By Michael Quinn Sullivan | Commentary, Texas Scorecard
Most of what passes for “news” today is little more than warmed-over propaganda designed to serve the ruling elite. The foolishly described “mainstream” media (there is nothing “mainstream” about them) are shills for the far left. At the same time, many of the seemingly “conservative” outlets pander to whichever moderate Republican officeholder tickles their ears.
Citizens deserve better.
Here is how I define news: the facts of the day told in their truthful context, allowing citizens to make informed decisions. Every single citizen is, or can be, a journalist. Journalism is the purposeful activity of gathering relevant information and presenting it in a straightforward manner without deceit, manipulation, or unnecessary jargon.
Our Founding Fathers enshrined the God-given right of the people to speak and publish freely on political matters because they had experienced firsthand a government that did not. They understood citizens must be able to expose government malfeasance, criticize public policy and publicly identify corruption.
This was of such preeminent importance that the adoption of the U.S. Constitution was predicated on it being enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
Journalism should be agnostic to how the “narrative” will benefit the politically powerful and connected. Stories should not be withheld because they are inconvenient to the powerbrokers. In fact, news that is inconvenient to the powerbrokers and comes to the detriment of those in public office must — definitionally — be reported.
Analogies between business and government are over-rated and often wrongheaded. But, with your indulgence, let me compare the citizens of the United States — and of this state — to corporate board trustees. The only way to be a good corporate trustee is to be fully informed and have unfettered access to the business of the business.
As citizens, our first loyalty must be to each other — not the political personalities of the day. We owe each other our honest views of public policy and political actors.
Politicians and their media sycophants want the people stuffed with intellectual junk food, but effective citizenship demands a steady diet of real news.
Citizens need to have the knowledge they need to effectively dominate culture and government. And, quite frankly, we shouldn’t care how inconvenient that is to anyone.
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.