9-12-2009: The Death of Honest Journalism

9-12-2009: The Death of Honest Journalism

The death was not sudden but it certainly was evident to all who yearn for honest reporting. Most of the major news media had already been on life-support. Now they have reached up and disconnected their own lifeline of fair and balanced reporting. Death was caused by a slow growing cancer called willful ignorance.

For many years the major news outlets in the United States have been selectively reporting mostly good stories which support Democrats and liberalism while ignoring good stores which support Republican and conservative issues. Who knows when the cancer began?

On 9-12-2009 a crowd appeared in front of our Capital Building in Washington, DC. Initial reports were of several hundred, then several thousand, then perhaps 60 thousand. British news reported as much as 1.7 million. Somebody took a panoramic photo from high in the Capital. Yes, there was a gathering. The photo reveals every available street, avenue, lawn, public space in sight was clogged -- with people. I said "in sight." That means as far as the eye can see in this photo and in numerous other photos which have since appeared.

Was this "news"? Did this qualify as "news"? Or was it such an unimportant event or staged paid actors that should be ignored? The people were of all races and most states. Many had paid high fares to reach Washington DC from far away. They were seriously upset about the direction our nation has been traveling. They carried thousands of different signs which had not been mass produced. There was not a single instance of arrest. The subways were jammed. And the people were polite as they listened to one speech after another.

Where was the reporting of this event from ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and CNN? Would not the reporting of this historical event have increased their viewers and ratings? Again, does this not qualify as a very significant news story? How many much smaller events have been covered by every news outlet? If it had been several dozen or several hundred people protesting a Republican president, it would have certainly been reported.

The major news outlets are dead. Yes, I said DEAD. ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and CNN have died. They have died to honest reporting. They have died to decency. They have died to the neutrality required by and expected by the general population. They have sold their souls to the devil of one particular world view. The majority of ordinary citizens in the United States simply will not tolerate this kind of blatant biased reporting --or lack of reporting. Shame, shame, shame.

I was there. The crowds would have easily filled several large football stadiums. This was middle America who usually stays home, stays quiet and cannot spare time off to protest. They are motivated now. Fox News covered the event. Fox News' ratings skyrocketed. Fox News' advertising revenue increased. Their gain is loss from the other news outlets. And the other news outlets just don't seem to get it. We have simply got to get back to a news reporting system that merely reports the news, stops making the news and stops changing the news by its own commentators.

The least read book in the Bible is Zephaniah. J. Vernon McGee said that Israel had died from an slowly growing cancer of sin. America, wake up.

Russell Earl Kelly