From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Wed Apr 10 2002 - 09:30:33 MDT
On Wednesday, April 10, 2002, at 12:46 pm, David Lubkin wrote:
> Not found false by the military necessarily, but there have been dozens
> of instances where the press has been proven to have fabricated a story
> and countless cases where their editing of quotations, or their choice
> of words, or who they go to for comments, or how a photograph is
> cropped, etc. has the effect of distorting the reality of the story.
Very true. There have been a lot of false stories. But they are
usually exposed by other journalists. That is the beauty of the
capitalist system. There is no single press monopoly. Competing
journalists from different organizations all cover the same event. If
you don't like or believe the news from one, you switch to another. I
can't imagine anyone preferring a government-sponsored military monopoly
on the news to our current system of journalism. If you think the press
is biased, switch brands.
> One thing that gives me enormous pause is that EVERY time I have known
> the truth behind a newspaper story, ranging from local coverage of my
> daughter's work in historic preservation, to media coverage of science
> or technology, to the reporting on a double rape/murder of neighbors of
> mine back when I was at Livermore, I have spotted significant factual
> errors in what appeared in print.
I find this in technical and scientific reporting as well. But there is
no reason to attribute it to a great liberal conspiracy, or theorize
that all Western media is secretly owned and operated by a small
cartel. However, we know that the military is a monopoly that is bought
and paid for by government agendas.
What is the alternative? Abolish the free press and let the government
tell us what is true, and let the military enforce this truth by
shooting anyone who would question the party line?
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