There is no such thing at this date
of the world's history in America as an independent press
You know it and I know it
There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions
and if you did
you know beforehand that it would never appear in print
I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with
Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things
and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions
would be out on the streets looking for another job
If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper
before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone
The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth
to lie outright
to pervert
to vilify
to fawn at the feet of mammon
and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread
You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press?
We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes
We are jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance
Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men
We are intellectual prostitutes..
~ John Swinton ~ (1829-1901)
Former Head of Editorial Staff for the New York Times
Was one of America's best loved newspapermen
Called by his peers "The Dean of his Profession" 1880, At a banquet in his honor..
Source.. Labor's Untold Story, by Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais, published by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, NY, 1955/1979
I am now quite sure that 'Tragedy and Hope' was suppressed although
I do not know why or by whom. ~ C.Quigley ~