Tag: Journalists

The Death Of Local Journalism

I use to read my local paper it was an excellent source of news and opinions from around the area……it is now about 5 pages and is printed in a city 180 miles away…….the paper is in essence……dead……dead….dead…….

Now it is more about the ad dollar than the news……I would wager that this is a similar occurrence around the country.

The rise of social media and the internet has done what rival papers tried to do for decades…….killed local journalism…..and in-turn has fed the rise of the divisiveness of the nation……

In May 2017, former Republican Rep. Leonard Lance crossed party lines and voted against the GOP health care repeal, a proposal deeply unpopular with voters in New Jersey’s 7th District, which he had represented in Washington for nearly a decade.

A year later, Lance again joined Democrats to oppose the Republican tax cut bill. Although he supported portions of the bill and its overall intent, he decided to vote against it because it would hurt the ability of his wealthiest constituents to deduct the value of their state and local taxes.

Put simply, Lance was doing what a member of Congress is supposed to do: look out for the individual needs of the people who live in his district. Then he lost his reelection bid.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/campaigns/decline-local-journalism-likely-increasing-voter-polarization

Once Bill Clinton allowed corporations to own the news the purveyors of propaganda took hold and now the MSM sets the dialog with the nation….it is not the voter that picks the candidate but rather the MSM chooses who is presented to them as the candidates.

The death of local journalism has signaled the end of any bi-partisanship ever……

In the long run we voters pay the price for the death of local journalism and that price is partisanship and the election of mental midgets that disguise their mental deficiencies with mindless slogans.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Breaking FOX News

I usual write about stuff that is not politics of geopolitics unless that is there is important breaking news….and yes Irene we have Breaking News….

A great journalist is leaving FOX News, Shep Smith…….

One of the few Fox News anchors to criticize President Trump is leaving the network. Shepard Smith, who has worked for Fox News since it launched in 1996, made the announcement during his show Friday afternoon, USA Today reports. Smith said the decision was his. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to report the news each day to our loyal audience in context and with perspective, without fear or favor,” he told viewers. Jay Wallace, president of Fox News, praised Smith as “one of the premier newscasters of his generation” and said the network respects his decision to leave. The Friday show was the final one for Smith, who gave no reason for resigning, per the AP. The network said anchors will alternate filling the time slot for now.

Fox viewers weren’t always happy with Smith’s comments about Trump, per the Washington Post. He’s called things the president has said “absolutely crazy” and defended CNN when Trump called it “fake news.” Trump has attacked Smith and his ratings, as well. The host also has taken on colleagues: After Tucker Carlson said white supremacy isn’t a real problem in this country, Smith told viewers it’s “without question a very serious problem.” The two hosts clashed again last month when Smith defended the network’s chief legal analyst after he was criticized by a guest, per the Hill. Smith called the attack “repugnant.” Carlson played the video of the exchange later, saying “Not clear if that was you or me but someone was repugnant.” In his account, Carlson said Smith “ironically” referred to the guest as “partisan.”

I liked him because he called crap when he smelled it.

Maybe I will start a conspiracy…..

Trump thinks FOX is his personal news channel and at times it looks like it and Smith was not always flattering to Trump so the AG Barr meets with Rupert and the next day Smith resigns.

Did Trump’s AG make some sort of deal with FOX?

Like I said I want to start a conspiracy…..

Legere, Scripsi, Scis (I Read, I Wrote, You Know)

Lego Ergo Scribo”

I return my reader to my normal non-political Saturday….

Peace Journalism

It is no secret that I am a “peace-nik” or if you prefer an antiwar activist….I have spent the last 50 years trying to point out the obscenity of war to an unfeeling population.

The media is not what one could call antiwar….if anything they seem to promote war and conflict….

From time to time I am sent papers by grad students looking to further their education in international relations…this paper is on the need for peace journalism…..

