NY Times Admits: Mainstream News is Basically Censored Propaganda

Important article from the NY Times demonstrating how real journalism covering the criminal political elite in America is basically dead.  Even better, is Glenn Greenwald’s article at Salon slamming the complete joke that is the mainstream media, and he shows us all exactly why alternative media is taking over.  After all, only an incredible 21% of Americans have confidence in television news, a new low according to a recent Gallup poll.

Key quotes from the Greenwald article discussing the NY Times piece (both are worth reading):

A common criticism of establishment journalists entails comparing them to stenographers, on the ground that most of them do little more than mindlessly write down and uncritically repeat what government officials say. But stenography is a noble and important profession: they’re the court-licensed officers who, with astonishing speed and accuracy, transcribe the statements of all witnesses, lawyers and judges in judicial proceedings. If establishment journalists were to replicate actual stenography, it would be an improvement on most of the work they produce.

It is beyond dispute that President Obama and his aides have an extreme, even unprecedented obsession with concealing embarrassing information, controlling the flow of information, and punishing anyone who stands in the way. But, at least theoretically speaking, it is the job of journalists to impede that effort, not to serve and enable it. Agreeing to grant veto power over quotes — whereby officials can literally alter what they actually said, and then have newspapers report the doctored, inaccurate quotes — is about as journalistically subservient and reckless as it gets. It’s not merely stenography: it’s inept stenography. No actual, ethical stenographer would ever agree to that.

Agreeing to grant veto power over quotes — whereby officials can literally alter what they actually said, and then have newspapers report the doctored, inaccurate quotes — is about as journalistically subservient and reckless as it gets. It’s not merely stenography: it’s inept stenography. No actual, ethical stenographer would ever agree to that.

Quote approval is something that publicists and lawyers give to their clients (I promise not to attribute anything to you publicly without your advance consent); in other words, it’s reflective of a relationship between those in a service profession and those who are served. And that explains why establishment journalists provide this service to these political officials: because they serve them as spokespeople, not report on them adversarially.

Full article here.

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39 thoughts on “NY Times Admits: Mainstream News is Basically Censored Propaganda”

  1. NY Times is trash. Mainstream has nothing main in reality. These people are corporate fascists. I really undestod what these people were after 911. Everything became quite clear after septemeber 11th. Mainstreat media should be called corporate fascists media. That is what they are.

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  2. dude dont quot plato his republic is at the root of marxisim and all the rest of our problems they should have made him drink the tea also IMHO. we need to “read” plato NOT celibrate his scocial enginering plans they have NOT worked out well for humanity

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  3. Even as a Libertarian, I think folks like Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, and Democracy Now are heroes. There are several huge problems with mainstream media. First, journalists have been captured by the government agencies they are supposed to report on… Investigative journalists lose access if they don’t report exactly what government wants reported. Second, investigative journalism has always been a loss leader for news organizations in any case… Good investigative journalists go down a lot of empty rabbit holes for every successful piece they write and good Watergate-like coverage takes months, even years to reach fruition. This didn’t use to be a problem, because journalism’s advertising-revenue model could successfully “subsidize” investigative journalism. That model is now dead, and not surprisingly, good investigative journos are on the streets. The good news is that bloggers, citizen journalists, and new models of investigative journalism are springing up all over the place and citizens are flocking to “alternative” media for their information… The mainstream media is a dinosaur that is just no longer relevant. The blathering idiots on MSNBCFOXCNN may appeal to the Frito Pendejo’s (Google it) of the world, but the rest of us have moved on.

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    • I totally agree with your assessment…….but huge pieces of this situation you have ignored or maybe do not know———the media started to change [in so many ways] the day in 1986 when Reagan and Company got Congress to eliminate the “””FAIR DOCTRINE CLAUSE”” out of the media———–I have watched it all happen—-I could write a book covering the prostitution of the american media…………………………yes…….technology and business laws had a hand but they changed the very fabric of our society when the “FAIR DOCTRINE CLAUSE ” WAS GONE

  4. At the moment we as Americans are suffering, why? we have elected politicians who represent us to seats of power that are now abusing the very trust we have placed in them, and those they appoint. There has never been a more corrupt political and judicial process than what we have at this very moment. We are not a free people, we are controlled
    In days and months to come we will that our “representatives” (the executive, legislative, and judiciary) are so compromised by coruption, graft, and cronyism, that we will beat down the doors to remove them from office, democrat and republican alike.
    The lies, scandals, and the nearly complete control of the press demonstrated (at least to me) that right now we live under a form of bureaucratic tyrany. We are in the process of being regulated, over-governed, and taxed into generational slavery to the state by those whose self-interest has blinded them to the true reason they became a public servant.
    When a lie becomes truth because it is repeated enough, when a person’s reputation is destroyed because he or she seeks to stand for right, and justice..and when good is patriotism is portrayed as radical and evil: we cease to find safe haven in the constitutional liberties and protections granted to us by our Constitution,
    Let freedom and the truth ring out, the guilty feel shame in their greed and dark deeds, and justice in all things prevail!

