By Chuck Baldwin
Reuters News recently reported, "President Bush said on
Wednesday
of sending packaged news stories to local television stations was
legal and he no plans to cease it.
"His defense of the packages, which are designed to look like
television news segments, came after they were deemed a form of
covert propaganda by the Government Accountability Office
watchdog agency.
"GAO, an arm of Congress, said this ran counter to appropriation
laws and was a misuse of federal funds."
The federal government’s practice of sending "packaged news" to
media outlets began under the Clinton Administration. President
Bush has not only continued the practice, he has doubled the
amount of federal tax dollars that are used for this purpose,
spending $254 million in his first term.
The proliferation of the Clinton/Bush "packaged news" policy
signals the beginning of the end of a free and independent media
(especially television media) in this country! Obviously, this does
not bode well for the maintenance of liberty.
Knowing the propensity of national leaders to mislead people and
misrepresent truth, our Founding Fathers deliberately intended to
keep the press free and independent from the controls and
restraints of the federal government. A free press, even a hostile
press, bodes well for freedom. A controlled or propaganda press
does not.
Virtually every repressive regime of history was first able to obtain
control of the nation’s major media outlets. After all, if one can
control the flow of information, he or she can control the minds
and actions of the citizenry. It now appears that our federal
government is beginning to do this very thing.
Have readers noticed how the same news stories seem to be carried
by the three major networks and by the major cable networks?
Does anyone really believe that this is a coincidence?
What should also be obvious to any objective observer is the fact
that the major media (with few exceptions) is even more
accommodating of the Bush administration than it was of the
Clinton administration, Bush’s supposed conservatism
notwithstanding. The lack of media curiosity and investigative
reporting has become so universal that for all practical purposes it
doesn’t even exist!
With very few exceptions, the major media simply regurgitates the
government’s spin on a given issue without challenge or question.
Now we learn that many media outlets are actually running the
federal government’s "packaged news" without revision!
Obviously, the real culprits in this story are the media moguls
themselves. As with just about everyone else these days, the only
consideration that seems to matter with most media executives is
financial profit. Subsequently, most news departments are treated
like every other department and are expected to turn a profit by any
means necessary. This usually translates to layoffs, streamlined
budgets, and less funding for investigative reporting.
Believe it or not, however, there was a time when media
executives understood that they fulfilled a crucial role in protecting
freedom and were willing to allow their news departments to
experience financial deficits, if necessary, in order to challenge
"the powers that be" and boldly distribute independent
information. Critical thinking, even innate hostility, toward
government spin doctors is a necessity if liberty is to prevail in any
society.
Also problematic to an objective and independent press is the fact
that today’s media elite come from the same circle of power from
whence come most of our political elite. They graduate from the
same colleges and universities, are members of the same
fraternities and clubs, and share the same group of friends and
business partners.
Beyond that, if one bothers to look, he or she will discover that the
media and political elite of this country are joined at the hip when
it comes to the social and political institutions to which they
belong. At the national level, most are members of the Council on
Foreign Relations (CFR) and similar organizations.
Now, before anyone dismisses the fact that so many of the political
and media elite share membership in the CFR as meaningless or
coincidental, ask yourself this question, "What if these same
people shared membership in the Christian Coalition? Would
anyone view this as meaningless and coincidental?" Hardly.
Another example of the philosophical brotherhood shared by
"liberals" and "conservatives" in politics (and in the media) was
clearly demonstrated in last year’s presidential election. Both
President Bush and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry
are members of the super-secret Skull and Bones society. If the
media were truly independent and objective, would they not find
this interesting enough to investigate?
Unfortunately, the media are not the only ones who refuse to report
the facts objectively. "Conservative" spokesmen such as Rush
Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are every bit as culpable as the major
media in hiding or ignoring the truth.
As a result, there is precious little objective, unbiased, investigative
reporting going on today! The only exceptions to this general rule
are the Internet and certain (usually smaller and under-funded)
independent talk radio shows.
The problem with the Internet is that there is so much speculation,
hyperbole, and outright falsehood floating around that it often
requires painstaking work to discover the truth. The problem with
good, objective, independent talk radio programs is that they are
usually only found in smaller markets and subsist on meager
budgets which make it difficult for them to reach mass audiences.
When it comes to issues affecting liberty, both the preacher and the
reporter need to be as independent and truth oriented as is humanly
possible. It shouldn’t matter to either whether a policy is being
promoted by a liberal or a conservative, by a Republican or a
Democrat. The only thing that should matter is truth and what is
consistent with America’s founding principles.
Unfortunately, it seems that America’s religious and media leaders
have become little more than propagandists for our political
leaders. The Clinton/Bush policy of disseminating "packaged
news" to our nation’s media outlets is merely one example of how
our vanguards of liberty have been compromised.
© Chuck Baldwin
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