Asked to give a toast before the prestigious New York Press Club in
1880, John Swinton, the former Chief of Staff at the New York Times,
made this candid confession [it's worth noting tha
t Swinton was called
"The Dean of His Profession" by other newsmen, who admired him greatly]:
"There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, 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 journalist is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to
pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell the
country 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 the
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."
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