By Kurt Nimmo
On Monday, Mark Thompson, President and CEO of The New York Times Company, delivered remarks to members of the Detroit Economic Club.
Thompson threw around the idea of government censorship of “fake news.”
What can we do about it? The first thing that springs to some people’s minds is some form of censorship or regulation. I note in my book how the 17th century British political thinker Thomas Hobbes came, at least in part, to blame extremist sermons and tracts – tracts which could be mass-produced and disseminated widely within hours thanks to the still relatively new technology of printing – for England’s descent into civil war. He later argued that the war might never have happened if a few thousand of the extremists had been rounded up and executed.
Now, while I don’t suppose that even the sternest critic of fake news would advocate the death penalty, there are certainly some who favor a kind of functional censorship, with fake news sites identified and taken down, and fake news somehow filtered out of search and social media by human or algorithmic means.
Thompson then admits this is unrealistic. Besides, there is a thing called the First Amendment.
And who said that the public should only be allowed to read the facts anyway? The First Amendment essentially says they should be allowed to write, distribute and read anything they damn well please. If some of them turn out to prefer churning out and eagerly consuming lies and fantasies, so be it.
He then suggests a Ministry of Truth, of sorts, run by corporations, but admits this is worrisome.
If we imagine the tools that might be used to excise fake news from the web and social media – a mighty algorithm combing every sentence, every image for any trace of falsehood, aided perhaps by legions of human scrutineers employed by some of the world’s biggest corporations – they sound suspiciously like the means of control employed by the world’s most repressive regimes. They are probably not practical and, even if they were, they would be worrisome or worse in our free societies.
Thompson then falls back on a solution imposed by the state by using food labeling as an example.
Imagine a supermarket where the products had no nutrition information printed on them, and no one was prepared to vouch for quite where they had come from, and the owners told you they couldn’t really take responsibility for the quality of anything. Would you feed your children food purchased from that supermarket?
Nutrition information on food products was mandated by the FDA in 1994. Is this what Mr. Thompson is advocating? A new government agency—a ministry of truth—that will decide what is fake and what is not fake news?
He then praises his own newspaper and admits it screws up occasionally (he does not mention the Iraq lies published by the Times with an end result of 1.5 million dead people).
If readers find misinformation and lies, he says they can always write a letter to the editor. “You can see who wrote the story and, if you think it’s inaccurate or biased, you know who the editor is, and the publisher,” he writes.
Finally, the CEO of the Times uses the fake news meme to push subscriptions.
It’s like any quality product. If you want real journalism, you as a consumer will have to pay for it. So subscribe. Subscribe to your local paper, or The New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal, or the Washington Post, or, if you’re feeling particularly flush, to all of the above.
At The Times, we’re making real progress, with audiences and subscriber numbers larger than at any time in our history, as well as big gains year over year in digital revenue. We still post healthy profits.
Hmmm. This appears to be fake news.
In May, the Times reported a $14 million net loss for the first quarter of 2016. “The net loss for the quarter was roughly the same as in the first quarter of 2015. Total revenue fell about 1 percent, to $380 million, from $384 million in the first quarter of 2015.”
This little device delivers turnkey Internet privacy and security (Ad)
Kurt Nimmo is the editor of Another Day in the Empire, where this article first appeared. He is the former lead editor and writer of Infowars.com. Donate to ADE Here.
The NYT and other newspapers are doomed by technology driving people’s habits. Radio is suffering the same fate, and to a lesser extent but still substantial is TV. Just look at the NFL ratings slide.
When I see stories such as this it reminds me of what the bellowing must have sounded like when those other dinosaurs were slowly dying, as the skies turned darker and it became difficult to breathe. Just like the election deniers and sore losers.
Unfortunately, the digital age makes it easier for the elites to censor and send information down the memory hole. There’s shadow banning now too. Jon Rappoport described how the new technology makes it easier to customize news for each person to further compartmentalize us. Stay vigilant.
What Mark Thomson is saying is that anything that is not Islamist/Globalist friendly will be silenced, censored and otherwise excluded from “legitimate” participation and conversation. The owners do not want a well informed public let alone independent thought. You can put lip -tick on a pig…
NY Times readers were royally primed for the “fake news” CIA mind control operation via “The Agency” a detailed article in the nyt “magazine” edition. The article detailed actual sourced identified Russian-based fake news stories created to mimic US MSM news report releases…looking very much like a joint CIA-FSB operation to plant “fake news” seeds – highly bizarre attempts, clearly *designed* to look fake enough to be detected. A harbinger of a major 0p.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html
Too bad the alt sphere didn’t immediately jump on The Agency to deconstruct the motives. …We could have unraveled the fake news psy op before it left its crib.
