When Journalists Cry Wolf

Every day another threat to free expression reveals itself. But it was wholly unexpected, and equally as sinister, that the threat du jour would come from those that require free expression the most.

Journalists, writers, and artists have suffered legitimate casualties in the war on free speech. In recent memory there was the massacre at Charlie Hebdo, or the firebombing at Hamburger Morgenpost, both of whom were attacked for printing the same cartoons. That is to say nothing about the censorship in unfree societies, which we might easily refer to had they been able to tell their own tales in the first place.

But the real threats risk being confused for the false ones. Over the last week, we have been further blinded to the real threats to free expression by unscrupulous journalists, pundits and politicians who continually raise false alarms for the sake of political gain, when it suits them, and never when it is really needed.

We all remember Aesop’s tale “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. A shepherd boy amuses himself with the panic of his townspeople by crying “wolf” when there is none, but his cries are ignored when a real wolf finally arrives. This is the scenario we find ourselves in when the press and pundits in the freest land in the world confuse or otherwise distort reality by pretending a cheeky tweet from the President is an attack on their fundamental freedoms.

The aforementioned tweet—a video of Trump himself clotheslining an opponent with a superimposed CNN logo on his head filmed during a stint in WWE—sent the usual suspects into the typical fit of self-inflicted despair. Vice-president of the Poynter Institute School of Journalism, Kelly McBride, said to The Guardian of Trump’s tweet:

“It’s definitely un-American. We have a couple of documents that define us as American: the constitution and the Bill of Rights. It’s Fourth of July weekend, we are supposed to be celebrating those, and the first amendment enshrines freedom of the press.”

Never mind the fatuous non-sequitur; never mind that the president’s tweet was an exercise of free speech instead of an attack on it; and never mind that the expression, a satire of pro-wrestling, was as American as apple pie; this fetid and appalling casuistry is being used to dupe the public into believing there is a threat to the precious first-amendment where there absolutely is none.

For this they have turned reality on its head. In their schizophrenic world, all one needs do is retweet a cheeky video of the president body slamming someone with a CNN logo for a head in order to “encourage violence” against journalists, to “embolden autocrats”, and to attack our free speech rights. What violence and what autocrats we are talking about is never realized, let alone materialized, but the tortured language regarding imagined threats and imagined victims is still promulgated and parroted by the worst of them.

Their stupid and self-generated fears, self-inflicted injury, and self-loathing, have resulted in pleas for Twitter to ban Trump’s account, to suppress his own fundamental rights for the sake of their fake fears (Twitter rightfully disagreed). Meanwhile, their rights remain untrammelled, their fears misguided and solipsistic, their bogeymen never becoming real. And all of it without a shred of irony.

Not only do these false alarms and false accusations about censorship, violence, and an always approaching but never arriving tyranny, blind the public to the real threats, only delegitimizing and minimizing the real victims of it. It misleads and misinforms the townspeople, so that when they cry wolf at the moment when a real wolf appears, their cries will be ignored.

LesMis

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

You are a monster.

Brilliant

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

Didn't someone, not so long ago, make it legal for propaganda to be used against the American people?
Seems like his plan is really bearing fruit.
Much of it low hanging.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

Ironically, this is how they'll justify censorship.

Crying about censorship while waging war on the press.

Irony.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope
ow come nobody cares that the last POTUS also used different words to discredit CNN in his last roast. Remember the lines "Jake Tapper left journalism to work for CNN" . Like hello, I think Obama was actually trying to tell us something. He honorably mentioned CBS and the today show ABC, but CNN gets the punch line.


Everyone there seemed to get it then. Why come nobody gets it now??

originally posted by: Kali74
Crying about censorship while waging war on the press.

Irony.

Where were you when Obama waged war on the Press? Hmmmmm, you and everyone else who were silent for 8 years?

Yep! They cried back then too, but they only cried about it for a few minutes and moved on. They had to obey.

originally posted by: seeker1963

originally posted by: Kali74
Crying about censorship while waging war on the press.

Irony.

Where were you when Obama waged war on the Press? Hmmmmm, you and everyone else who were silent for 8 years?

Why do you keep talking to me about Obama, Hillary and the Democrats when I keep telling you that I don't and didn't support any of them?

