"The War In Medicine"

CONTINUED FROM EARLIER POST

Am I accusing someone in Reader's Digest of intentionally
suppressing natural prevention measures in order to get more
advertising money for Reader's Digest? Because of the complex
rules a media company must follow when dealing with alternative
medicine (in order to maintain their pharmaceutical industry
advertising dollars), and because Reader's Digest has a long
history of following those rules perfectly, it is virtually
impossible that Reader's Digest coincidentally follows those
rules decade after decade. Thus, considering the opening
remark about alternative medicine, and the massive amount
of support for orthodox medicine over the years, then yes,
I am saying that someone in Reader's Digest knew the rules
and made sure they were followed. Unfortunately, Reader's
Digest does represent American values, or should I say:
corporate values.

    "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 opinion 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 the
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) pre-eminent New York
journalist & head of the editorial staff at the New York
Times. Quoted one night between 1880 -1883.

    Quoted by Upton Sinclair in his 1919 book:
    The Brass Check: A Study of American Journalism, page 400
    Even though Upton Sinclair was famous by 1919, because
    he was criticizing corruption in the media, he had to
    self-publish this book.

Copyright (c) 2003, 2010 R. Webster Kehr, all rights reserved