In the old days, men had the rack. Now they have the Press. That is an improvement, certainly, but still incorrect and demoralizing. Somebody – was it Burke?- called journalism the fourth estate. That was true at the time, no doubt. But at the present moment, it is the only estate. It has eaten up the other three. The Lords Temporal say nothing, the Lords Spiritual have nothing to say, and the House of Commons has nothing to say and says it. We are dominated by Journalism,” Oscar Wilde

That bit of sarcasm applies to today’s media. Every day, we are bombarded with what the media says is news, but, in most cases, does not quote a real source or attribute the facts to a specific person, organization, or official documents.

When people say their local paper is left-leaning, they really are saying the Fourth Estate has become left-leaning. If one has been able to stomach the so-called news being disseminated, one can conclude the media is dictating policy and an agenda for the Right … for the Democratic Party. The media massages an event to make it unfavorable for the ruling party, and prints it as truth with unnamed sources, and usually near the end of the story, admits that it could be erroneous. Of course, to the “average” reader, the headline and the first paragraph are usually all they read, so they take it as gospel.

A statement by Antony Loewenstein seems appropriate to close this letter. “Instead of investigating the behavior of governments and welcoming greater transparency about decisions being taken in the people’s name, many in the media became complicit in defending state power from public exposure. Along the way, the ‘right to know’ about government malfeasance was abandoned and replaced with personal smears, innuendo, and outright lies about those who were actually informing the public.

Framing ideas and debates, telling people what they should think about public issues, and defending doctrinal orthodoxies are what lobbying on behalf of power is all about. The role of journalists and commentators is to challenge and expose these processes, not to endorse or amplify them.”

JOHN FEDELE JR.

Salina, Kansas

Formerly of Williamsport

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom