Bats Courtesy Kevin Barrett, Ph.D.
Once Upon A Time. Washington, D.C. had four newspapers: the Washington Post (a morning journal); the Times-Herald (a morning paper); the Daily News (a mid-day tabloid); and the Evening Star (an afternoon paper). The Washington Journal, a German-language weekly. the oldest paper in the city, no longer exists.
Only the Post remains. It is supplemented, to some extent, by the Washington Times, a newspaper which the Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon founded and the weekly Washington Examiner. The Post’s circulation is 127,700; the Times, slightly more than 100,000; and the Examiner’s about 90,000.
The Post’s Problems. It prints opinion as news. It often acts as the U.S. government’s mouthpiece. And it too often fills its pages with stories that are either not news or act as misdirection.
Consider today’s paper, March 21, 2024. Starting with the front page, the most important page of the publication that highlights the day’s most critical stories, here is what we have:
· As always, the Post has an anti-Trump article.
· The former Maryland governor is considering running for an upcoming U.S. Senate set for the State.
· “President” Joe Biden’s plans to phase out gasoline driven cars. (You know, the vehicles that can drive more than 200 miles without re-charging at an electric outlet.)
· Another report about illegal aliens flooding Texas and how terrible it is that the State government wants to deport them.
· An account about how patients want to legalize ibogaine, a psychedelic drug.
· The Democratic Party is in turmoil because people opposed to the Israeli Entity’s Gaza genocide are fiercely confronting party leaders and office holders about their support for murder, war crimes, and human rights violations. (Criticism of Israel is unusual at the Post, especially on the front page)
And that’s just the first sheet.
Turning inside, we find items covering less than exciting topics with no universal interest.
· U.S. happiness scores drop
· Trump’s legal woes
· Trump’s financial woes
· A full page on a woman I never heard of (but it delves into race and sex, which along with identity politics, is a major Post topic)
· Government spending which might not shut down its operations
· Mining near the Okefenokee Swamp (in Geogia, the State, not the country)
· Security for the Paris Summer Olympics
· No Israeli Cease-Fire for the Palestinian Holocaust (a front-page item!)
· Top U.S. aide takes secret trip to the Ukraine (another front-page item!)
· The health of a member of the British royal family
· Rising food prices
· Another 3 columns of ink on Trumps’ choice for Vice President (I don’t like Trump; the Post doesn’t like Trump, yet that paper gives him much free publicity.)
· Letters to the Editor, all about TikTok
I won’t get into the local news, headed by articles on the Cherry Blossoms and D.C. sports gambling.
In Contrast. Yes, it’s hard to write, assemble, print, and deliver a daily newspaper. However, European journals manage it far better. For example, Germany’s regional Stuttgarter Nachrichten covers national and international politics, science, culture, economics. Big city Frankfurt’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung does the same but in more detail.
Online services outside the United States do a much better job than the Post.
RT, which Facebook insists is under the control of the Russian government, covers the Latest News, World News, and Business News along with Russia and the Former Soviet Union News, and Op Ed pieces. Iran’s PressTV writes about the world and regional news along with interviews, features, and investigations. Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen online in English handles regional and world news as well as art, culture, sport, health, and technology. Skillfully, accurately, and in-depth. It also has talk shows with tough questions on major events.
Yet, the Americans, especially those in “The Capital of the Free World” can’t seem to manage this. Despite the United States having 115 accredited schools of journalism.
COMMENT. Knowledge is, indeed, power. Controlling what people know, especially if it’s written down and not an ephemeral TV newscast, gives the elites, the leadership, “the people who count” vast control over everything. Manipulate information, misdirect people with false or misleading knowledge and you have complete power: over the man in the street, the government, and the economy. That’s why the Washington Post is so bad. There is no news in the newspaper. Only opinion masquerading as fact.
If people who follow international events were dependent on the Post, they would believe that the Russian Federation is badly losing its war against the Ukraine. They would, have no idea that the U.S., it’s NATO puppets, and EU running dogs had started the conflict to destroy Russia. (Cf. The 100 Year War—Substack August 26, 2022)
If people who follow international events were dependent on the Post, they would believe that Hamas and the Palestinians had savagely attacked the Israelis. They would have no idea that the fanatical Zionists had invaded and occupied Palestine, with the help of the British Empire. They would have no idea that crazed Zionists had driven out 85% of Palestine’s population—at gunpoint. (Cf. https://israel-massacres.com/)
People ask me why I subscribe to the Post if the only things not biased are Hints From Heloise and my horoscope. I reply that I read the paper to learn what isn’t news.
J. Michael Springmann is an attorney, author, political commentator, and former diplomat, with postings to Germany, India, and Saudi Arabia. He previously authored, Visas for Al Qaeda: CIA Handouts That Rocked the World: An Insider’s View, recounting how the U.S. created and used Islamic Terrorism. Additionally, he penned Goodbye, Europe? Hello, Chaos? Merkel’s Migrant Bomb, an analysis of the alien wave sweeping the Continent. He currently practices law in the Washington D.C. Area. Internationally-recognized as a knowledgeable pundit, he is a frequent commentator on Arab, Iranian, and Russian news programs.
Blacklisted by the US news media, he is also on the Ukraine’s “Enemies List”, having questioned, inter alia, that country’s refusal to honor the Minsk Accords and for stating that its government is Nazified.