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One night, probably in 1880,
John Swinton, then the pre-eminent 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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