Peace Journalism: An Evolving Concept

Peace journalism, as the name suggests, is a form of journalism committed to exploring root causes of conflict in order to “create opportunities for society at large to consider and value non-violent responses to conflict” (Lynch and McGoldrick, 2005: 6). Its history can be tracked back to 1965, when Johan Galtung and Mari Ruge analysed what makes foreign news newsworthy (Galtung and Ruge, 1965). Jake Lynch and Johan Galtung (Lynch and Galtung, 2010) further developed the notion of peace journalism and argued that the media (war reporting, in particular) predominantly exhibit biases towards violence and rest on the conceptual belief that ‘conflict’ equals ‘war’. Within the field of peace journalism (Lynch and Galtung, 2010; Lynch and McGoldrick, 2005), this view was considered problematic because it prevents conflict to be considered as an opportunity for the search of a new harmony between the parties involved, via a process that does not have to necessarily develop into a war. In fact, as Johan Galtung’s theory of nonviolence and conflict resolution (Galtung, 1969) suggests, a conflict is a clash of incompatible interests amongst the parties that can be transcended in order to reach a further and deeper agreement.

https://www.e-ir.info/2018/12/23/peace-journalism-in-theory-and-practice/

This is something I would like to see one of the major news outlets attempt…..side with the innocent….side with peace…..but as long as the M-IC owns the media we will always have only one view….the Hawkish one.

Closing Thought–08Jan19

Bravo Mr. Arkin!

I know I go on and on about our reps growing a spine and standing up to the war complex that we have created….I finally have someone that I can look up to within the MSM…..NBC’s William Arkin……

A journalist with NBC has resigned from the network with a statement which highlights the immense resistance that ostensibly liberal mass media outlets have to antiwar narratives, skepticism of US military agendas, and any movement in the opposite direction of endless military expansionism.

“January 4 is my last day at NBC News and I’d like to say goodbye to my friends, hopefully not for good,” begins an email titled ‘My goodbye letter to NBC’ sent to various contacts by William M Arkin, an award-winning journalist who has been associated with the network for 30 years.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve left NBC, but this time the parting is more bittersweet, the world and the state of journalism in tandem crisis,” the email continues. “My expertise, though seeming to be all the more central to the challenges and dangers we face, also seems to be less valued at the moment. And I find myself completely out of synch with the network, being neither a day-to-day reporter nor interested in the Trump circus.”

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/01/03/reporter-quits-nbc-citing-networks-support-for-endless-war/

Finally someone with ‘nads to oppose the M-IC and its number tool, the MSM…..

I have found a new respect for at least one mainstream journalist…..but sadly it will not make much difference.

Death Of A Journalist

Let say from the onset that the death of a journalist is unacceptable!  Any Journalist!

We all know after months of coverage of the death of WaPo journalist Jamal Khashoggi….all the drama and lies and denial…..it was a tragic situation….and the drama around MbS was just too suspicious to ignore.

But why is his death, Khashoggi, more important than the deaths of other journalists…..about here someone will ask….well if it is such a problem just how many journalists have been killed?

That is an excellent question……in 2017 a total of 81 were killed while doing their job of reporting…..but what about 2018?  Another good question….at last count 48 journalist have been killed this year….if you would like to check the stats then this site will help…..https://cpj.org/data/killed/

I asked these question because of a piece I read in the Gatestone Institute site…….

  • Ironically, the same members of the media who have been obsessed with Khashoggi and the Saudi-US alliance have devoted little space to the reality that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has been imprisoning, torturing and killing journalists for years.
  • The ongoing story of Khashoggi’s murder at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, more than being a function of concern for the Saudi journalist, was less important to Western journalists than attacking the Trump administration.

While the October 2 murder of the Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, continues to be discussed across the world, the November 23 assassination of a Syrian journalist, Raed Fares, and his devoted friend and cameraman, Hammoud al-Jneid, gunned down in Fares’s home village of Kafrandel, Syria.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13375/journalists-murder

Like I said any death of a journalist because of his job should be unacceptable and each and every one needs the attention of the world. Stifling the free exchange of opinions should be a crime against humanity and a war crime punishable by death.

