My Name Is Ben Swann and I left Fox 19 to Bring Truth To Media, Ask Me Anything

see...what i say Mr.Ben..this is ats..powerful!
we are so glad you re here..Tq so much for your kindnes. .

reply to post by BenSwann


Welcome Mr Swann nice to meet you on ATS,

Why will "The Truth In Media Project" be different? do you have any more access than any other media to so called "closed doors" to dig out the hidden truths?

Thank you for your time it is appreciated.

Have you ever been ordered to NOTrun a specific story that did not fit the MSM's agenda or have you ever been instructed to word a report in such a way that it twisted the actual events?

Can you tell us about how it went down?

reply to post by BenSwann

Howdy! Thanks for taking the time to interact with out inquisitive community here.

1) What are a couple of the most important topics/events you personally would like to cover in your programs, but haven't yet because you don't feel you have useful or reliable enough information to present it?

2) What were the most influential "aha!" moments leading you to recognize there truly was a coordinated "game" going on behind the scenes of the public image of our modern world?

reply to post by BenSwann


Hello Mr. Swann,
Welcome to ATS!

Thanks for joining us here, we certainly like our independent media.

Along that line, I also agree that many voters who no longer wish
to register under the two party umbrella feel as if their vote is lost.

I could not agree more with your observation:

The rise of “independents” has simply defined what people are not, but
has struggled to bring clarity to who they are.

...and am very interested in finding out more, I certainly will be vistiing your website
to find out more. In the mean time my question is what do you, and your compatriots
see as a solution to the disenfranchised voter?

Thank you for your time and consideration!

bts

Hi Ben and thanks for agreeing to join us here for a couple days, I hope this will be an excellent experience for you and well worth your investment of time.

As one of the owners of AboveTopSecret.com I've been passionate about leveraging the communication/distribution power of the internet and tools like smart phones and tablets to create a legion of "on the scene" reporters who are as independent as one can possibly be...

I've seen a few "Citizen Journalist" initiatives start (including our own years ago), appear to take off only to never be heard of again. I wonder if it's because journalism should be left to the professionals (it's not nearly as easy as most think it is, we know this first hand) and these efforts are doomed from the beginning or, is there is something more and possibly nefarious to it?

Do you see Citizen Journalism as a viable resource that can eventually take off as a value add to professional journalism if not a medium in its own right?

Welcome to ATS Mr. Swann.

How difficult is it to be an investigative reporter today in terms of credible contacts?

Can you elaborate on the people/types who tried to prevent you from further investigation or tried to silence you about any particular type of story?

Oh btw, I noticed you have 23 posts credited to you on your avatar but only one shows up so far.

2 questions relating to rise of the internets: How do you feel about the downfall of "traditional" print media? How do you feel about the "age of citizen journalist" that internet enables easily?

reply to post by BenSwann


Great to have you.

The primary reason I studied journalism was to bring ethics and integrity back into the media that had lost its way—the media who are supposed to keep a population adequately informed.

While I know of several instances where several networks have purposefully suppressed the truth, can you provide an example or two of how your own (or a colleague's) own truthful/objective reporting has been either corrected and changed for more subjectivity and (possibly partisan) bias (through editorial pressure, etc), AND an example or two of how the truth has been intentionally *buried* by owners and/or the editorial department.

Lastly: WHY has the media lost their integrity, in your opinion? Money?

Thanks, and once again, Welcome!

reply to post by BenSwann


Ben I have enjoyed your reports since the first time I saw one of your broadcast. I wish you well with your new web sight and hope all goes well for you and your family.

I suppose my question would be how hard is it for you to separate the propaganda from the facts of a story you want to run with?

What resources do you have to verify a story. Will these said resources be better now that you are independent and not necessarily being directed by some program director ..

News papers, news cast, etc. are sometimes having to post a retraction on a story they ran with that later proved to be unfounded/false...With the respect many have for your reports ( include me in that group ) I was just wondering about your vetting of a story; the nuts and bolts....Thanks for joining us here.

