Scripted news and the end of real journalism.

The MSM (main stream media) as of late has suffered lower ratings compared to the past. In my opinion its easy to see why, most of what is broadcast on MSM news is just scripted stories. The Tryavon/Zimmerman, Zuckerbergs marriage and a host of other news stories are what is now shown as news.

I have historically watched cable news for breaking news to keep upto date on what is happening in the world. Lately there has been a marked decline in breaking news, or it seems like it. Covering breaking news requires journalist and the means to bring a story to the public quickly. In a era where the news now seems to be more about showing stories with certain political slants seems to delay breaking news and information from reaching the audience and for this reason people are using alternative news outlets.

The earthquake that struck Italy was shown on ATS hours before CNN said a peep about it. The main reason for this is the reporters you see on MSM are more actors or actresses than journalist and they need a script to follow in order for them to bring you what is now consider news.

This is a clear area where it will be easy to spot, is the news really news or just the standard propaganda the PTB wish you to know. There weakness with breaking news will be easy to see as time goes on. I have seen topics discussed up to 4 or 5 pages long here on ATS before anything is mentioned on the MSM.

I have also noticed many news stories being found about the US on sites outside the US.

I think real journalism is dead in America, What say you?

I think the newspapers have a standing relationship with key politicians: they papers sell out by putting the guy's face in it, and the news company gives a bonus to the politician.

Same goes for major corporations with investments in the news industry.

Basically, this is old news. Money runs everything, and so anyone with lots of money...has lots of control. Three guesses as to what they want with society.

Dead for quite some time,my friend........................

Variations on the quote below have been misattributed as a response to a toast, by John Swinton, as "the former Chief of Staff at the New York Times", before the New York Press Club in 1953. However, research reveals that Swinton (1829-1901), after moving to New York, wrote an occasional article for the New York Times and was hired on a regular basis in 1860 as head of the editorial staff. Afterward holding this position throughout the Civil War, he left the paper in 1870 and became active in the labor struggles of the day. He later served eight years in the same position on the New York Sun and later published a weekly labor sheet, John Swinton's Paper.

The remarks were apparently made by Swinton, then the preeminent New York journalist, probably one night in 1880. Swinton was the guest of honour at a banquet given him by the leaders of his craft. Someone who knew neither the press nor Swinton offered a toast to the independent press. Swinton outraged his colleagues by replying:

There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.

(Source: Labor's Untold Story, by Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais, published by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, NY, 1955/1979.)

It may soon be interesting again.

Congressmen Seek To Lift Propaganda Ban
www.buzzfeed.com...

An amendment that would legalize the use of propaganda on American audiences is being inserted into the latest defense authorization bill, BuzzFeed has learned.

The amendment would “strike the current ban on domestic dissemination” of propaganda material produced by the State Department and the Pentagon, according to the summary of the law at the House Rules Committee's official website.

The tweak to the bill would essentially neutralize two previous acts—the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and Foreign Relations Authorization Act in 1987—that had been passed to protect U.S. audiences from our own government’s misinformation campaigns.

The new law would give sweeping powers to the State Department and Pentagon to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto the U.S. public. “It removes the protection for Americans,” says a Pentagon official who is concerned about the law. “It removes oversight from the people who want to put out this information. There are no checks and balances. No one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or entirely false.”

According to this official, “senior public affairs” officers within the Department of Defense want to “get rid” of Smith-Mundt and other restrictions because it prevents information activities designed to prop up unpopular policies—like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Pentagon spends some $4 billion a year to sway public opinion already, and it was recently revealed by USA Today the DoD spent $202 million on information operations in Iraq and Afghanistan last year.

In an apparent retaliation to the USA Today investigation, the two reporters working on the story appear to have been targeted by Pentagon contractors, who created fake Facebook pages and Twitter accounts in an attempt to discredit them.

The politicians did not like when the military was using propaganda on them but now they want to use it on the American public even more than they already do. $4 billion a year to sway public opinion already. How much more are they wanting to do?

Heres the story where they used propaganda on U S Politicians.

Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators
www.rollingstone.com...

The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in "psychological operations" to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war, Rolling Stone has learned – and when an officer tried to stop the operation, he was railroaded by military investigators.

The Runaway General: The Rolling Stone Profile of Stanley McChrystal That Changed History

The orders came from the command of Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, a three-star general in charge of training Afghan troops – the linchpin of U.S. strategy in the war. Over a four-month period last year, a military cell devoted to what is known as "information operations" at Camp Eggers in Kabul was repeatedly pressured to target visiting senators and other VIPs who met with Caldwell. When the unit resisted the order, arguing that it violated U.S. laws prohibiting the use of propaganda against American citizens, it was subjected to a campaign of retaliation.

Originally posted by LDragonFire
I think real journalism is dead in America, What say you?

Journalism in the Western world is dead.

Journalists have been bought and paid for by those with money.

reply to post by ollncasino


Well, where's my check? I've been a part of the MSM for 15 years and no one has paid me off. Not with money, gifts...anything. My self esteem is now shot, first this, then like none of the priests at my catholic school wanted to get me in the sack. WTF?

Originally posted by DarkKnight76
Well, where's my check? I've been a part of the MSM for 15 years and no one has paid me off. Not with money, gifts...anything. My self esteem is now shot, first this, then like none of the priests at my catholic school wanted to get me in the sack. WTF?

He who pays the piper calls the tune.

Go to work tomorrow and write what you really think. Time how long you stay in a job.

reply to post by ollncasino


Yeah, I always write what I want in relation to my assigned beats. Now if I wrote some paranoid wack-a-doo story with no basis in truth or factuality, I would be fired. But please, continue to tell me exactly how my industry operates without any real idea of how my profession really operates.

reply to post by LDragonFire


I'd say you are correct for the most part. Occasionally the MSM reports on something breaking, but for the most part they seem to just want to drill certain, irrelevant topics over and over again. You already mentioned some good examples.

What can be done to make them start getting serious about being "the news"? Anything? Are we doomed from now on to be fed mostly propaganda instead of news?