All that aside…I have been asked why would this person would want a journalist dead?

Twenty-one years ago, the rising toll of attacks on journalists – and the fact that almost all of the crimes went unpunished – led Unesco to pass a resolution condemning violence against the media. It stressed that assassinations not only cut short individual lives, but attack freedom of expression, exacting a broader toll on society. Today, those concerns are more serious and widespread than ever. Nine in 10 of the more than 1,000 killings condemned by Unesco between 2006 and 2017 remain unsolved. Almost all were local journalists rather than foreign correspondents. Some were killed by criminals, armed groups and terrorists; but others by or on behalf of politicians or parts of the state.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/09/the-guardian-view-on-the-killing-of-journalists-the-truth-in-peril

This seems to be a spiraling problem….the killing of journalists……

Further Reading:

https://www.poynter.org/news/why-they-kill-journalists

Then we have d/bags like this one……https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/27/milo-wants-vigilantes-start-killing-journalists-and-hes-not-being-ironic

Those Lying Eyes

First the big guns came to town….SecDef and SecState and waltzed in front of the US Senate and lied their asses off…..that may not be fair….they were told what to say to Senators (The Trump Line)……and apparently it was all bullsh*t.

To their benefit I will say that some Senators were put off because the CIA head was not in line to brief and they, Senators, wanted to know why…..

Their threats and bitching got the CIA director a trip to brief a few Senators……

Last week’s Senate briefings surrounding a challenge to the Yemen War were less about the limited testimonies of Mike Pompeo and James Mattis than about the conspicuous absence of CIA Director Gina Haspel. That, and reported admissions from the secretaries that she was forbidden from attending the closed door briefing, fueled a lot of anger in the Senate, and by extension growing resistance to the Yemen War.

In a sign that the White House fears losing the war vote outright, they’re now letting Haspel hold her own briefing Tuesday, for a very limited audience of what the administration believes are “key” senators, mostly committee leaders.

The focus of this briefing will be Saudi Arabia’s murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and the CIA’s assessment that the Saudi Crown Prince was involved. The murder is adding to pressure in Congress to stop supporting Saudi wars, and Yemen would be the obvious choice in that regard.

Letting Haspel testify is a concession to the Senate, but the big question will be what she says. Clearly the whole reason she wasn’t allowed in the first place was fear she’d back the CIA’s assessment and hurt the Saudis. If she still does that, it would be strange to think it would placate any senators.

(antiwar.com)

After the briefing the Senators came before the cameras and made the case of MbS being a killer……

Senators came out of a closed-door briefing with CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday with some pretty unequivocal opinions about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s involvement in Jamal Khashoggi’s October death. What you need to know:

  • Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker put it like so: “If the Crown Prince went in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes.”
  • NPR points out that when senators were briefed by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week, Mattis said there was no “smoking gun” that showed the crown prince’s hand in the murder. Sen. Lindsey Graham picked up that thread Tuesday, saying there may not be a smoking gun, but there is a “smoking saw,” a reference to the bone saw allegedly used to dismember the journalist in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. He added there is “zero chance” the crown prince, whom he described as a “wrecking ball,” didn’t play a part, reports the AP.
  • And the New York Times has this from Sen. Richard Shelby: “All evidence points to that, that all this leads back to the crown prince. This is conduct that none of us in America would approve of in any way.”
  • The Washington Post’s take: “Senators put themselves in direct opposition to the White House, making clear that the evidence they heard had convinced them beyond the shadow of a doubt.”
  • And while they were fairly united as it relates to Prince Mohammed, the Times sees senators as being much less unified when it comes to where to go from here, on the heels of last week’s vote to consider ending the US’ involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. The Hill has much more on the efforts and sticking points around the legislation here.
  • The AP reports that vote set up debate on the resolution, but when, or even whether, that will happen is unclear, as senators are considering whether to amend the measure, and, if so, how.
  • As for who was allowed to participate in the briefing, the Post reports only Senate leaders and the ranking senators on select committees involved in national security and Saudi policy as it relates to Yemen were included.

