If you take a look at the map above I would like to point out some inconsistencies. The world as shown above is color coded based on each region’s supposed “press freedom”.
The darker the red, the worse the situation. The darker the blue, the better the situation. Yellow, despite what you might guess with the aforementioned breakdown, does not mean “neutral” or “indifferent” but “noticeable problems”.
It’s interesting to note that the “middle of the road” for press freedoms is “noticeable problems”. My knee jerk reaction is to think that there are noticeable problems regarding press freedoms in the United States, as well as in the UK.
Sure, we’re not Russia: We won’t put nerve agents in your underwear if you write something inflammatory, essentially killing you in public to show others not step out of line. #Freedom4Navalny
We’re not Saudi Arabia: We won’t chop you up into pieces at a consulate for speaking against the prince. RIP Jamal Khashoggi.
And sure, the journalists involved in the dissemination of government cables and spy programs haven’t been jailed or implicated directly. But they’re at the very least on a list now, watched with the utmost scrutiny.
However, those that supplied these journalists with their information were not let off so easily. Treated like defecting spies — and therefor by extension: enemy combatants — these whistle-blowers are extended no rights and no freedoms.
As Edward Snowden made quite clear in his book, his intended destination was not Russia, but Ecuador. His trip through Russia was made permanent when the United States revoked his passport mid-flight. He is and has been in Russia since June of 2013. #Freedom4Snowden
Ecuador, as the savvy reader might recognize, is the same country which has an Embassy that held Julian Assange in asylum. Assange was essentially on house arrest since 2012 in that Embassy, hardly seeing the light of day or able to experience the rest of the world. Ecuador, having no relation or obligation to the United States, was a relatively safe middle ground for Assange until 2019, where in implicating President Moreno of Ecuador in a corruption scandal, Assange “violated the terms of his asylum.” #Freedom4Assange
I could go on about Manning or Ellsberg, etc, but that’s not what this article is about. This article is about the kind of news and journalism that is allowed, and the kind that isn’t. For the most part, the vast majority of our news — while divisive — is divisive for the right group of people. Those that own the media. And those that lobby and control the media.
There is however a small subset of news that speaks against the narratives of the government, that goes against the cogs in the machine, and that is the kind of journalism that’s clearly illegal. Even if it is proven later that the government did in fact do wrong, you may not speak truth to power. On a good day, they’ll give you a D-Notice.
Excuse me while I take a hard turn here.
Somehow, Ted Cruz was granted access to write Opinion pieces for WSJ. Who the hell would give this guy a mic and a podium? In an article he wrote just a few days ago titled “Your Woke Money Is No Good Here”, Cruz states he will no longer take PAC money from corporations that are now “woke”. This is framed in such a way to get support from his audience, who may overlook the fact that he is clearly implying that he has taken money from these groups in the past.
Direct Quote:
This time, we won’t look the other way on Coca-Cola’s $12 billion in back taxes owed. This time, when Major League Baseball lobbies to preserve its multibillion-dollar antitrust exception, we’ll say no thank you. This time, when Boeing asks for billions in corporate welfare, we’ll simply let the Export-Import Bank expire.
What are you trying to say, Ted?
Have you have looked the other way on back taxes in the past, for money? That you were aware of antitrust issues in the past but made exceptions, for money? That you’ve renewed and approved corporate welfare bills in the past, for money?
But now you’re above all of that, because your belief systems aren’t aligned?
He continues:
For too long, woke CEOs have been fair-weather friends to the Republican Party: They like us until the left’s digital pitchforks come out. Then they run away. Or they mouth off on legislation they don’t understand — and hurt the reputations of patriotic leaders protecting our elections and expanding the right to vote. Enough is enough. Corporations that flagrantly misrepresent efforts to protect our elections need to be called out, singled out and cut off.
Not sure how that reads to you, but to me that sounds like “stay in your lane”. If you don’t play along, neither will we. Implications? Inferences?
In my nine years in the Senate, I’ve received $2.6 million in contributions from corporate political-action committees. Starting today, I no longer accept money from any corporate PAC. I urge my GOP colleagues at all levels to do the same.
Bold of you to say. Ted Cruz has amassed way more than 2.6 milli, but it’s cute of him to downplay it as much. Adding up all the totals from merely the “Sector” portion of the above link, we’re at a total of $3,340,933.
Never-mind the $21+ million above all of that.
According to opensecrets.org still, Ted Cruz received the most from oil companies in 2018. It’s worth noting that two years later — during the presidential run — Joe Biden received double the amount of Cruz at a whopping 1.6 million. Let’s see that Green New Deal ya liar. But this isn’t about Presidential promises broken, if they were even true promises to begin with, but about who the press is supposed to represent. Who is the press supposed to work for?
Let’s review:
Edward Snowden revealed to us that we’re being spied on by corporations and the government. When the government can’t supply the need, corporations act like an extension of the government. See also: hired contract workers. This allows the government to get around loopholes that limit the number of employees in a particular sector. Can’t spy on the whole country? Facebook and Google can: buy the data from them. Can’t block free speech? Have corporations do it.
As should be glaringly obvious from the WSJ opinion piece, the media is no longer an extension of the public. The press, ie. the media, is an extension of power, controlled by those that already have power, and by the same politicians that sell power to the highest bidder.
