Support objective journalism

The Intercept published an interview with Noam Chomsky on 26 September 2018 [1]. Noam Chomsky is a well know person. He's a philosopher and a social critic. In the interview it was stated out, that Chomsky almost never is being interviewed in the major news media. I was not surprised, because I know how the mass media are working. They are not the watchdogs that inform the public about the people in power. No, they are, together with the people in power, trying to keep the situation as it is, or expand the power of the already powerfull. They want to please their bosses, people with much money. And they are for a great deal dependent from advertisers. The big companies. Especially the television media. News papers have also paying subscribers. But the advertising money there is also a huge factor.

Can you be a good journalistic medium if you get your money from advertisers? No, of course not. That is why we have to support media that if free from advertising. Even such kind of media has problems concerting objectivity. Let's say you want to interview a gay person that says he or she is not ill. That his or her sexuality should be accepted. That they even want marriage rights. And it is 1950. Then too many of your paying customers will leave. So you are always inable to write objectively about all topics. Today there are other taboo issues. Child sexuality and pedophilia to name the most taboo topic. I write topic and not topics: singular, because these topics are totally intertwined with each other.

When the so called pedophile party saw the light, I and my fellow party members got media attention from all over the world: The United Kingdom, Belgium, Croatia, France, Russia, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Chili, Israel, Canada and many more countries. From all over the world we were in the mass media. Even in the middle east countries. Most of this media coverage was not very accurate though, but at least they paid attention to our existence. One major country was an exception: the United States of America. It would be worth it, when you think about all the potential clicks on the internet. People want to read such things. But the American journalists (their bosses) decided en masse that this information is not worth mentioning to the public. Justin Bieber throwing with eggs is worth mentioning. I gave many interviews in my life and only two times to American press. Some years after the so called pedophile party, I was interviewed by a jounalist from the website the Daily Beast. And one time for a television station, but that station later decided not to broadcast the interview.

In the media exists a political correctness what you may think and what you definitely may not think. Even if you have facts that support your ideas. Most so called journalists are not working for the people, they are working for a selective group in society: the people with power. Mostly the people with a lot of money.

The Intercept is financed by Pierre Omidyar. Omidyar is the founder of eBay and he made much money. The Intercept can live without money from advertising companies. This is a good thing. But Omidyar can influence this platform. Never interview a pedophile, is what he can demand. He can demand anything he likes and only work with journalists he appoints. What we need is many more sites that are independent from advertising. So there will be more diversity. Media financed by one rich person, or media financed by paying members only, or media were people work that do so without being paid. For instance: why don't we see more initiatives of retired journalists that start such a website or a publication on good old fashioned paper?

In The Netherlands we have some of those initiatives. We have De Correspondent. They started five years ago and you need to pay to see their articles. Unique is that it is a website without ads. Some retired journalists started a news paper called Argus. This real paper - I'm a subscriber - comes in the mailbox (not the virtual mailbox but the real one) every two weeks. And we have a site called Follow The Money, which I also support financially, that critically follows the people and companies with money. Because they only get their own money from paying subscribers, they can more critically inform the public. And they do. Scandal after scandal they reveal.

So if you are not totally broke, try to look for some independent media and subscribe to them if you can live with what they produce. Onehundred percent independent facts about taboo subjects you will not find in these publications. The journalistst meets people in power so often that they become friends or even lovers. But it's usually better than ABC, CNN, NBC, BCC, The Guardian, and all these other big players in all Western 'free' countries. And starting your own website is also something you can consider.

note
[1] American Dissident: Noam Chomsky on the State of the Empire - Interview by Jeremy Scahill - theintercept.com/2018/09/26/trump-united-nations-noam-chomsky/?campaign=homepage-podcast-intercepted - The Intercept - 26 September 2018