Ειδήσεις απο την Ελλάδα και όλο τον κόσμο (NewsLab)

[makio]

Περι της ομολογιας..........

John Swinton - Yes, He Said It, But...

John Swinton: Yes, he said it, but...

I got email from Jay Salter, one of my readers, who had come across the http://www.snowcrest.net/zepp/Other_Voices/Swinton.htm John Swinton vignette in my "Other Voices" section. He forwarded it to a journalist's discussion area, asking for feedback.

One journalist there, Jeff McMahon, made this response to Jay:

"Yeah, I'll take that bait.

"The last time I saw that phony quote Swinton was identified as the "chief of staff" of the New York SUN, the date was 1853, and where it now says "I am paid weekly," it then said "I am paid $150 a week." Which is, actually, about how much I made in journalism. Then some liar realized that newspapers don't have chiefs of staff, at least the editorial departments don't, and if you're going to lie you might as well do it big, so they made him the EDITOR IN CHIEF of the New York TIMES in NINETEEN 53. Unfortunately, the editor of the New York Times in 1953 was Turner Catledge.

"So, the quote itself betrays a need for journalists because otherwise people who spread such propaganda might go unchecked.

"That having been said, I will acknowledge that this cheap lie, like most cheap lies, has some truth to it. I think it is expressed rather bitterly, personally, but I'm sure every journalist with any history in the biz has had at least one day when they felt that way. It's the very reason that I gladly applied the word "former" to the word "journalist" when it is attached to my name.

"Indeed, New York Times executive editor Max Frankel said something very similar about the impact of profiteering on journalism after he retired in 1994. Frankel probably isn't quoted quite so widely because he doesn't use 21st century Neo_Old_Testament Naderite phrasiology like "fawn at the feet of mammon."

"What "Swinton" describes is not so easily described or it would have been dealt with. It is more like a constant, subtle pressure to bend to power. A pressure that can be defied and maybe even often, but that does not seem to ever go away. The strong spend a career tilting against it; the weak let it direct them, as you can see every day in this county's media.

"It certainly isn't true that you can never write your true opinion in the American press. I wrote my true opinion plenty of times, most recently when I wrote that commentary about Hearst Ranch. It managed to pass through two editors and a publisher without one word changed. However, no anti-Hearst commentary can run in this county without a Steve Hearst commentary on the very same page. And who is responsible for that? Is it the fault of the journalists? No, for that subversion of truth and integrity we can thank our county's professional greenwashers.

"Anyway, before posting such, we should consider how our brothers and sisters in the Newspaper Guild might feel about such a broadbrush defilement of a very diverse group of largely hard working and unanimously underpaid men and women.

"I propose the following bumper sticker:

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FACT CHECKER

In cheerful solidarity, Jeff McMahon" ___

OK. Jay forwarded McMahon's response back to me, and since I would like to keep things reasonably accurate on my webpage, I went looking to see if I could verify or dispute the Swinton vignette.

It turned out - surprise! - that like most really good stories, it contained a little bit of truth, and a bit of fiction, and, unlike most really good stories, the reality behind the story is even more interesting.

Yes, Virginia, there was a John Swinton, and yes, he was an editor of the New York Times, and yes, he did say the remarks attributed to him. However, he did not say it at a retirement party, he did not say it as an editor of the Times, and he certainly did not say it in 1953, for the simple reason that he died in 1901.

A web search turned up the same vignette, word for word as I had it, in hundreds of locations. However, as McMahon notes, there are variations on the theme, including one which had him born in 1829 and giving the remarks at a retirement party in 1918. He would have been at least 88. Feisty old bastard, what with being dead 17 years and all.

But I hit paydirt in some odd areas. At http://www.scots_in_the_civil_war.net/newsmen.htm, I found the following:

John Swinton (1829_1901)

Έγινε επεξεργασία Απρίλιος 13, 2011 από astrolabos

[TifoziF1]

iageli: Διάτρητες οι κάρτες που περιέχουν τεχνολογία RFID Διάτρητες οι κάρτες που περιέχουν τεχνολογία RFID

Κλωβό Faraday για το πορτοφόλι από που αγοράζουμε ?

