![]() |
List Categories | List All Articles | List Articles By Title Was there Always Bias in Journalism? Ask George Washington. Hell tell you
There is bias in the elite media! How often do you hear that on cable talk shows? Yes,George Bush gets criticized by the press. Clinton before him took it on the chin and every president before him felt the sting of slings and arrows.Truman and Roosevelt got it, Lincoln certainly did and so did Adams and Jefferson. It started before all the aforementioned presidents because the very first"victim" of presidential "media" bias was none other than George Washington. And what provoked the media bias that plagued the man who has been revered thoughout our nation's history? First a little background... The tap root of American journalism was sunk into partisan soil when Patriot and Tory hurled invectives across a widening line of intolerance over the Stamp Act in 1765. The twenty three papers in the colonies then were four- page weeklies of local advertising, local here-say and large sections of European news, cut verbatim from the London press. News as we know it was non-existent. When the Stamp Act created the furor in the colonies, letters of opinion were published by printers who would run pieces submitted by someone - anyone - who had something to say. As the patriot presses from Boston to Charleston rattled out words of defiance to the British crown, the idea of being a British subject was being replaced by a new self-image as writers in journals began to refer to themselves and everyone else as Americans. Led by the printers and their contributing writers, this new mind-set was being developed as opposition to the crown grew. After the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766, the power of the press was realized. Colonials, intrigued with the idea of independence from Britain, saw it as a weapon and in Massachusetts, the Boston Gazette and Country Journal were in the forefront of agitation. Two fiery coals in the "hotbed of sedition,"Benjamin Edes and John Gill, opened their doors to a deliberately obscure group called the Caucus Club. Consisting of men like Sam Adams, his cousin John Adams, James Otis and John Hancock, club members would meet at the Gazette where they "cooked up paragraphs," and " worked the political engine." frustrating the Tories who, so embittered, circulated a letter to British troops quartered in Boston urging " those Trumpeters of Sedition, the printers Edes and Gill," and their writers for their paper, should be put to the sword." And one of them , James Otis, perhaps the least radical of the patriots, suffered such an assault after writing an article for the Boston Gazette in which he took the Governor and some of his commissioners to task for accusing he and Sam Adams of treason. Shortly after the piece appeared, Otis entered a coffee house for some morning refreshment and came upon one of the commissioners and several British army, naval and revenue officers. Robinson, the commissioner, it was reported, led the charge at Otis with his cane, the sword-wielding military right behind amid shouts of "God damn him! Kill him! Kill him!" After Otis took a beating and a sword slash to the head, the combatants were separated by others present fearing Otis would be killed. Otis sued and won damages of three thousand shillings but gentleman that he was, he refused the money on the basis that Robinson had atoned for his action Otis' gentlemanly gesture and Robinson's mea culpa were rare for the dividing line was stretching towards Lexington and Concord. Rancor in the press came from both sides, intolerance under- lining every word. "Tories are," one man wrote to the Boston Gazette "..the most despicable beings, that ever appeared in human shape." A Tory writing to the New York Gazette penned a poem in which he wrote of the Patriot values, " Cheating and lying are puny things, Rapine and plundering venial sins." And the "venial sin" of plundering did came to pass right after Lexington and Concord. When James Rivington a Tory publisher wrote of the battles at Lexington and Concord in his newspaper "Rivington New York Gazeteer", partisanship showed up at the newspaper office in the guise of Isaac Sears and a cavalry contingent. The press was plundered and the type was carried off to melt down for patriot bullets. Partisanship had taken a firm hold in the colonial America. It would never let go. Looking back thirty two years after Yorktown, John Adams, the nation's second president, wrote: "What do you mean by the Revolution? The War? That was no part of the Revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The Revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected, from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington." The few had influenced the many. And the newspapers were there. Stay with this now and we'll soon get to George Washington. After the War for Independence, the tap root of the partisan press had sunk deep into American soil and the tree growing