Levin - Unfreedom of the Press

A LSO BY M ARK R. L EVIN

Rediscovering Americanism

Plunder and Deceit

The Liberty Amendments

Ameritopia

Liberty and Tyranny

Rescuing Sprite

Men in Black

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Copyright 2019 by Mark Levin

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First Threshold Editions hardcover edition May 2019

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Levin, Mark R. (Mark Reed), 1957 author.

Title: Unfreedom of the press / Mark R. Levin.

Description: First Threshold Editions hardcover edition. | New York : Threshold Editions, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2019018443 (print) | LCCN 2019019562 (ebook) |

ISBN 9781476773483 (ebook) | ISBN 9781476773094 (hardcover : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: JournalismPolitical aspectsUnited StatesHistory21st century. | Freedom of the pressUnited StatesHistory21st century. | Press and politicsUnited StatesHistory21st century. | JournalismObjectivityUnited States.

Classification: LCC PN4888.P6 (ebook) | LCC PN4888.P6 L48 2019 (print) | DDC 070.4/493209730905dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019018443

ISBN 978-1-4767-7309-4

ISBN 978-1-4767-7348-3 (ebook)

Dedicated to and in memory of my wonderful parents,

Jack and Norma Levin

Loving and beloved, American patriots, and together forever

Jack E. Levin

June 11, 1925

October 15, 2018

Norma R. Levin

February 13, 1931

February 10, 2019

U NFREEDOM OF THE P RESS is about how those entrusted with news reporting in the modern media are destroying freedom of the press from within: not government oppression or suppression, not President Donald Trumps finger-pointing, but present-day newsrooms and journalists. Indeed, social activism, progressive groupthink, Democratic Party partisanship, opinion and propaganda passed off as news, the staging of pseudo-events, self-censorship, bias by omission, and outright falsehoods are too often substituting for old-fashioned, objective fact gathering and news reporting. A self-perpetuating and reinforcing mindset has replaced independent and impartial thinking. And the American people know it. Thus the credibility of the mass media has never been lower.

This book could easily have been ten times its current length, but that would make it unreadable for most. Nonetheless, much ground is covered and research undertaken, and many authors and scholars consulted, as the history of the American press and the evidence of its decades-long demise are carefully examined. The purpose of Unfreedom of the Press is to jump-start a long-overdue and hopefully productive dialogue among the American citizenry on how best to deal with the complicated and complex issue of the medias collapsing role as a bulwark of liberty, the civil society, and republicanism, ranging from the early newspapers and pamphlets promoting the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, to the subsequent party-press and transparent allegiance to one party or the other, to the progressive approach of so-called professional reporting, and the ideologically driven advocacy press of today.

Unlike the early patriot press, todays newsrooms and journalists are mostly hostile to Americas founding principles, traditions, and institutions. They do not promote free speech and press freedom, despite their self-serving and self-righteous claims. Indeed, they serve as societal filters attempting to enforce uniformity of thought and social and political activism centered on the progressive ideology and agenda. Issues, events, groups, and individuals that do not fit the narrative are dismissed or diminished; those that do fit the narrative are elevated and celebrated. Of course, this paradigm greatly influences the culture, the government, and the national psyche. It defines a media-created reality whether or not it has a basis in true reality, around which individuals organize their thoughts, beliefs, and, in some cases, their lives.

Yet there is mystery and opacity that surround all of it. And if one dares to question or criticize the motives and work product of this enterprise or aspects of itthat is, the reporting by one or more newsroomsthe response is often knee-jerk and emotionally charged, with the inquirer or critic portrayed as hostile to press freedom and the collective media circling the wagons around themselves.

It bears remembering that the purpose of a free press, like the purpose of free speech, is to nurture the mind, communicate ideas, challenge ideologies, share notions, inspire creativity, and advocate and reinforce Americas founding principlesthat is, to contribute to a vigorous, productive, healthy, and happy individual and to a well-functioning civil society and republic. Moreover, the media are to expose official actions aimed at squelching speech and communication. But when the media function as a propaganda tool for a single political party and ideology, they not only destroy their own purpose but threaten the existence of a free republic.

It is surely not for the government to control the press, and yet the press seems incapable of policing itself. We must remember, we are not merely observers, we are the citizenry. We the People, for whom this nation was established and for whom it exists, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,

W HAT DO WE mean by a free press, press, or freedom of the press?

What is the purpose of a free press? Is it to report information?

What kind of information? Is it to interpret or analyze information?

What is the news? How are decisions made about what is newsworthy and what is not?

What is a news organization? One person (a blogger), a group of people (a weekly newspaper), a corporate conglomerate (a television network)?

What is a journalist? What qualifies someone as a journalist? Experience, education, position, self-identification?

What is the job of a journalist? Is journalism a profession?

Are there standards?

Are journalists able to be fair or objective?

What is the purpose of reporting? To reinforce the founding and fundamental principles of the republic? To challenge public officials and authority? To give voice to certain individuals, groups, and causes? To influence politics and policy? To alter the status quo of a society? To promote the common good of the community?