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

It seems to be the case that only when a light is shined on the boy who cried wolf are people aware of his transgressions.

I wonder how many other wolves were mere shadows created by an avarice-ridden, blood-thirsty and wholly self-serving media?

I know of a few, modern society is built on them.



Nice thread.

a reply to: seeker1963

It's even worse when the media promotes and participates in censorship.

OP, this is about the most well written post I’ve read on ATS since I joined. The fact that it speaks to the heart of the current issues with the American MSM is icing on the cake.

As others have already stated, it certainly appears the left (with their RINO accomplices) are attempting to set up for fully imposed censorship. Our Country will weep if that day comes; let’s hope the current administration has the fortitude to continue preventing their call for total censorship from reaching fruition.

You mentioned Charlie Hebdo...some crazies took the ultimate step of killing people over a satirical scrap of paper...why not some crazies doing the same thing in respect to a stupid...not worthy of satire, video.
It's not so long ago that Trump was super dooper for saying and doing what he thinks?
Methinks you need to go back to Breitbart's damage control section and think up a different ploy...but it will be difficult, you can't make a silk purse out of a Sow's ear.

originally posted by: Kali74

originally posted by: seeker1963

originally posted by: Kali74
Crying about censorship while waging war on the press.

Irony.

Where were you when Obama waged war on the Press? Hmmmmm, you and everyone else who were silent for 8 years?

Why do you keep talking to me about Obama, Hillary and the Democrats when I keep telling you that I don't and didn't support any of them?

LesMis had a great well written topic. I am not going to argue with you to further take it off the topic it was intended for.

If you have something against what LesMis wrote, then keep it on topic and perhaps I will entertain you.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

IN fact, I am going to clip that specific line, and tweet it to trump as soon as I can. My dude is in no shortage of ammo of course to defend himself, but whats a little bit extra to rub in that hypocritical double standard of these fake media outlets.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

Obama's attacks on freedom of the press are legendary, and real.

originally posted by: seeker1963

originally posted by: Kali74

originally posted by: seeker1963

originally posted by: Kali74
Crying about censorship while waging war on the press.

Irony.

Where were you when Obama waged war on the Press? Hmmmmm, you and everyone else who were silent for 8 years?

Why do you keep talking to me about Obama, Hillary and the Democrats when I keep telling you that I don't and didn't support any of them?

LesMis had a great well written topic. I am not going to argue with you to further take it off the topic it was intended for.

If you have something against what LesMis wrote, then keep it on topic and perhaps I will entertain you.

YOU asked! YOU brought it up, not me.

My disagreement with the OP was clear.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope
I would give you a heaven full of stars and flags if I could. Excellent presentation!

But don't you see that it is quite a bit easier to whine, cry and screech than to do actual journalism that requires investigation and critical thinking skills? Man, you wouldn't want them to actually have to put forth an effort would you?

It is much sexier to attempt to make people believe that your job at msm is "dangerous" because of what somebody posted on the interwebs. "AAAAIIIIIIIIEEEE! He's bullying us!!!!"

Someone should set them down in front of a tv running some old time Roadrunner or Bugs Bunny cartoons. Their tiny, empty heads would implode!

If you think this is all about a single tweet, you really haven't been paying attention.

What's sad is that Trump has been able to get his base all worked up about this false "fake news" paradigm.

originally posted by: Kali74

originally posted by: seeker1963

originally posted by: Kali74

originally posted by: seeker1963

originally posted by: Kali74
Crying about censorship while waging war on the press.

Irony.

Where were you when Obama waged war on the Press? Hmmmmm, you and everyone else who were silent for 8 years?

Why do you keep talking to me about Obama, Hillary and the Democrats when I keep telling you that I don't and didn't support any of them?

LesMis had a great well written topic. I am not going to argue with you to further take it off the topic it was intended for.

If you have something against what LesMis wrote, then keep it on topic and perhaps I will entertain you.

YOU asked! YOU brought it up, not me.

My disagreement was with the OP was clear.

Hardly. I don't get it.

originally posted by: redtic
If you think this is all about a single tweet, you really haven't been paying attention.

What's sad is that Trump has been able to get his base all worked up about this false "fake news" paradigm.

There is little that is false about it, that is, unless, we're simply repeating that narrative because that's all we can do.