Remembering the Fourth Estate
.jfif)
Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart
The Constitutional Convention, 1787-1789, was contentious, conflicted,
and at times, filled with loud and angry voices. However, intense and honest
deliberation resulted in compromise and the creation of the Constitution of the
United States of America.
The only part of the Law of the Land agreed upon unanimously
was the First Amendment. Contained in just 45 words are five rights which are
the core of what it means to be an American: Freedom of Religion, Freedom of
Speech, Freedom of the Press, Freedom to Assemble, and Freedom to Petition.
Within the text are voting rights, free thought, and the
right to individual action which does not infringe upon the rights of the
majority.
One of these five rights is an effort to protect the press
from retaliatory action from the federal government when illegal or immoral
actions were discovered and revealed to the American people. This was an effort
to make all Americans aware of any and all corruption and collusion on Capitol
Hill and in the White House. In 2025, the free press, commonly called the “Fourth
Estate,” no longer exists.
It all began with the popularity of television in the 1950’s
when congress passed a law requiring the broadcast television networks to
provide a one-half hour evening news broadcast with the intention of keeping
the people informed.
The networks complied, but not with enthusiasm. Advertisers
refused to include funds from their budget for the “evening news.”
The popularity of television “news” grew quickly, and on
June 1, 1980, Ted Turner launched the first 24-hour network, CNN. Today,
television “news” is the most profitable segment of every broadcast day.
In the 21st century, everything happening or not
happening in America involves huge amounts of money. Beginning with our general
elections, every four years, to the most ineffective and costly government
agency ever created, the TSA, billions of dollars are wasted every year. I won’t
even discuss the most wasteful government agency of all: the Pentagon.
With the growing success of television news came the
creation of “fake news.” specifically Fox News, on October 7, 1996.
Billionaire newspaper mogul, Rupert Murdoch, and an
established Republican Party strategist, Roger Ailes, created the right-wing
propaganda machine based on huge profits. Facts were of no importance.
Murdoch was well aware that sensationalism increases
viewership, and therefore increased advertising revenue. Stories guaranteed to create
an emotional response took priority over ‘real news’ and the truth. Fear morphs
into anger, and anger into hatred.
The major networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, quickly realized that
Fox was becoming the most popular “news” network on the “boob tube.” They began
to adopt Fox’ strategy. Their lies were more subtle. They were not as obvious,
they simply refuse to tell the complete truth or expose the crimes of the rich
and powerful.
100 percent of today’s legitimate news agencies are owned by
billionaires, Trump’s oligarchs, and their on-air personalities are
millionaires. If you think the super-rich are concerned about the welfare of
the majority, you are not paying attention.
In 2015, every news agency in America began paying attention
to the worst possible presidential candidate in the country, Donald John Trump.
When the unthinkable happened on November 8, 2016, several facts became
completely clear: the election was “rigged,” a lifetime criminal would be your
president, and all “news” networks gave Trump five-times more coverage than all
other candidates combined. Few Americans noticed the truth: the Fourth Estate
had quietly taken its last breath.
On this day, December 22, 2025, not a single member of the
mainstream media will have the courage to tell the truth. The old, obese man
defiling our White House is the leader of the American Nazi Party. He is a convicted
felon, a serial philanderer, a racist, a bigot, a sexual predator, allegedly
including pedophilia, and Vladimir Putin’s most valuable asset. None of this
will ever be reported by the men and women who once composed the respected
Fourth Estate.
The fact that the worst man in the world is wearing the
title of President of the United States is the ultimate failure of what was
once a free press. If they had told the truth from June of 2015 until today, facts
they knew but failed to reveal to America’s voters, Trump would have lost the
2016 election after having received just over 20 percent of the vote. His “people”
would have remained loyal to their leader, but no one else would have surrendered
their most precious right to a man who hates America.
On November 9, 2016, I made a promise to myself. I hate few
things or people, but liars are at the top of the list. I have not watched a
single “television news” broadcast since. I never will. I can read.
Op-ed by James Turnage
Follow my blog and be an informed American
Sources: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/01/23/three-disturbing-signs-of-fourth-estate-failure/
https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2025/january/penenberg-trump-media-.html
https://www.acluaz.org/news/first-amendment-101-an-introduction-to-the-five-freedoms/
.jpg)
Comments