This isn't how you do journalism

3/19/2014 10:23:00 PM
Tweetable
This line from a NBC News piece on Dr. Vivek Murthy stood out to me:
..."he’s spoken out for mandatory gun safety training and an assault weapons ban -– changes that many Americans, include some gun-rights supporters -– also approve of."
Aside from multiple typos somehow making their way to the final copy, why does the second half of that sentence exist? Does it enhance anyone's understanding of the issues to know according to an unsourced claim an unspecified number of Americans, who may or may not support certain unnamed gun rights, also support an assault weapons ban?

I know it's just one line in an obscure article, but I can't help but think that this is representative of the lazy state of professional journalism in this country.

To any editors who might be reading: if your reporter makes a statement like this with out giving numbers and a source, don't print it. It is your duty to refuse to print it.