Absolutely pathetic. I’m tempted to give this delusional flake the benefit of the doubt and assume that he’s just doubling down on the “project your own faults upon the opposition” technique, but he is obviously just a self-important, entitled little boy who’s about to find out that Santa isn’t real after all.
He actually thinks this situation will raise his stature to the level of “Ministry of Truth” because the election results are unacceptable to him.
The NYT is dead along with all the top fake news papers and boob tube channels.
Funny how they want to win back, by any means necessary, their clients, ie the zombie plebes.
They are all agenda driven spew.
MSM is Dead, Long Live ALT.
wish that were true, Sally, but TPTB have their icy cold hands all over the world’s central Banks and now they’re entering the last phases of capturing the world’s natural resources – they’ve already heavily infiltrated most alt media with their diabolical tentacles….Mark of The [Digital] Beast is next
So does this mean Thompson is going to deep throat a 44 mag?
Fake news is as old as writing and government. “Nations” of, by and for the people? I think not. We now live in a world run by death cults in religion, policy, industry. It’s that simple.
For those than know the Euro is a fraud of private ownership, paneuropa (.org) a creation of financial interests and high level elites in Europe and the US. Unless one reads old documents, books, manuscripts, cartoons, and anything else, written around the time of the event or events, and gets multiple points of view, what we hear is most likely propaganda, indoctrination, sprinkled with a smattering of truth, loaded with outright lies.
The NY Times was instrumental, with other MSM for the wars of the 20th century, as one can find out about the first reading Smedly Butler’s “War Is A Racket”. It’s 12 pages but 12 pages to difficult for most to even attempt to read. This is why we defend the lies we live for to our demise. Man has no natural enemies so there are some that scheme using our natural ignorance.
A BIG false news product that most believe is that the US (a country essentially without a name?), is of, by and for the people and governed by the people as if it’s citizens were the owners.
The US since the Bank of North America, essentially been a corporation, run by special interests. The 3rd Bank of the United States known as the Federal Reserve, run by it’s governors and privately owned, are the owners of the United States. Since the Organic Act of 1871 the US has had a governor. It was broke, is broke but it’s assets are vastly more valuable than the pittance of debt it owes, and it’s payment of interest is simply unconscionable, a law that in a true court, would be thrown out.
HISTORY OF THE BANKS
UNITED STATES,
FROM THE TIME OF ESTABLISHING THE BANK OF NORTH
AMERICA, 1781, TO OCTOBER, 1834 :
NOTES AND COMMENTS,
R, K. MOULTON
On the 3d of January, 1791, Mr. Strong,
chairman of the committee, reported a bill ” To
incorporate the Subscribers to the Bank of the
United States.”
…
The clauses
under which it could be claimed were then reviewed,
and critically examined ; and it was
contended that on a fair construction, no one of
these could be understood to imply so important
a power as that of creating a corporation.
…
” The clause which enables congress to pass
all laws necessary and proper to execute the
specified powers, must, according to the natural
and obvious force of the terms and the context,
be limited to means necessary to the end, and
incident to the nature of the specified powers.
The clause it was said, was in fact mere declatory
of what would have resulted by unavoidable
implication as the appropriate, and as it
were technical means of executing those
powers. Some gentlemen observed, that ‘ the
ue exposition of a necessary mean to produce
given end was that mean, without which, the
end could not be produced.’
” The bill was supported by Mr. Ames, Mr.
Sedgwick, Mr. Smith, of South Carolina, Mr.
Lawrence, Mr. Boudinot, IMr. Gerrv, and Mr.
Vining.”
” The utility of banking institutions was said
to be demonstrated by their effects. In all commercial
countries they had been resorted to as
instruments of great eflicacy in mercantile
transactions ; and even in the United States,
their public and private advantages had been
felt and acknowledged.”
…
On the 21st of January the House resolved
itself into a committee of the whole, (Mr. Boudinot
in the chair,) and the bill was read by paragraphs,
and no amendments being offered, the
chairman reported it to the House, which voted
that it should be read a third time the next day.
…
The following were the ayes and nays on the
final question—” Shall the bill pass.”
AYES—39.
Messrs. Fisher Ames, Mass.
Egbert Benson, N. Y.
Elias Boudinot, N. J.
Benjamin Bourn, R. I.
Lambert Cadwallader, N.J.
George Clymer, Pa.
Thonms Fitzsimmons, Pa.
William Floyd, N. Y.
Abiel Foster, N. H.
Elbrige Oerry, Mass.
Nicholas Gilman, N. H.
