Back in the 19th century when there was only one media source, newspapers, Mark Twain offered his famous quote, “If you read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.” Today, we have several media sources and misinformation has mushroomed out of control with little or no indication of maintaining any standards.
Most professions such as doctors, lawyers, law enforcement, sports and sports officials, educators, etc. have standards they are held to. Unfortunately, today, there is a profession that clearly has no standards: journalism. Do journalists have to be registered or licensed? Do journalism schools require courses in ethics and integrity?
Late in the 19th century the New York Times added, “All the News That’s Fit to Print” to its front page. Today, they should be honest and change it to, “All the News We Choose to Print.” The Gazette, too, selects the news it prints. How many Gazette readers, say, know about the Arctic Frost scandal or the massive fraud in Minnesota, California and Massachusetts?
The following points out where the liberal media has failed miserably with their optional news coverage: There is no better example of the adage, “Be careful what you wish for,” than the lethal combination of the previous administration’s policy of open borders and sanctuary cities and states. Where is the wisdom, patriotism and concern for the safety of the American people in such a policy?
Millions of Americans have died from the fentanyl smuggled into our country. The influx of dangerous criminals hiding in blue cities across America committing murder, kidnapping, rape, theft and child molestation combined with corrupt judges allowing no-bail release has done serious damage to the safety of the law-abiding American people. In fact, any attempt to correct that damage has been attacked by organized and paid “protesters” trying to blame ICE because ICE is the biggest threat to the deliberate protection of criminal aliens.
ICE was created in 2002 as a result of the 9/11 attacks. During the Obama administration approximately three million undocumented immigrants were deported. Of those deported in 2015, 40% had no convictions and most others had minor convictions. At the time Obama was called “Deporter-in-Chief.” Why were there no attacks on ICE, then, by the media? Today the liberal media has yet to report that the so-called “protesters” against ICE were organized and paid by several billionaires, who provided anti-ICE posters, banners and gas masks.
Finally, our Constitution begins with, “We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Bob Couch lives in Easthampton.