Denial Of Freedom Of Speech And Press

The 175th Anniversary Of The New York Times: “All The News That’s Fit To Print”

Ronald 9 Comments

Yesterday, September 18, marked the 175th Anniversary of The New York Times, with its motto “All The News That’s Fit To Print”, begun in 1851.

Without any debate, The New York Times is clearly the best, most comprehensive newspaper in America, and the only one that has a complete index of all news for all 175 years, invaluable to readers and scholars, including this author and blogger, when he was conducting research for his two scholarly published works.

That does not mean that The New York Times is “perfect”, as no publication is totally that, but it is still the premier news source, with thousands of correspondents contributing to the best portrait of what is going on in America and the world at large, from before the Civil War through the two World Wars, the Cold War, and the tumult of the present day under President Donald Trump.

The New York Times, along with many other newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV news coverage, is essential to preserve the First Amendment Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.

Every decent person must, vehemently, oppose in every way possible the attacks perpetrated by Donald Trump and his corrupt administration, which are promoting the loss of freedom, democracy, freedom of thought.

The authoritarian bent of Donald Trump must be fought against in every way imaginable, as the never ending fight for keeping the federal and all other governments responsible to the public interest.

So the news that Trump has barred CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House Grounds cannot be allowed to stand.

He is also threatening the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and other news sources, which requires a response of opposition and determination by all Americans.

The Rapid Decline Of Honest Journalism

Ronald 5 Comments

A very sad and dangerous situation exists, where journalism at all levels has been compromised in the time of the Trump Presidency.

We have seen courageous, challenging journalists such as Terry Moran of ABC News and Jim Acosta of CNN forced out of their positions for the “nerve” to challenge Donald Trump and his supporters on their policies and actions.

We have seen ABC News and CBS News making financial settlements after lawsuits by Donald Trump over their coverage of news and interviews that Trump decided to sue, and the settlements leading to contributions to a future Donald Trump Presidential Library in South Florida.

We have seen major newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post, making changes designed to avoid alienating Trump.

We have seen late night comedians, such as Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, along with “The View” and “Saturday Night Live” coming under attack, as well as the leadership and tone of “Sixty Minutes” being changed dramatically.

The new ownership of CBS by the billionaire Larry Ellison family is in process of destroying the long held, high level, reputation of that news network, that had such courageous journalists in the past as Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, and Dan Rather.

The coverage of White House press conferences and other activities, including the Pentagon, has been compromised by Trump, his Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, censoring who can be present, who can ask questions, and denying freedom of speech and press at every turn.

This is all very alarming, as without a free, uncontrolled media environment, and without the ability to have comedy shows that can make fun of government leaders and policies, we are on the road to a total Fascist authoritarian government, which, once accomplished, will be hard to prevent long term damage.