Denial Still More Than a River in Egypt

With a robust wag of the finger, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer rebuked the press corps Saturday for their manipulation of the inauguration attendance and an alleged removal of a MLK bust from the White House. Not that I particularly enjoy watching an administration lower themselves to their level. Know how the left gets into full-metal meltdown over people refuting climate data and even calls them “Science Deniers?” This is how I look at anyone who still denies media bias. I would say never in history has there been such staking of sympathy toward preferred political world views, but sadly I would be wrong.

During the California Gold Rush of the 1850’s The San Francisco Alta California, who Mark Twain wrote for, was the political enemy of Democrat Governor John Bigler. A Free-Soil Democrat, Bigler opposed slavery but also championed harsh anti-immigration measures. The Alta California would portray Bigler as a ‘Yankee ruffian’ in its quest to validate bankers and landowners who sought slave labor to work the mining camps. As with many other populist-bent papers of the time the publishers printed editorials against a newly emerging Republican presence. The Stockton Republican took the side of the Governor and for their part helped promote dubious accounts of Chinese laborers looting stores. The sensationalized news stories even swayed public opinion in the administration moving the capital to Sacramento. Protestations of objectivity and accuracy were made, but these were understood to be mere rhetorical camouflage for the editorial opinions sown throughout most news stories.

In 1896 William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer engaged in a trade war for circulation numbers and based on anecdotal evidence ignited the Spanish American War.  What’s swept under the rug was the influence of the bourgeoning progressive movement of the early 20th century on yellow journalism. The prevailing theory of progressivism was that the individual was too uncouth for political decision making therefore necessitating florid language and patently biased opinion in news reporting.

As a former newspaper journalist I frequently had old-timer veterans poking fun at us fledgling writers as ‘Joe College’ and ‘armchair detectives.’ See, up until the late 1960’s journalism was a field of working class professionals who cut their teeth covering local high school football or writing obituaries. From the 60’s onward as the journalism profession grew in popularity it became filled with graduates from universities and the bias instilled in them from their J-School professors.  

Objectivity is as hard to impose on a thinking man as ice is to a bubbling volcano, as eventually passions will boil over. Perhaps Anderson Cooper, protesting CNN’s dismissal at the last press conference, can recall that time his colleague Candy Crowley came to Obama’s rescue as a supposed moderator. Perhaps Chuck Todd, who has previously claimed NBC is objective journalism, can remember that time 2 month ago his network denounced fake news and ran 2 fake news stories the SAME DAY. Maybe ABC can stop paying homage to the ghost of William Hearst with sensationalist videos that undermine the very legitimacy of the climate change.

I feel as conservatives we not only owe a debt of gratitude to these outted dirt merchants, but also the Democrat Party for swallowing their smug, dismissive poison pills. Simultaneously we must tell it like it is. The new Republican majority in Congress must sanctify their leadership with burning to ash the collective fake news rumor mill like so much incense.  We must be the first to call out Fox, Breitbart or any other outlet that chooses fiction over the reference section. The public is finally fighting back and all is laid bare revealing the fake news cabal and their benefactors.