A newspaper is of necessity something of a monopoly, and its first duty is to shun the temptations of monopoly. Its primary office is the gathering of news. At the peril of its soul it must see that the supply is not tainted. Neither in what it gives, nor in what it does not give, nor in the mode of presentation must the unclouded face of truth suffer wrong. Comment is free, but facts are sacred.
Charles Prestwich Scott
“There are laws to protect the freedom of the press’s speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press.”
“The devil’s aversion to holy water is a light matter compared with a despot’s dread of a newspaper that laughs.”
–Mark Twain
Has the above quote ever been true? Maybe, just maybe but the current version of what disseminates the traditional news is almost totally corrupt. Happily, with the internet the truth is out there if you can winnow truth from the storm.
The sanctimony and the absurdity of claims of objectivity by “reporters” like Scott Pelley used to enrage me. But now that half of their audience has left them because of these things, I’m just amused by their blather.