John Swinton, former Chief of Staff for the New York Times stated: "The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell this country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it.
"What folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools of vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull our strings and we dance.
"Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes." Webmaster's note: When I began to try to verify the above comments I ran into a situation I never expected. This same speech is on many many websites, just go to Google and type in "John Swinton " and you'll see what I mean. But here is the strange thing. All the articles say that indeed a man named John Swinton did at one time work for the New York Times and that he did make this speech.. And all agree that he was a very well known and respected journalist, known by his peers as the "dean" of his profession. But here's where it gets very puzzling. On about half of the web sites it reads that John Swinton made this speech in 1880 before a group of his fellow journalists who had arranged a banquet in his honor. On these web sites it reads that at the time he was the head of the editorial staff at the New York Times. Then about half of the web sites had this to say about Mr. Swinton and the speech: They state that John Swinton was, as indcated in the opening lines of this web page, the Chief of Staff at the New York Times and made this very unexpected speech at a meeting of the New York Press Club in
1953. I spent three days searching the internet to try to get to the truth , to find out which of these articles is true and which one is false, sad to say I was never able to verify which version of this story was the true one. But the fact remains that the speech was made by a very well known and very respected journalist of his day, whether that day was in 1880 or 1953 and whether Mr. Swinton was, at the time, the Chief of Staff at the New York Times, or the head of the editorial staff , to me is irrelevant. What matters is the speech itself and the legitimacy of it. The words are so descriptive of today's newspaper and television "so called journalists."
"There is no such thing at this date of the world's history in America as an independent press. You know it and I know it. "There is not one of you who dare write your honest opinion and if you did you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. "Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions, would be out in the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinion to appear in one issue of my paper, before 24 hours my occupation would be gone.
At a meeting of the world's wealthiest and most influential people in Baden-Baden, Germany, David Rockefeller gave the following speech: "We are grateful to the Washington Post,
the New York Times
Time Magazine
and other great publications, whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost 40 years.
"It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world, if we had been subjected to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march toward a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries."
-Bilderbergers Meeting,-1991-
MEDIA DISTORTIONS
Let's see what true journalism is supposed to be: Journalism writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation. Webster's New 9th Collegiate Dictionary
So just how do network news anchors present the news? You are probably familiar with the case of Randy Weaver of Ruby Ridge, Idaho, whose wife and 13 year old son were killed by U.S. government agents.
But have you ever heard the media refer to Randy Weaver other than as the "white separatist Randy Weaver?" Why do they insist on using the term "white separatist?" Let's do a little analyzing. By specifying he is white, the implication is that he is a racist. And separatist implies that he is anti-social; therefore un-American.
But in reality who is Randy Weaver? A Vietnam veteran and a devout Christian, who felt that his children should not be exposed to the evil influences of today's society with its murders, rapes, violence, drugs and pornography, and, as a consequence, they were living a simple life in the black hills of Idaho. If this young man was guilty of anything it was that his views on some social issues weren't considered "politically correct!"
Do the tv network news "journalists"??? keep you informed about the latest gun legislation before the bill comes up for a vote? Not hardly! Why citizens might write in protesting such legislation.
Does the press inform you about anything important Congress is considering, or just the petty little infighting? Do they really keep you informed???
They like a nice exciting opening story, something on the order of the O.J. Simpson trial for instance
That is a question easily answered, they do what they are paid to do----they entertain!!!! As one talk show host says, "it's infotainment." Why else are the networks only concerned about ratings?
followed by the more mundane stories, ending with a point to ponder or some nostalgic tale.
CNN is famous for having a scoop on a breaking story, then, very oddly, the next hour it is discontinued. This happens on other news sources also.
For example, the first announcement of Ron Brown's plane crash was said to have happened in the Adriatic Sea and that divers were preparing to go down to search for bodies. The next announcement, an hour or so later, was that the plane had crashed into the mountain----huh!!! !Time and Newsweek magazines both said the plane crashed during the most violent storm in a decade, this was simply not true, there was no major storm in the area.
There was one survivor, a female flight attendant, Air Force Tech Sgt. Shelley Kelley. She walked to a rescue helicopter but was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital, cause of death was listed as a broken neck. Was that in the news?
Some might argue that the networks produce shows like "60 Minutes" as evidence that they actually care about our society. That sounds great but just what can you believe? It's so obvious that TV journalists slant the news in favor of their own personal views or else they just do what they are told to do by someone higher up on the executive ladder.
Dan Rather has scarcely tried to hide his immense dislike for George Bush Sr. and President George W. Bush, it's like he was on a personal crusade to bring them both down. In a TV interview with George Bush Sr. in 1988 he exhibited one of the most blatant examples of everything a good journalist shouldn't be. He used every slick trick in the book to get Bush to admit complicity in the Iran Contra affair. He showed no mercy, he was ruthless beyond belief in his interrogation of Bush. But he underestimated the political skills of George Bush Sr. to handle such treatment without losing his composure. With a few very well chosen remarks he put Rather in his place and came out the winner by all accounts. Now I defend the right of any American citizen to dislike anyone they choose to dislike, and that most certainly includes the President of our country. For all I know Rather might have been right in his accusations, that's not for me to say. But a good journalist is supposed to be fair minded and unbiased and not try to expose a public figure for being the kind of person he personally believes him to be.To learn more about this story you can click on the link below.
