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The Mockery That Media Has Become
By Michael Walsh
It wasn’t always like this. Newspapers were once omnipotent. Until recently media columnists were more powerful than Congress or Parliament. The term columnist has its origins in Saint Simeon Stylites of Aleppo in Syria. During the 5th Century, the orator harangued the populace from the steps of his column.
Newspaper columnists were once a formidable force in the U.S and UK. Great names included Ambrose Bierce, Walter Winchell, and H. L Mencken (1880 – 1956). Britain had its drum beaters in Alastair Cooke (Letter from America), Cassandra (Daily Mirror), Eric Heffer (Daily Mail) and Peter Simple (Daily Telegraph).
Washington columnist Marquis Childs guessed that New York Times editorialist James Reston held roughly the power of three Senators. Presidents and Prime Ministers tirelessly courted newspaper satirists. President Lyndon B. Johnson, a friend of Walter Lippmann, conceded that this columnist could make or break him while the electorate was still in bed.
Walter Lippman
Walter Lippmann’s (1889 – 1974) syndicated column appeared in more than 200 newspapers three times a week. The author of President Wilson’s 14 Points, Lippmann’s document sealed the fate of defeated Germany in 1918 and likely set out the road map for Hitler and World War Two. Lippmann was constantly courted by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and he played a leading role in bringing the Vietnam War to an end.
The public mood for the Vietnam War was said to have been started by Lippmann’s formidable rival, Joseph Alsop. As the US President ordered 50,000 more troops to Vietnam, President Lyndon Johnson was heard to murmur, “There; that should keep Joe Alsop quiet for a while.”
As many as 800 American newspapers carried the syndicated column of Walter Winchell’s (1897 – 1872). Few knew that Herman Klurfield served as the columnist’s stand-in and ghost-writer. Many media columns are penned by an editorial group and appear under a brand name. U.S Presidents Theodore, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan were once columnists as was presidential hopeful Barry Goldwater.
Since the onset of the far freer internet all such power has since evaporated. Betrayed readers have deserted mainstream media in tens of millions. For the first time in history, great national tabloids are shocked at the impact foreign media is having on sales and readership valuation.
There are nuggets of humour to be found in the demise of the much mocked Western conventional media speculation posturing as news. Recently, the Press Officer of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow decided to conduct a Twitter poll. The hapless fellow invited 1,600 followers to decide whether they believed Russia Today’s version of events or those of The Economist. As at 6 pm that day 617 had ‘favorited’ the Russian English-language news broadcaster; only 43 had ‘retweeted’ for The Economist. Twitter diplomacy had become Twitter democracy, and Mr. Steven’s epic fail was apparent.
Virulently anti-Russian Lithuanian TV3 held a survey with the intention of discrediting Russia. The viewers of this CIA bullhorn channel asked viewers, “Do you see a growth in Russian propaganda in Lithuania?”
One can imagine the TV channel’s hurt feelings when 82% of viewers replied, “It is not propaganda. Russia is telling the truth”. Only 12% of viewers agreed with the channel.
Great media columnists, once stronger than government, are now used typewriter ribbon spools scattered over the dirty floors of the past newspaper industries offices. Ironically the Syrian columnist 1,600 years had probably more clout and credibility than do today’s mainstream media columnists. The Daily Mail Online is now one of the most ridiculed newspapers in circulation. Readership of conventional and online newspapers is plummeting. Tens of millions, despairing of media spin and anti-White bias, are turning to independent online media. Good riddance.
http://renegadetribune.com/the-mockery-that-media-has-become/
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