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2009
Soap Box Archives Freedom of the Press With freedom comes responsibility. I remember a time a few short decades ago when the American media prided themselves on accuracy and actually reporting the news, not coloring it to make it tilt toward one political ideology or the other. There was a time when the embedded reporters or war correspondents -as they were called in those days- actually supported the troops they reported on. Men like the great Ernie Pyle stood shoulder to shoulder with our troops at invasions and ferocious fire fights and sent the real story back home to anxious loved ones who were able to see the war their sons were fighting through his eyes. Ernie Pyle and the honorable men who covered the second world war first hand didn't seek out negativity or try to make our troops look like a band of thugs who willfully rape, murder and torture but portrayed them as the genuine heroes they are. There was a time when "The Gray Lady," The New York Times, was truly a great newspaper instead of the biased, inaccurate, America-hating rag it's turned into. There was a time when a news anchor, Walter Cronkite, was the most trusted man in America. In this day and age, the majority of the American public wouldn't trust any of the network anchors to take their dog to the bathroom. The ratings for the network news shows have fallen dramatically over the years, as has the circulation for most all the major city newspapers, and it was happening before the economic downturn. I can understand why so many people would be so turned off by the one-sided coverage of the War in Iraq. Who wants to see 40 plus stories in The New York Times about a minuscule handful of rogue troops at Abu Graib and minimal coverage of Islamic fanatics beheading an American? Who wants to hear their fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers who are serving this country in uniform referred to like common criminals on the front pages of this country's major newspapers? Who wants to hear Dan Rather promote a downright fabrication just because he hated George W. Bush so much that he was blind to the repercussions? Who wants to pick up a newspaper and have to experience the sickening fawning over Barack Obama and anything he does, no matter how detrimental it is to this country. A lot of lies get told on the Internet but a lot of truth also gets out, and if you keep your antennae finely tuned you can usually tell one from the other. It all comes down to what it has always been, personal responsibility. I can tell by the feedback that the overwhelming majority of the people who read this column are intelligent, discerning and responsible people who know when they are being sold a bill of goods. We can no longer depend on the major media. They are just not to be trusted anymore than the politicians can be. They try to hide the truth from us and someday they will have to face the fact that they have lied to us. But the truth is out there somewhere. And with a little diligence and effort we can find it. It is a noble quest. God, deliver me from Marxist intellectuals who couldn't find their way out of a half acre of woods. What do you think? Pray for our troops, and for our country God Bless America Charlie Daniels
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