Politico reports Rand Paul didn’t number among them, and he wasn’t pleased with that, saying all senators should have heard Haspel’s testimony. “There are eight people in Congress who get briefings on intelligence. That is not democracy. That is not democratic representation nor is it democratic oversight. I think the very definition of the deep state is when the intelligence communities withhold information from Congress.”

My apologies to Haspel for I thought that her time away from first briefing was that the admin was trying to get all lies to confirm their, the admin, position.

And now that the “rest of the story” has been told there seems to be a “showdown” in the Senate brewing….

The Senate is barreling toward a floor brawl over how to respond to Saudi Arabia’s role in the slaying of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Senators took a significant step this week advancing a bipartisan resolution to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, marking a sharp break from President Trump, who has stood by Riyadh and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, even in the face of reports that the prince personally ordered Khashoggi’s death.

But now, lawmakers need to figure out what a final bill will look like as they prepare to take a next step of bringing the resolution up for debate — and a potentially raucous floor drama. The war powers fight is uncharted waters for a Senate that has repeatedly rejected attempts to challenge the White House’s war authority.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/419214-senate-headed-clash-over-saudi-arabia

It will be telling by the conclusion of this Senatorial fight……admin and Senate at odds…cannot end well for either side….but will win this battle?

Always Go With The Good Customer

I see that nothing matters to this president…he will always go with the customer….and I am not necessarily talking about our booming weapons industry……

Trump refuses to state the facts that the intel agencies have handed him about the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi……..

President Trump made clear in a statement Tuesday that he has no intention of cutting ties with Saudi Arabia over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event—maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Trump said, referring to Mohammed bin Salman. Trump, however, pointed out that King Salman and the prince “vigorously deny any knowledge” of the murder, per the Washington Post. “We may never know all the facts,” he added, but “in any case, our relationship is with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

Trump rejected the idea of “foolishly” canceling military contracts, saying that would only benefit Russia and China, reports Reuters. The US, he said, “intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia.” As for critics in Congress who want to punish the Saudis: “I will consider whatever ideas are presented to me, but only if they are consistent with the absolute security and safety of America.” (The CIA is reportedly pretty sure that the crown prince is behind the murder.)

Our Dear Supreme Leader has stated that he has talked with MbS on at least 5 occasions and he has said he was not involved…..and Trump even dispatched SecState Pompeo to Saudi to “get some answers”…..

Really?  Or did he go to Saudi to help the prince with his lies?

During his trip to the kingdom last month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly provided Saudi Arabia with a detailed plan on how to make sure Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was protected from the fallout over writer Jamal Khashoggi’s murder—and possibly pin the killing on an innocent person. Middle East Eye reports Pompeo delivered the plan during a meeting with Saudi King Salman and and the crown prince last month in Riyadh. The U.S. State Department strongly denied the existence of the plan. The “roadmap” allegedly includes an option to pin the murder on an innocent member of the ruling family to avoid blame falling on those at the top. That fall guy has not been chosen, according to the report, and Saudi leaders are said to be reserving that plan in case the criticism of the crown prince intensifies. “We would not be surprised if that happens,” a source told the Middle East Eye. The U.S. State Department called the allegations “a complete misrepresentation of the secretary’s diplomatic mission to Saudi Arabia.”

(thedailybeast.com)

I wish I could say something nice but all I can do is think of what did MbS promise Trump to get him lying in support of the prince?  What is the price of a human life?

Besides….just what do we get from Saudi Arabia?  They have been a supporter of terrorism, they have done nothing to help with the Palestinians, they work on total self-interests not caring one way or the other about the US……again just what does the US get from the Saudis?  I think the Trump family gets more than the country does.

The Saudis owe us not we owe them!  And yet this president spends time on his knees before these barbaric murderers…….why?