The Ashtray Conspiracy

"Ashtray Conspiracy" - Internet Post by Michael Rivero, April 11, 1996

"But when you realize that somewhere around 80% of all professional news and "on-air" journalists.... share the same perspective about politics, government and liberalism, is it a conspiracy when they slant the news? Not in the strict sense.... But they are hired intentionally for their views by the owners, because the owners have an agenda to push."-(composite quote of Internet readers)

The same thing applies when a newspaper fires people whoes views are not the correct ones. This happened last year at the Los Angeles Times when almost half of the editorial staff was terminated, in what was announced as a financially-induced downsizing. However, a bias was clearly shown by the retaining of journalism's most famous blanket maker, Sara Fritz, who has been faithfully spinning the White House yarns into a green afghan in full view of the C-Span cameras. In the light of the firings that savaged the ranks of her associates, Sara has maintained an admirable zen-like calm.

Yet another exception to the "not really a consirpacy" was the spiking of the "Crimes Of Mena" story on the eve of publication. Managing Editor Bob Kaiser clearly was acting on a hidden agenda, as there was no legitimate reason to kill a story that had passed legal and fact checking. Indeed, Kaiser's hiding behind his secretary's skirts while refusing to even talk to the reporters underscores the extreme unprofessionalism of the spiking. No way did Bob let the story get all the way through legal if he personally did not want to run the story.

Indeed, up to the point where the story was spiked, Kaiser appeared to be making certain that the Washington Post was on safe legal ground to run the story. That sudden change at the end suggess a last-minute phone call, possibly from ex-CIA chief and fellow Skull & Bones alumnus George Bush. That the entire text of the "Crimes of Mena" story was then leaked to Ambrose Evens- Pritchard suggest that someone high up in the Washington Post (possibly even Kaiser himself) did not like the spike order.

Now then, when one person makes a phone call to another, and says run this false story or kill that true one, and the recipient agrees, then those two people have entered into a conspiracy to falsify the news and to mislead the public.

All media in this nation is under the control of just 14 or 15 people, all of whom have connections to other corporations (if not directly to government) and a huge investment in preserving the status quo. Given a choice between protecting the CIA's drug- running on one hand versus the social upheaval (and drop in gross revenues) that would result from full revelation, the drug problem takes a back seat. After all, nobody reaches the pinnacles of corporate America without a fanatical devotion to the bottom line. F*ck society, make money. If you want to save the world, go pour suntan oil on a whale or something.

Mainstream media always has the fear of being not mainstream, and the easiest way to get nudged off of the pedestal is to lose your seat on Air Force One. Losing those passes is one of the clubs the White House uses to discourage critical thinking. Every reporter wants a ride on AF1 (and it's amazing how many journalists seem to wind up with AF1 ashtrays, including non-smokers).

It's just understood that unfavorable articles greatly affect the list as to which news organizations get one of those crowded seats in the rear. That unspoken understanding also biases the news. Is it a conspiracy? Yes. Both sides understand the barter, and both sides abide by it. The news is biased in favor of the White House point of view, the reporters get their rides, the news organs stay mainstream, and the flight crew sets out more pilferable ashtrays (they buy them just for that reason).

After all, if one cannot point to incisive in-depth reporting on high- level corruption to prove that one is a real journalist, having that ashtray on the desk can be mighty reassuring.