"One night, probably in 1880, John
Swinton, then the preeminent New York journalist, was the
guest of honour at a banquet given him by the leaders of his
craft. Someone who knew neither the press nor Swinton
offered a toast to the independent press. Swinton outraged
his colleagues by replying:
"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."
(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.)
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