Mr. Swann:

Why is the media so afraid of the politicians that they have to support one or the other party just to report on anything of that party?

reply to post by FortAnthem


Great question but a tough one. IMO one of the biggest covered up stories is the Drug War in Mexico and the U.S./ government's involvement through Fast and Furious. Though to say that is "bigger" than Benghazi would be a tough sell.

reply to post by tracehd1


I think it is highly likely that has been the case here but there is no evidence. We know everyone else is hacking emails and phone messages so why not media too?

reply to post by BenSwann


Holy crap, I had no idea you were going to do the AMA thing here. I hope you stick around as a closet ATS addict like the rest of us.

I do have some questions but, off the top of my head, I'm wondering:

What do you think it is that makes politicians take a 180 right after getting elected into office? Money does not seem to be enough to throw away the lives of so many Americans by politicians who, just months before, seem like decent people who sound like they would do pretty much what we would do and who are interested in "stopping corruption" and "yadda yadda". Do you think there are death threats when people get into office? Do you think when the president is sworn in, they just show him things so bizarre and monumental that he feels he must abandon all of his prior convictions?

What about you? Have you ever been seriously threatened?

reply to post by BenSwann


Hello Mr. Swann

First of all, thank you for taking your time to come here and talk to all of us. I have recently (via this site actually) become familiar with your youtube channel and subscribed to it immediately after watching your clip about Syria.
It kickstarted my attempt to support the American people in any way I could. Mostly I have only been able to write several U.S officials via mail to let them know me and others opinion of the whole Syria campaign.

Second of all, my questions. (some may be a bit "out there")

Q1:
Do you think that the U.S government is pushing for this action in Syria, in an attempt to save the U.S economy? We all know war creates jobs and makes economy flourish. We have seen this time and time again.
If not, what could the reason for going against the American peoples wishes be?

Q2:
With Presidents Putin support for Syria, could this whole thing lead to a third world war? And if so, would anyone be stupid enough to fire the nukes?

Q3:
Have you ever been threatened for your actions in regards to getting the truth out?

Q4 (most importantly):
What can we (the "regular Joes and Janes") do to help out? I mean anything. I am from Denmark myself, and I worry this will affect the whole world soon. Anything we can do to help? (not only help you but help in general).

I have plenty of more questions. But it seems only fair to let others ask questions aswell.

Also. Thank you for your hard work at getting to the truth, please do send my thanks on to your team!

Edit: I could not limit myself to one question, I am deeply sorry.

reply to post by wildtimes


Clearly this is just my opinion but I would agree with you that while NPR is not balanced it is perhaps less interested in spinning on behalf of a political party. I take a different approach from most people, I like to create my own balance by watching Fox, RT, CNN, etc and looking for bits of truth. Those bits allow me to research on my own.

I do like the UK Guardian, Wall Street Journal and RT because of the types of stories they cover.

MSNBC to me seems to be the least balanced of any media

reply to post by BenSwann


Hello Ben I do not have a question for you but I do want to congratulate you on the outstanding job you are doing to keep the public informed...... keep up the good work.

reply to post by cheesy


thanks. i like that your avatar is from avatar

Hello Ben,
First let me thank you for giving us a little of your time. I know you must be very busy, so the time is appreciated.

Could you possible give us your thoughts on Bengazi?

Also, do you think that the current situation with Syria would be a good way of keeping The People's mind off of the many scandals of this administration?

Thanks again for your time,
Quad

Originally posted by BenSwann
I do like the UK Guardian, Wall Street Journal and RT because of the types of stories they cover.

MSNBC to me seems to be the least balanced of any media

Reuters is member of the CFR...

And Wall Street Journal is member of NewsCorp (along with Fox), and both are members of the CFR.

News Corporation
Northern Trust
Northrop Grumman
NYSE Euronext
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
Olayan Group
Palantir Technologies
PepsiCo, Inc.
Pfizer Inc.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC)
Prudential Financial
Raytheon Company
Rothschild North America, Inc.
salesforce.com, inc.
Sandalwood Securities, Inc.
Siguler Guff & Company L.P.
Silver Lake Partners
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Sony Corporation of America
Standard & Poor's
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
T. Rowe Price Group
Tata Group
Telefonica Internacional U.S.A.
Thiel Capital LLC
Thomson Reuters

Just to name a small part of their information network.

Source:

en.wikipedia.org...