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The Shameful Non-coverage of 9/12
Joseph Farah
I knew the media were out of touch with the American people.
I've known it for 25 years.
It's why I do what I do.
It's why I created WND.
It's why I wrote the book, "Stop the Presses: The Inside Story of the New Media Revolution."
It's why I have devoted my life to reminding my colleagues and others about the critical role of the free press in a free society.
Nevertheless, even I was shocked at the abysmal, inexcusable non-coverage of the massive rally and march in Washington this weekend to protest government's abusive and unconstitutional excesses and power grabs.
How many people have to march on Washington before the major news media take notice?
How many tea parties and town halls does it take for the major news media to recognize the American people are peacefully voicing their concerns and deserve to be heard?
Why are the major news media, which are supposed to serve as a watchdog on government waste, fraud, abuse and corruption complicit in those things and betraying their mission to maintain a free and open society based on the principle of self-governance?
As an American, I'm proud of the hundreds of thousands of my fellow citizens for getting off their duffs and protesting their government's shameful power grabs. As a journalist, I am grieving at my industry's pro-government, anti-liberty bias.
I don't know exactly how many Americans gathered in Washington this weekend, but I know the numbers were massive by any standard. I've covered many big demonstrations in Washington over the years, and, there is no question in my mind, this was one of the biggest and most overlooked rallies ever.
Keep in mind, the 9/12 march received almost no prior publicity from the news media – unlike events like the much-hyped "Million Man March," which received massive wall-to-wall coverage before, during and after.
When average Americans take off from their busy schedules and travel to Washington just to make their voices heard and those voices are ignored, it can lead to a dangerous sense of frustration – the kind of frustration that persuades some that it's time to try other, more disruptive, tactics.
Let's face it. You know and I know that demonstrations by people demanding more government intrusion into our lives get more coverage. If 10,000 Americans gathered in Washington this weekend to call for a government takeover of the health-care industry, it would have received far more and far more sympathetic coverage by the major news media than did the massive 9/12 rally and march.
This is a glaring and irresponsible double standard by the major news media that is dividing our country, squelching debate, controlling the national dialogue, paving the way for more loss of freedom, rolling out the red carpet for excessive government power.
This is a double standard we see every day in smaller ways.
We witnessed it the week before when the major news media failed to cover the extremist background of "Green Jobs Czar" Van Jones – even after he was forced to resign as a result of that background.
We witnessed it in the last two weeks when my own independent news agency was smeared day after day by major news media outlets by critics who seek to shut us down.
This kind of bias needs to be exposed.
But do not be discouraged.
In fact, be encouraged by the glimpses of this past weekend's inspiring show of force by the American people.
America is waking up.
The tide is turning.
Soon, even the hapless, twisted major news media will no longer be able to ignore this popular uprising.