Business piece on April gun background check numbers, incorrectly reported that Illinois had more gun sales than any other state for the month, citing National Instant Criminal Back System (NICS) numbers that showed 955,000 background checks. The article highlighted the staggering difference in Illinois numbers versus numbers in the next five states. 

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The problem, however, was that only 44,217 of the 955,000 checks were for gun transfers, according to National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) spokeman Mark Oliva, who shared the actual numbers with Bearing Arms writer Cam Edwards.

According to Edwards, the NSSF gets the adjusted figures between the number of background checks completed and actual gun transfers by looking at certain codes on each of the checks to categorize them seperately from other things, such as checks to authorize a concealed carry application. 

Edwards, who has reported on Second Amendment related issues for 15 years, slammed CNN's "ignorance on gun issues" in an article pointing out the errors in their reporting. 

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CNN issued a correction to the story Tuesday evening, admitting that they overstated Illinois' April gun sales.