from it was struggling to find the sun. Most of the papers that had beat the drum of revolution, or tried to muffle it with opposition, did not survive. Perhaps their reason for being no longer existed but a few survived the turn of the century passing on the legacy of partisanship to a new form of newspaper, the party organ, and a new form of partisanship, that of the political party. Together, tightly embraced, they would wend their way forward, for eighty or so years, on the pathway to civil war, stumbling on the sharp edged rocks of bank panic, depression and slavery. The first step of this coupling was the first organ, The Gazette of the United States. Operated by John Fenno who set the paper up in New York City as the official voice of the Federalists, the nation's first and only party. The Gazette was the national voice of government establishing propaganda and the shaping of public opinion as the guiding spirit of American journalism. Designed to preach the party line and supported by Hamilton and John Adams, the Gazette did just that, publishing official documents and announcements thus becoming the first political paper and it followed the seat of power as it moved first to Philadelphia then to Washington. Its Federalist line smacked of an elitism and a pro-British posture that ran contrary to the Jefferson and Madison perspective and it aroused the need for an opposition paper. Enter the editor, Philip Freneau, adventurer, scholar, warrior who "did more than anyone else to make American political journalism, a kind of Donnybrook Fair of broken heads and skinned knuckles." That he did, with The National Gazette As the voice of the French Party, the name Jefferson's Republican's were often called, he attacked Alexander Hamilton's financial measures and brought John Adams to ridicule but the paper was on weak financial ground and was soon to be out of business. And now we come to George Washington Soon another Republican paper similar to Freneau's National Gazette, one called Aurora and edited by Benjamin Franklin Bache, a grandson of Benjamin Franklin opened shop. Called "Lightening Rod Junior," a tribute to his illustrious grandfather, Bache who was educated in France and sympathetic to the French Republic soon found himself in Jeffersonian circles. Before he was through, his partisanship and his passion launched a verbal cannonade at no less a person than George Washington. Yes, this is it. George Washington. After Washington had his Farewell Address to the nation published, Bache made his farewell to Washington. He wrote: "If ever a nation was debauched by a man, the American nation has been debauched by Washington. If ever a nation has suffered from the improper influence of a man, the American nation has suffered from the influence of Washington. If ever a nation was deceived by a man, the American nation has been deceived by Washington. Let his conduct then be an example to future ages. Let it serve to be a warning that no man may be an idol..". And not to be content with those words, the day after Washington's retirement, Bache's partisanship could not be restrained. He wrote: "The man who is the source of all the misfortune of our country is this day reduced to a level with his fellow citizens, and is no longer possessed of power to multiply evils upon the United States...this day ought to be a jubilee in the United States." As one might expect, Bache's comments did not go unanswered. A crowd of Federalist supporters stopped by his facility and wrecked it. Following that, Bache experienced what was possibly a precedent making incident. Federalist editor John Fenno of The Gazette of the United States, on an afternoon stroll, encountered Bache and hit him square in the face. Bache retaliated with his cane to Fenno's head thus establishing that form of expression as the first in a long series of chance encounters between rival American editors. But the traditional forms of expression were not exempt from usage. Bache, on April 1, 1800 ran a paid advertisement in his Aurora: " To Mr. Fenno: This is to announce you to the world as a scoundrel and a liar; and though you may be generally known as such, I will prove what I say..." But it was the Federalist press that had the last word on Bache. When he died of yellow fever shortly after, Russell's Gazette of Boston wrote: "The Jacobins are all whining at the exit of the vile Benjamin Franklin Bache; so they would do if one of their gang was hung for stealing. The memory of this scoundrel cannot be too highly execrated." It is a kindler, gentler press today. George Washington would surely agree. Don Bracken is Senior Editor of History Publishing Company,LLC and is the author of the forthcoming book Times of the Civil War which focuses on the American Civil War and its coverage by reporters of the New York Times and the Charleston Mercury. He also co-edited the Historyscope Series,http://www.historyscope.com, a computerized plotting of the 384 major battles and campaigns of the American Civil War.