[HotPeanut]

in.gr - Τριετή φυλάκιση με αναστολή στον Τάσο Μαντέλη για τις υποθέσεις «πόθεν έσχες» - Ειδήσεις - Ελλάδα

[SLN]

physicsgg: O γάτος του Schr

Να σημαίνει άραγε κάτι για του κβαντικούς υπολογιστές;

Εχω την εντυπωση απο τα λιγα που ξερω για ενα συγκεκριμενο κομματι των κβαντικων υπολογιστων (που αναφερεται σε οργανικα υλικα) οτι δεν πρεπει να παιζει καποιο ρολο. Εκει ειναι καθαρα συνθετικο το ζητημα. Βλ. να φτιαξουν το μοριο το οποιο θα δρα σαν 2bit-4bit etc etc quantum cpu.

[hayabusa]

Πάει καλά ο κόσμος ;

Κερατέα: Άγνωστοι... έσκαψαν όρυγμα στη Λεωφόρο Λαυρίου

[deninho]

Κάμερες και στα σχολεία | Eλλάδα | Ελευθεροτυπία

[greekfragma]

Μια χαρά καλά πάει.....στα χαρακώματα ενάντια στον πόλεμο που τους κάνει η πολιτεία.

καλά για το πως περιέγραψαν το περιστατικό τα φερέφωνα του σκάι ας μη μιλήσω γιατί θα φάω κάρτα.

Έγινε επεξεργασία Απρίλιος 14, 2011 από greekfragma

[ThorLite]

Μπραβο στο κοσμο της Κερατεας που αντιστεκετε κριμα που δεν εχουν και μαγικο ζωμο....

[ARMAGEDDON]

in.gr - Έσκαψαν τάφρους στη λεωφόρο Λαυρίου στην Κερατέα - Επί τόπου μεταβαίνει εισαγγελέας - Ειδήσεις - Ελλάδα

[diodiastop666]

εχουμε και εισαγγελεις στην ελλαδα?

[TifoziF1]

εχουμε και εισαγγελεις στην ελλαδα?

Και εισαγγελείς έχουμε κύριε, κάτι άλλο ? (για κλάματα είμαστε)

[HotPeanut]

Όπου εμφανίζονται πέφτουν μπινελίκια και τα συναφή επιδόρπια

in.gr - Δύο τραυματίες σε επίθεση κατά του Ανδρέα Λοβέρδου στους Αγ.Αναργύρους - Ειδήσεις - Ελλάδα

[sotiris]

Το τραγικό μεγαλείο του ελληνικού πανεπιστημίου σε δράση:

X-PRESS - ΚΟΣΜΟΣ - Η επίθεση στον Νομπελίστα James D. Watson στην Πάτρα (video)

[Hydra]

Γιατι δε τους σπασαν το κεφαλι ; ΓΙΑΤΙ ΓΑΜΩ;

Εχουμε την ευκαιρια να δουμε/ακουσουμε κατι καλο σ'αυτη τη χωρα και ερχονται 20 ανανδροι να το ρημαξουν.

[vic]

Αν είναι δυνατόν που έχουμε φτάσει.

[HotPeanut]

Πάλι καλά που τους συλλάβανε...

[hayabusa]

ZΗΤΩ ΤΟ ΑΣΥΛΟ !

[sotiris]

Εντάξει σήμερα στο Δημόκριτο όλα ΟΚ, πλην της οργάνωσης που ήταν γελοία.

Στο αμφιθέατρο δεν χωρούσαν σε καθιστές θέσεις ούτε οι μισοί από τους παρευρισκόμενους, και δεν άφηναν να μπεις και νωρίτερα εντός του Δημόκριτου (πριν τις 2).

Καραγκιόζηδες τελείως.

[astrolabos]

16χρονη μαχαίρωσε συμμαθήτριά της

[greekfragma]

κάτι ξέρω εγώ που δε μπλέκω με Καλαματιανές