{"id":109181,"date":"2014-03-05T07:46:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T07:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?guid=b7add3bdfdedf746b8ecfca6c4bcbed4"},"modified":"2014-03-05T07:46:00","modified_gmt":"2014-03-05T07:46:00","slug":"media-scoundrels-on-the-wrong-side-of-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/media-scoundrels-on-the-wrong-side-of-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Scoundrels on the Wrong Side of History"},"content":{"rendered":"
Media Scoundrels on the Wrong Side of History<\/b><\/div>\n
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by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n
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Famed journalist George Seldes (1890 – 1995) called them “prostitutes of the press.” Paul Craig Roberts calls them “presstitutes.”<\/div>\n
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They’re that and much more. They’re propagandists, not journalists. They’re charlatans. They’re scam artists. They’re blackguards. <\/div>\n
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They’re scoundrels in the worst sense of the term. They make street whores look respectable by comparison.<\/div>\n
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They’re paid to lie, distort, misinform, and blame imperial victims for horrendous crimes committed against them.<\/div>\n
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They support powerful monied interests. They ignore popular ones. They march in lockstep with imperial lawlessness.<\/div>\n
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AJ Liebling (1904 – 1963) once said: “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.”<\/div>\n
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He added: “People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.”<\/div>\n
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Western television is worst of all. It’s a wasteland. Educator\/media critic Neil Postman (1931 – 2003) called Americans “the most entertained and least informed people in the world.”<\/div>\n
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In 1950, Boston University President Daniel Marsh said: “If the (television) craze continues…we are destined to have a nation of morons.”<\/div>\n
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Comedian Ernie Kovacks (1919 – 1962) once said he knew why television is called a medium – “because it’s neither rare or well done.”<\/div>\n
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Media critic George Gerbner said mainstream media “have everything to sell and nothing to tell.”<\/div>\n
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Investigative journalist IF Stone (1907 – 1989) once said: “All governments are run by liars and nothing they say should be believed.”<\/div>\n
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The same holds for media scoundrels. Integrity isn’t their long suit.<\/div>\n
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Media scholar\/critic Robert McChesney said “the corporate media system…generates a depoliticized society.” <\/div>\n
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People are misinformed. They deliberately deceived. They’re told what powerful interests want them to believe. They’re fed a pack of lies, distortion and falsified rubbish.<\/div>\n
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“The corruption of journalistic integrity is always bad,” McChesney added. Today it’s “obscene under conditions of extreme media concentration…”<\/div>\n
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When America seeks another imperial trophy, it’s worst of all. Media scoundrels march in lockstep with lawlessness. <\/div>\n
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They carpet bomb readers and viewers with managed news misinformation garbage. The New York Times stands out. It does so disgracefully.<\/div>\n
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It’s the closest thing in America to an official ministry of information and propaganda. It misreporting masquerades as real news, commentary and analysis.<\/div>\n
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It has global clout. Its main stories get worldwide attention. The so-called Paper of Record has a long, deplorable history.<\/div>\n
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It supports what demands condemnation. It does so consistently. It backs wrong over right.<\/div>\n
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A January 2013 open letter to Times editors was this writer’s most widely ever read article by far. It touched a raw nerve.<\/div>\n
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It confronted Times editors head-on. It did so over why they consistently back wrong over right. It challenged them to report responsibly. <\/div>\n
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It said doing so is its own reward. It offered a checklist of responsible policies. It urged they support:<\/div>\n
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