President Trump’s warnings to the American people on the dangers of fake news are well warranted. A free press is essential to our form of government, but a free press means that it should be unbiased and does not take sides. A press that takes sides in opinion disguised as news and prints innuendo and false information is an enemy to a democratic society and to the American people.
Watergate all-star Carl Bernstein has been one of the most vociferous critics of Trump during his stints on CNN.
Dan Rather, another of Watergate fame urging journalists to ostracise and shame Trump’s supporters. Rather incidentally was fired from CBS for false reporting on President George W. Bush in 2006. Also in 2016, Robert Greenblatt a chairman at NBC labelled Mr Trump as ‘toxic and demented’. Cokie Roberts of ABC piped up saying supporters of Trump are ‘morally tainted’.
These statements are outrageous for a press that calls itself free. It’s no wonder polls show journalism to be one of the least respected professions in America.
Since Watergate and Nixon, the media in this country has set itself up as a kind of Praetorian guard who make or break presidents. But as more people begin to get their news from newer websites, the old establishment’s power is being challenged and is on the blink.
People are sick and tired of the vulgarity of big dumb corporate media machine trying to destroy President Trump every hour of the day. Time and time again the media try and cry a new headline of impending doom because of something Trump allegedly said. It is akin to the story of the boy who cried wolf. For intelligent people can now research on various internet sources to see President Trump’s actual statement versus the manufactured one of the elitist media establishment.
No one pointed out the hypocrisy of the Boston Globe’s op-ed editor, Marjorie Pritchard leading a crusade last week for a free press in America against President Trump’s alleged ‘dirty war’ against one. The Globe called upon newspapers across the country to condemn President Trump for saying the press is the enemy of the American people.
Two years ago, Pritchard was caught red-handed in John Podesta’s leaked emails working with the Clinton campaign. In the emails, she assured Podesta his campaign’s op-ed lauding Hillary Clinton would appear in the Globe and further Pritchard said she would enhance the editorial by having the newspaper manufacture stories about Clinton the day she would be visiting New Hampshire, so as to maximise Hillary’s presence.
Pritchard is supposed to be a free unaffiliated journalist, yet she manoeuvers like a partisan operative. President Trump is correct in calling the press an opposition party.
For two years the media have been speculating about a ‘Russian connection’. But the real Russians connection is an American Press metamorphosing into a new kind of Tass and Pravda of the old Union of Soviet Socialist republics.
In their biased coverage against the Trump administration the media recipe is the same mix of suppressio veri and expressio falsi. Their strategy is to make Trump a pariah to destroy the man by ceaseless ad hominems so as to stifle any free discussion on the policies and reforms he champions on behalf of the American people who elected him.
How can they seriously call it a free press! Seems the only freedom of the press we have in this country applies to those wealthy enough to own one.
Patrick J. Walsh is a writer in Quincy, Mass.