Benjamin Goodhue, Mass.
Thomas Hartley, Pa.
John Hathorn, N. Y.
Daniel Heister, Pa.
Benjamin Huntington, Conn.
John Lawrence, N. Y.
George Leonard, Mass.
Samuel Livermore, N. H,
Peter Muhlenberg, Pa.
George Partridge, Mass,
Jerem. Van Rensselaer, N. Y.
James Shureraari, N. J.
Thomas Scott, Pa.
Theodore Sedgwick, Mass.
Joshua Seney, Md.
John Sevier, N. C
Roger Sherman, Conn.
Peter Sylvester, N. Y.
Thomas Sinnickson, N. Y.
William Smith, Md.
William Smith, S. C.
John Steele, N. C.
Jonathan Sturgess, Conn.
George Thatcher, Mass.
Jonathan Trumbull, Conn.
John Vining, Del.
Jeremiali Wadsworth, Conn.
Henry Wyncoop, Pa.
NAYS—19.
Messrs. John Baptiste Ashe, N. C.
Abraham Baldwin, Geo.
Timothy Bloodgood, N. C.
John Brown, Va.
Edanus Burke, S. C.
Daniel Carrol, Md.
Benjamin Contee, Md.
Jonathan Grout, Mass.
William B. Giles, Va.
James Jackson, Geo.
Richard Bland Lee, Va.
James Madison, Jun., Va.
George Matthews, Geo.
Andrew Moore, Va.
Josiah Parker, Va.
Michael Jenifer Stone, Md.
Thomas Tudor Tucker, S. C.
Alexander White, Va.
Hugh Williamson, N. C.
Opinion of Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State.
” To prove that the measure was not sanctioned
by the Constitution, the general principle was
asserted, that the foundation of that instrument
was laid on this ground, ” That all powers not
delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited to it by the States, are reserved
to the States or to the people.” To take
a single step beyond the powers thus specially
drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take
possession of a boundless field of power, no
longer susceptible of definition.
” The power of the government then to create
corporations in certain eases being shown, it
remained to inquire into the right to incorporate
a banking company in order to enable the
more effectually to accomplish ends which were
in themselves lawful.”
” To establish such a right it would be necessary
to show the relation of such an institution
to one or more of the specified powers ofgovernment.”
” It was then affirmed to have a relation more
or less direct to the power of collecting taxes,
to that of borrowing money, to that of regulating
trade between the states, to those of raising,
supporting, and maintaining fleets and armies ;
and in the last place to that which authorizes
the making of all needful rules and regulations
concerning the property of the United States,
as the same had been practised upon by the
government.”
The corporation expired on the 4th of March,
1811.
The amount of capital was refunded to the
stockholders in the following; instalments,—viz :
On the 1st of June, 1812, 70 per cent.
1st of October, 1812, 18
1st of April, 1813, 7
3dof April, 1815, 5
100 per cent.
On the 28th of February, 1817, a further
dividend of 4 per centum was made : another
dividend was to be made, the amount of which
has not been ascertained.
On the 4th of March, 1816, it was stated, that
of the notes issued by the bank and its several
branches, there remained in circulation
of post and bank notes, $76,603
bank notes, 140,557
Dollars, 217,160
Note: The Southern States that had paid for war costs were, under
Alexander Hamilton’s First Bank, to help pay Northern States that had not paid
off war costs, thus the split vote of north and south.
Of the owners, 10% subscription value were the corporation of the First Bank of the United State. Of the remainder, 75% of the subscription value was foreign owned.
Many other countries as the US, are owned entities of elite, special interests, who’s central banks collateral is the country. When researching derivatives, the asset management, processing (SWIFT, DTSS, et. al.) asset/capital ownership, et. al. the amount of nearly one QUADRILLION dollars, (and probably much higher off the books), and it’s movement, can only be achieve by the MSM false news it spews out for public consumption. War is a business, interest of the debt of a sovereign people is a scam. We’ve all been had, arguing about irrelevant points, creating more debt by fabricated differences and manufactured divisions that should have never happened. The level of power to destroy life exceeds the wisdom of those that use it. Policy makers, religion used as a front, military, intel and alphabet soup groups are a mirror of our public failure, unwillingness and inability to see that the vast majority of us would like to live in peace and see each other as neighbors. Perhaps humanity was doomed to failure from the start. It was just a matter of time.
When l first saw the the headline about fake news. I assumed NYT was closing their doors.
Maybe he should close down his own newspaper, as in “leading by example”.
Thmpson ,while at the BBC,covered up the paedophile scandal there for years.He has zero credibility.
Yep, all promotions for the sickos