Seems Rather didn't learn his lesson very good from this now infamous interview for in 2004 he went after President George W. Bush with the same determination to discredit him that he had exhibited sixteen years earlier towards his father. On a segment of "Sixty Minutes" he introduced supposedly authentic military documents that showed that Bush was shown favoritism during his military service as a pilot during during the Viet Nam war because he came from a powerful political family. Well, as it turned out the documents were not authentic at all , they were fake. The authenticity of these documents should have been thoroughly checked and verified beyond a shadow of a doubt before breaking the story on nationwide television, that is one of the sacred rules of good journalism. This determination of Dan Rather to cast the President in a very unfavorable light backfired on him and there is little doubt that mistake cost him his job as the longtime news anchor of CBS evening news.
(See Story Below)
Another example of very bad journalism is biased editing of an interview before it is ever shown on TV. An interview may take place over a period of several hours but most of it will never be seen or heard by the American people because it will be edited down to a fifteen or twenty minute tv interview. If the interviewer approves of the person then the interview will be edited to eliminate any negative or trivial comments. If they don't approve, look out! Every gesture or comment will be studied to select only those scenes that will make the subject appear as attractive as a spastic gorilla.
There is so much distortion, half truths, and outright lies in TV journalism today there is no way of knowing if what you are hearing on the news is true or false, what a sad commentary on modern journalism this is.
Immediately after the bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City President Clinton rushed to camera and microphone, declaring that this was obviously the work of the militia, and was inspired by the hate propaganda of talk radio.
Within minutes the media repeated these accusations without bothering to check the veracity of Clinton's statement. Militia personnel were condemned, talk show hosts were ridiculed and one, Mark from Michigan, a militia spokesperson, was even forced off of the airways, at least temporarily. Later it was determined that militias were not involved at all in the bombing, nor were talk shows responsible, but the image of the "evil militia" had been planted in the minds of many Americans.
The Murrah Building in downtown Oklahoma City
No one really expected the President to apologize for his error , did you ever hear a President apologize for ANYTHING??? And the media never admitted it had erred in its assessment of the President's statement, nor were any apologies offered to those who were slandered.
Very few Americans failed to see the siege at the Branch Davidian complex in Waco. Of course the media always referred to it as a compound, implying a militaristic enclosure (another label). After the holocaust there were eleven survivors, nine of whom were tried for the murder of federal officers.
The media, who later spent a year covering the Simpson trial, did not cover the Davidian survivor's trial, there were more important stories to cover, such as;
And The Tanya Harding ice skating fiasco.
At the end of the Davidian trial there was only a short squib in some newspapers to the effect that the nine were found not guilty of murder but were still sentenced to forty years in prison. Who said America doesn't have political prisoners?
Perhaps the most insidious misuse of the press is lack of information. Think about it, just what do you know about what is happening in Europe, South America, Asia, Africa or anywhere except possibly Israel? Do they inform you that many Europeans, especially the French, are highly disturbed about free trade? Do they keep you up to date about our trade deficit, that the total deficit as of March 2006 is a staggering $805 billion dollars and expected to be $905 billion dollars before years end. The deficit is projected to reach one trillion dollars in 2007.
-INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS & TALK RADIO –THE LAST BASTIONS
It is obvious that the big industrial companies are not enamored of talk radio, especially the controversial variety. Many of the network radio stations have received a written notice with a list of manufacturers who do not want their commercials to be broadcast on either side of, or during talk radio shows.
Since February of 1997, the Federal Communications Commission has passed rulings that make it much more difficult to open new radio stations, or renew station licenses which had previously expired. Because, under the new procedures, the class of stations which can receive station licenses require very expensive antenna arrays, the possibility of "mom and pop" stations coming on the air is almost eliminated. This has led to the purchase of many stations by the industrial and media giants which then set their own format, and which does not include any talk shows except those they sponsor. That this is a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act doesn't seem to bother anyone in the government! But since Congress no longer serves the people, the control of the media has passed into just a few hands, and that is one of the most dangerous events in the history of the United States. The danger lies in the ability of the media to mold public opinion, when they have complete control, the public is powerless to learn the truth.
As time progresses, the public will be limited to the "doctor" or "psychologist" type of talk radio. Shows such as "Chuck Harder," "Gordon Liddy," "Tom Valentine," "Bo Gritz," and other such programs will disappear. Thus will end the last remnants of freedom of the airwaves.
In March, 1915, the J.P. Morgan interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interest, and their subsidiary organizations, got together 12 men high up in the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influential newspapers in the United States and a sufficient number of them to control generally the policy of the daily press....They found it was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatest newspapers. "An agreement was reached; the policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interests of the purchasers."`---- U.S. Congressman Oscar Callaway, 1917
There are many newspapers serving the cities and towns across America but most of the major ones are owned or controlled by this group of very powerful men.
Faye VanAermam, publisher of North Florida Advocate
However, except for a few independent newspapers, such as the North Florida Advocate, most of the newspapers have the same general agenda. They are owned by the big money interests, and those are the interests they serve. You must learn to use, not only your own judgment but also careful research to determine if what you read or hear is true. The time has long past when we can totally believe what is presented as news by the major tv and radio networks or the newspapers and news magazines, for much of it is distorted or downright untruths. More than ever in the history of the world we need to be seekers of truth, for truth and ONLY TRUTH
Page by Mary Jones--Feb. 2006
Mary Jones.
If you'd like to join my mailing list for future pages email me with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line and I'll sign you up immediately. However a word of caution is in order. The subject matter of my pages is quite varied though the majority of them are either patriotic or inspirational in nature. I also make web pages about things I feel the American people should know but many don't, and these pages could be considered controverial by some So although I would love to have you join my mailing list I think you should know the kinds of pages I make as I would hate to disappoint you. SO PLEASE CONSIDER THESE THINGS BEFORE YOU ASK TO BE ON MY MAILING LIST. --MARY
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