Courageous Journalism is a Fairy Tale

From Democratic Veteran

Once Upon a Time

The Government did not tell the media what to report, or not report, sometimes they really, really wanted to but there was this little thing called the First Amendment, in a quaint document called the 'Bill of Rights'. In modern times, the Media is all about Access, and the government is all about Granting Access. Access has all kind of perks, like big salaries for those who have it, and lots of face-time on camera to make you a "star" and best of all, a Nickname from America's Worst President Ever, because Nicknames make you feel like you have "Insider Access".

So now when stories need to be told, the government says "tell this, but don't tell that" and those with Insider Access dutifully and gravely nod their heads and say "OK, we won't because we want to keep our multi-million dollar salaries, and our fame and most of all, our Nicknames at events where we get to see the Naked Emporer in person."

The U.S. agency leading Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts said Tuesday that it does not want the news media to photograph the dead as they are recovered....

"We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media," the spokeswoman said in an e-mail.

Once upon a time, before Insider Access and big salaries and Nicknames, that was called Prior Restraint. Or perhaps that was just a Fairy Tale.

posted by Jo Fish on 09.07.05 at 09:17 AM