MORE RESOURCES: |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
RELATED ARTICLES
When We Was Kids In Chicago Radio was the big communicator, back when I was a kid. Whole families huddled around the speaker of that hulk. Paul Hamm: Did He Deserve Gymnastics Gold in 2004? What was the controversy all about?In the 2004 Olympics, an all-star group of athletes from around the world gathered together to compete for titles in gymnastics. In the spirit of competition, there are always tensions between analysts and spokespersons about whether or not athletes deserve the medals they receive. Eminem Slimshady Firstly revealed by the fable Dr.Dre, and then debut of the Eminem Show, his firstly set on Shady Recording label, already had most leading hiphop fans mad abount Marshall Mathers. The Origin of Americas Corporate Elite (BC) Ephesus had a shrine to the Anatolian mother-goddess and the Cretan Lady of Wild Things that was later incorporated into the Greek worship of Artemis. (33) This magnificent statue has many 'cosmic eggs' on it that are extremely relevant to the Berber painting of ostrich eggs that are found in the Saharan finds mentioned in Carthage as well as connected to the Druid's eggs. Feng Shui Monsters Under Your Bed Good feng shui often requires making wise decisions based on your specific circumstances, rather than blinding following an ideal rule. The feng shui rule for storing things under your bed is "don't do it. The Symbolism Behind an Anchor Tattoo and Anchor Tattoo Design Anchor tattoos were all the rage for sailors. It was often the symbol of a very experienced sailor. Celebrating Obscurity: A Tribute To J. K. Rowling A single-parent rose from obscurity in 8 years to become today the greatest woman celebrity, the richest woman (even richer than Her Majesty, the Queen of England) in the U.K, all through the power of imagination expressed through the power of her fingers!! She held the world spell-bound (270 million copies of her books sold so far). Numerology Is More Than Numbers Over thiry-five years ago, I picked up a book on numerology and began to have a hard time believing that numbers had anything to do with my life. Shortly thereafter, I was awakened from a deep sleep by a loud voice that seemed to scream into my ears, "Numbers are real!"Since that time, I have found out that numbers really are real. Working With The Generations For the first time in history, there are four generations in the work force. Although this is an exciting time, it is not without challenges. The Red Violin - Film Review The film portrays the creation, fate, and redemption of a father's legacy to his unborn child: a violin. Nicola Bussoti, a master violin craftsman, has created the "most perfect acoustic machine," in hope of his unborn son to be a great musician. Tarot Cards Demystified: The Suit of Cups There are many ways to interpret the symbolism found in Tarot Cards. There are varying points of view that exist about what each card means or represents. A Short Biography on Some of Europes Most Loved and Hated Monarchs - Pt2 (Mad) King George III King George III who suffered from porphyria, a maddening disease, was born in 1738 to Frederick, Prince of Wales and Augusta. In 1761 George married Charlotte of Mecklinburg-Strelitz and together produced fifteen children: nine sons and six daughters. I, Ego, and Power I: - A vowel that didn't appear in sacerdotal alphabets for which there is little, or should I say not one IOTA of, reason to hold up for personal glorification. The ego is man's greatest hindrance and his competitiveness possesses him like the demons he has created in his IGNORANCE!I O TORUS:Mathematics has a language so pure it cannot lie. Saturn: Your Challenge to Become An Expert The true meaning of Saturn is that he is the teacher of the deeper lessons of life. Therefore, what he demands is that you learn your life lessons so well that you will never forget them. The Man Who Loved Jail Around my twentieth birthday life became a series of incredible events. Perhaps in retrospect it has never ended. Berenguer Sauniere - This Place is Terrible INSPIRATIONAL COMMENTS:"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws." - Mayer Amschel Rothschild. Christopher Columbus CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS: - It seems a mystery to most academics why the governments who are based on Manifest Destiny and the 'colon'-ization of the world by Christophe Colon (this is the name he wanted to be called and may actually be the Catalan Cathar name for him. Colon means 'Dove' and it is the Dove of Jesus or Peace which the Cathars sought to provide in their Gnostic ecumenicism. Precious Stones - The Big Five - Part 3 The Sapphire The sapphire, protector of the innocent, celestial guardian of truth, bringer of health and youth, symbol of the heavens and birthstone for the month of September, is in fact the same stone as the ruby, the mineral corundum.The blue corundum, ranging in color from the lightest blue to deep blue and black, is the same stone as the ruby, the only difference being in the color. Tarot Cards Demystified: The Suit of Pentacles There are many ways to interpret the symbolism found in Tarot Cards. There are varying points of view that exist about what each card means or represents. Hip-hop Jewelry and Todays Stars Watch any of the major movie, television, and music award shows on television today and one of the first things you'll notice about the celebrities on the red carpet, aside from their extravagant (and sometimes outlandish) attire, are the amount and size of the jewelry they are wearing. Hip-hop jewelry, more commonly known as bling-bling, is definitely not understated fashion. ![]() |
home | site map All articles are copyright to their owners. Note: this website lists articles, We do not Write Articles ! |
© 2006 |