The Failure Of The U.S. "Free Press"

By Ward Reilly

04/14/06 " Baltimore Chronicle" -- -- It`s time to look at television and radio news as potentially being the source of more harm to our nation than good.

When our country was founded, as a result of the victory over Great Britain during the Revolutionary War, our forefathers sat down and wrote the United States Constitution. The first 10 amendments in that Constitution became known as the "Bill Of Rights." Our forefathers understood that in order for a country with a government "of the people, by the people" to work, that certain rules from the "old Europe" ways needed to be eliminated. Truth in information was to be critical in their vision. They understood the importance of the "free press."

The very first amendment that our founding fathers wrote included the words "...or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;"...

Forbidding any form of repression of the press was so important to those great and early Americans who wrote the Constitution, that it is the very first article they put in our Constitution. Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, among others, realized that a free press was to be a vital part in their dream of a country to be called "The United States of America."

These men deemed the "free press" to be such a necessary component in the success of the country they were building, that they put it first in the Constitution. First! They realized that if the press did not exercise its responsibility in reporting the facts of any matter, that the new system "of the people" would be a failure.

So let`s scroll forward 215 years from 1791 to today. April 12th, 2006...Today, in our nation, the responsibility of getting the facts to our people, as dictated by the founding fathers, has fallen on a relatively new form of "the free press," that being television. TV News. With approximately 98% of U.S. homes having televisions, the medium of television has become the most powerful source of information in history.

But with being such a powerful source for national news comes with a huge responsibility, and "television news" has failed us miserably.
As a nation, it is time to look closely at the the use of television and radio in being a news source. It`s time to ask ourselves if "commercial television news shows" have not evolved into a medium that cannot possibly live up to that huge responsibility without being a tool of "special interests." It`s time to look at television and radio news as potentially being the source of more harm to our nation than good. We must ask the question; can (corporate) television and radio possibly provide neutral and un-biased news as it is being used as a tool to shape the way our country thinks and acts?

All journalism bears the responsibility that our forefathers assigned to it. It is safe to say that there are 5 major television networks in our country, those being, alphabetically, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, and NBC. These 5 companies have more impact in the news of the world in our country than any other news media or source.

Can television station owners, and their journalistic employees, possibly be living up to their constitutional responsibility, or be doing their jobs correctly, when each of these news sources reports the same story, at the same time, even in the same order, day after day? It is disgusting to think that they can`t do any better than that.

Television is one of the wonders of our time. It came into our homes after WWII, and has become the most successful invention in history. It shows us wonderful movies, exciting sports, it exposes 290,000,000 people in our nation to all forms of business, through advertising, and TV has become the most necessary tool in our capitalistic society, for selling. But the evolution of getting our news from television has become an ugly and shameful farce.

Here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, we are fortunate to have one of the finest newspapers in the world. Our newspaper, which is called The Advocate, is so good that both the so-called "left wing" and the so-called "right wing" sides here in Baton Rouge make the claim that The Advocate is slanted horribly for the opposing side, in the never-ending war of philosophical debate which is a constant in our nation. This is generally observed through the "opinion" pages of the newspaper.

What makes our paper so good is that it continues to show all sides in matters national and local, whatever happens to be occurring in the world currently. Our paper is owned by a local family that prides itself in living up to that huge responsibility of writing, reporting, and distributing the news of our city and our world, in a neutral manner. Which brings us back to the problem.

Our president made these statements 11 months apart:

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our Number One priority, and we will not rest until we find him!"
George W. Bush, September 13, 2001

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and I really don't care. Its not that important. It's not our priority."
George W. Bush, March 13, 2002

So why I ask, isn`t this on the TV and radio news? If I tell a lie, okay, I told a lie. But this is the leader of the "free world," as we so like to call it. Our elected leaders can`t lie like a common citizen. Or even make reckless or careless statements. The whole world judges us by our leader's words and actions.

On October 14th, 2002, President Bush said:

"This is a man [Saddam] that we know has had connections with Al-Qaida.This is a man who, in my judgment, would like to use Al Qaida as a forward army."

On September 17th, 2003, President Bush said:

"We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the Sept. 11th attacks."

On October 7th, 2003 President Bush said (about the Valarie Plame leak):

"Listen, I know of nobody—I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action. And this investigation is a good thing."
On October 7th, 2003, Scott McClellan said:

"If someone leaked classified information, the President wants to know. If someone in this administration leaked classified information, they will no longer be a part of this administration, because that's not the way this White House operates, that's not the way this President expects people in his administration to conduct their business."

Well, which is it Mr. President? Which is the truth, Mr. or Ms. TV newsperson?

George W Bush authorised the leak of classified material to the media to defend the invasion of Iraq...that is the truth, so why is Bush still in the White House?

Television news. It has failed us all. The entire national media has failed us all. TV news shows have become a make-up room full of plastic-pretty women, and stiff, well groomed men, whose real job today is to read, look good, and to sell products.

TV news and radio news now appear to exist solely for the special interests of commercialism. It survives on "ratings," numbers that are based on how the news people look, how they dress, and how well they can read from a teleprompter.

The news media has forgotten what true investigative news is supposed to be. It has shirked its responsibility. The media have broken that trust we relied on, and has shamed the framers of the Constitution.

Don`t blame the Republicans for the war in Iraq. Don't blame the Democrats for the war in Iraq. Blame the so-called news anchors, who are failing miserably at their jobs. It's their job to find the facts, not ours. They use the news to sell, not inform. And when news has to sell, it sells us out.
Is it time for us to off our televisions and radios when the daily news comes on? Yes. The simple act of not getting our news from the national corporations could actually save the "free press." The corporations that own these networks live or die by ratings, and they would soon have to abandon TV and radio as vehicles for news if we just quit watching and listening to "the [sic] news."

Television is a wonderful tool used responsibly. It is a nation-killer if used improperly, as it is today.

It really could work very easily, and all those out-of-work news people could fulfill their college-day dreams by becoming real journalists. Then we, the untrained, common citizen-journalists, don't have to do their jobs for them, as we are now. Television is a wonderful tool used responsibly. It is a nation-killer if used improperly, as it is today.

Turn on your computer, and go online for your news, and help restore Jefferson's, Adams', and Franklin's dreams of a nation with a free press...a press to oversee and report the actions of our government and our corporations. They want money, but we need the truth, or we shall fall.

Ward Reilly, of Baton Rouge, La., is a member of Veterans For Peace and Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

Copyright © 2006 The Baltimore Chronicle. All rights reserved.
 

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