By David Stanczak
Disclaimer: I’m not a Donald Trump fan. Yesterday, the Pantagraph quoted an editorial in the Springfield Journal-Register taking exception to the Trump administration’s muzzling of pronouncements coming from the EPA. The editors were “upset” about it. But, they weren’t upset for themselves. “No, we are upset on your behalf. The fundamental tenet of journalism is this: Freedom is achieved when a nation’s citizens have access to factual information they can use to make their own decisions.” How pious! How noble! How gallant! Puleez!
Do you think factual information is essential for people to assess and make their own decisions about the appropriateness of the recent ICE raids that rounded up hundreds of illegals (excuse me, “undocumented workers”) in several large cities? I do too. But if you read or watch most MSM (Main Stream Media) accounts, for the first time, under Trump,ICE agents were knocking on doors in the middle of the night dragging law-abiding, hard-working undocumenteds out of their beds to send them out of the country. This is the stuff of Stalin, Hitler, and the Stazi.
Only a very few outlets bothered to report that the raids had already been taking place under Obama, orthe nature of the “victims” of these raids. Of 160 busted in LA, 155 had criminal histories, and many had prior felony convictions for “serious or violent offenses including child sex crimes and assault.” Would that information influence formation of your decision on the appropriateness of the raids? To me it transforms the raids from secret police activity to a refuse removal operation.
When the MSM suppresses factual information,we are no more enlightened than when the government suppresses it.
Bad news for the MSM. A recent poll showed more people believe Trump than them. That should shock them, because this result comes after they’ve been mercilessly beating him up for over a year. If accurate, it gives Trump the edge in future battles with them.
The only way to recover lost credibility is to tell the truth consistently for a long time. The MSM has a lot of work to do, but I’m listening.
David Stanczak, a Forum commentator since 1995, came to Bloomington in 1971. He served as the City of Bloomington’s first full-time legal counsel for over 18 years, before entering private practice. He is currently employed by the Snyder Companies and continues to reside in Bloomington with his family.
The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Cumulus Media Inc.
