The funeral ceremonies for the murdered policemen in New York, with their snub of a leftish mayor, are an all too obvious attempt to counter the giant wave of indignation which swept through the nation in reply to police killings of black people. This wave, in which many especially young white Americans joined in, seemed to cause some white Americans of all ages to begin finally to grasp how ignorance, prejudice and discrimination against people of color have always been used to split working people and permit the immense growth of wealth and power by the upper one percent.
Their continued power was threatened by any such awakening and action. The emotions aroused by the wild act of a mentally-disturbed man – rooted in just such discrimination and in the almost unchecked proliferation of weapons – gave them a chance, with the willing assistance of much of the media, to squelch such protests and isolate the most active leaders, especially the African-Americans.
How clearly this recalls the tragedy of September 11th 2001, which similarly provided an opportunity for a giant offensive against everyone and anyone opposing the expansion of Pentagon-State Department-One Percent rule throughout the USA and the whole world. “With us or against us!” Then too, understandable emotions were misused to establish and strengthen power. And now, again on the national level, the racist elements of a militarized police are to regain acceptance and popularity. The planned goals are all too clear and all too alarming. The opposition to them must not be weakened but, in any way possible, increased!
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
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