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    • Very nicely said UnCorruptable, and similar to what I observe.

      If you studied the Nazi and then replace “Jew” with “1%” or “the rich” you see how bad people can do bad things, and then blame it all on someone else.

      I wish I could say I am shocked by how many people believe this propaganda, but when you look at our school system and media now, it becomes obvious that the deck was stacked long ago. The sooner we walk away from them, the better, but then comes the control of the internet….

      Goodbye:
      Gay B C
      No Body Cares
      See BS
      Conspiracy News Network
      and so on….

  5. I hope November will bring about some relief for all of us .We will never be free from evil, but hopefully people will wake up before it is too late.(If it is not already.) We should all be praying for this country ..If you do not vote, you have no reason to complain.

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  6. I don’t watch mainstream media news channels anymore. I use drudgereport.com, worldnetdaily.com and infowars.com . God bless you all who are awake and are making an effort to awaken others.

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  7. It may have completely got crazy under George W.but this whole trend of the GOVERNMENT not enforcing the law[and alot of regs and rules etc.] really started back in the Reagan days——–Reagans campaign slogan was ” It’s the gov that’s the problem and proceeded to deregulate..defund…..deactivate every agency he could get his hands on……..but Reagan did not allow laws and regs be ignored as did Bush——–the BUSH–CHENEY FOLKS WERE OUT OF CONTROL FROM THE FIRST MONTHS OF COMING TO OFFICE—THEY OPENLY CANCELLED AND REWORDED STUDIES……..THERE PEOPLE AT INTERIOR WERE COUNTERFIETING GOOD SCIENCE………….OVER IN AGRICULTURE THE FORESTRY DEPT. WAS PLAYING THAT 100 YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY WAS ALL WRONG AND THERE WAY OF SEEING NATURE[POLITICALLY RIGHTWING PROPAGANDA AND MAN MADE BELIEFS]was valid——–In the first 6 months of BUSH coming to office I could not believe how politicized alot of professional GOV agencies were becoming…..and then half the people at the CDC RESIGNED IN PROTEST OVER BUSHS INTERFERENCE IN THERE AGENCY AND THE STORY IS NOT EVEN CARRIED IN THE MAINSTREAM PRESS??????THAT IS WHEN I knew that America was in deep trouble—these people were gangsters and political idealoques and evveybody in the press were acting as evertyhing is normal————-SO HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN??????????WAY BACK IN 1986 WHEN REAGAN AND COMPANY ELIMINATED THE “”FAIR DOCTRINE CLAUSE “”” out of the media….and alot of business laws also—AMERICA AND HOW IT GETS INFORMED HAS NOT BEEN THE SAME SINCE——THE MEDIA BECAME A BIG MONEY MAKING SOAP OPERA……..SLEAZE BAGS SUDDENLY OWNED WHOLE NETWORKS………..ENTERTAINMENT WAS IN AND THE TRUTH WAS OUT….MONEY, APPPEARANCE AND ENTERTAINMENT WAS THE NAME OF THE GAME———–I have been watching how it all deveoped————-the FAIR DOCTRINE CLUASE HAD BEEN THE LAW SINCE THE INVENTION OF TV AND RADIO….GETTING RID OF IT WAS A BIG GOAL OF THE RIGHTWINGERS……TODAY THEY CALL THESE FOLKS CONSERATIVES………YEA RIGHT…………………………..THE NATION HAS BECOME SICK…..ARGUEING OVER THINGS THEY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT………BELIEVING INFO THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FACT—–ALOT OF YOUNGSTERS WITHIN THE MEDIA TRY TO SORT THINGS OUT BUT MOST OF THEM DO NOT KNOW THERE RECENT HISTORY????????I see alot of ignorance and confusion……………..big….big trouble……..ahead

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