I try my best to stay out of the national political debate.
But the latest debacle coming from this White House has to be called out.
The “Media Offenders” link on the White House website is a bridge too far.
Some genius inside this administration decided they would be the judge and jury of what they consider “fake news.” I say they should look in the mirror, but that’s another story altogether.
The concept behind this, I guess, is to point out stories they don’t like. Hey, maybe they’ll point this column out.
If there’s one thing the government needs to keep its nose out of it is the media. The media in this country was formed by the Founding Fathers to watch the government and make sure its shenanigans are told to the world.
They didn’t set it up for the government itself to judge what it thinks about the coverage. Since when is there anything wrong with criticizing the government? Never.
Yet that doesn’t seem to be stopping this bunch from telling the public their views of news coverage. For one, who cares what they think. It is not up to them to judge how the news is covered.
Trust me, if there is something amiss, we hear all about it. And how many failed lawsuits have there been against the media?
There is certainly the media that has caved to the strong arming, but that’s bad on them. Nobody in this business should bow to the wants of the federal government.
If fact, we should be doing just the opposite. Hey, how did those strikes on the alleged drug boats get ordered and by whom? That is a legitimate question. Maybe there is a legitimate answer, but simply saying “fake news” with no backing facts is ridiculous.
I have written many times how it was the Watergate scandal which led to my career in journalism. For those who don’t know, two young reporters uncovered a huge scandal involving the Nixon White House.
Just a few weeks ago, someone asked me how that all unfolded and how they found out about the break-in at the Democratic headquarters in the first place.
It’s a simple answer. They were watching the routine police “blotter” that was printed on a daily basis. It piqued the interest of these reporters that someone would break into the Democratic headquarters.
It’s not like there was a bunch of money or jewelry laying around. Certainly no valuable artwork.
So why?
That single question led to what turned into one of the greatest journalism stories of all time. Just the simple fact these two cub reporters were paying attention eventually brought down a president.
And don’t think Nixon didn’t fight it all the way until he knew he could survive no longer. He created media hit lists and spread disinformation all over the place. Nixon did everything he could to hold onto power but in the end, it was members of his own party who made that trip to the Oval Office and told him to resign or they would impeach him.
He resigned.
That is how journalism is supposed to work.
But in this day and age, we are seeing bias coming from the government. During the shutdown, this administration blamed the other party for the shutdown — through government funded websites.
I was shocked when I went onto the Small Business Administration website and saw the message at the top of the page.
Government websites are for all Americans — not just for those of certain political leanings.
In America, elections are held, someone wins and you move on. But you do it by representing all of the people, not just those who agree with your opinions.
At least that’s how it used to be.
It doesn’t seem to be that way anymore and people of all political stripes should be outraged. The government has no business showing bias while spending the people’s money to do so.
As we all learned years ago with Schoolhouse Rock, the way you steer policy is to win those elections and get the legislation passed through the Congress. You know, the way the Founding Fathers set things up.
I’m sure there are some who are going to call me “fake news” and whatever else you can come up with, and that’s fine. But you are not doing it through a taxpayer-funded website or office. You are exercising your First Amendment rights, which is how it should be.
But nowhere does the First Amendment give any administration the right to spew out biased information or point fingers at the media it does not like. Nowhere.
Maybe this is the new reality we are living in because those who are elected simply cower and run away from issues like a free press. They hide behind smoke and mirrors and even take months off while the rest of us poor slobs keep griding away.
It’s a sad comment on our country — and dangerous.
I’m in no way saying we in the media are perfect. Far from it. But the same is true for those in power — way far from it.
The Founders set up this system of checks and balances so we could do what those cub reporters did so many years ago. So the free press could scrutinize and expose wrongdoings in the government and get it corrected.
It sure seems to me this current bunch would rather those wrongdoings be swept under the rug while they point the finger and scream “fake news” and all of that other garbage they like to spew.
The people of this country deserve better. In fact, we deserve to know what shenanigans are going on in our government. Trust me, there are many.
We deserve transparency and though this administration says it is the most transparent in history, I have seen no evidence that is the case. Hell, we can’t even find out basic information about Yosemite National Park.
If they call that transparency, we are doomed.
Go ahead and call me what you want, I will stand by my beliefs until the day I fall over dead. This country was founded on the basic principles of freedom of religion, freedom of the press and the freedom to assemble.
Those principles are the basic fabric of America and they are eroding with such a waste of money by this White House pointing out what they don’t like. And don’t forget, that’s our money.
Greg Little is editor of the Mariposa Gazette and can be reached at greg@mariposagazette.com
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