Journalism Standards, Anyone?

By Cory Franklin

November 21st, 2025

Kass readers may not regularly follow the daily machinations of the British Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as the BBC (or more informally, Auntie Beeb). The BBC reaches close to half a billion people worldwide each week and more than 50 million in the US.

It is regarded in many circles as the most influential news organization in the world. However, recent important developments at the BBC, involving America and Donald Trump, merit our interest here, because they are particularly instructive about the sad state of journalism in general.

First the bombshell: Several days before the 2024 presidential election, a BBC documentary broadcast part of a Jan. 6 Trump speech in which he says, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you and we fight. We fight like hell.”

The clear suggestion was that Trump fomented the 2021 Capitol riot with his words and was not fit to be elected.

Except Trump never said those specific words in any single quote.  This was a deceptive edit, made by splicing two separate remarks, spoken nearly an hour apart. What Trump actually said in the first part was that people should march “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol and “make your voices heard.”

The “peacefully” comment was deleted and replaced it with a “fight like hell” (referring to fighting against corruption) comment made 54 minutes later. The edit clearly made it look like he was marshalling the mob for a frenzy of violence, which was reinforced by follow-up footage of the Proud Boys marching on the Capitol. It certainly looked like they were responding to Trump’s exhortation, when its reality they began their march three hours before Trump spoke.

While top BBC executives were aware of this edit when it was broadcast, it took until last month for an external adviser, appointed to the BBC editorial standards committee, to release the findings publicly.

One of the principal BBC editorial guidelines, and supposed hallmarks of the taxpayer-funded company, is impartiality – not favoring one side over another.

Yet, there was no way to avoid the fact that this edit was an attempt to impugn Trump during an election campaign – a blatant violation of impartiality.

As Daily Telegraph columnist Janet Daley wrote, this was “a professionally crafted editing job which has to have been designed to produce a calculated effect for a political purpose.”

The news of the misrepresentation was devastating: the revelation forced the resignation of the BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness.    This would be the equivalent of the resignation of the president of CBS and the editor-in-chief of the news division. Trump has threatened a $5 billion lawsuit, and demanded a retraction and an apology. So far, the BBC has offered an apology but no compensation to Trump.

It gets worse for the BBC:  the editorial standards report also documented a second deceptive Trump speech edit that was aired in 2022.

Former White House chief of staff Mike Mulvaney pointed out the misleading splicing while he was on the air at the time to the BBC news presenter, who simply ignored his remarks and forged ahead.

If that were not enough to destroy the fiction of impartiality, the external adviser cited blatant bias favoring Hamas in the BBC’s coverage of the current Middle East war.

The BBC repeatedly portrayed Israel as the aggressor, uncritically reported Hamas casualty figures, and platformed anti-Israel journalists including one who posted about Jews on Facebook, “We shall burn you as Hitler did, but this time we won’t have a single one of you left.” In 2022 he posted, “When things go awry for us, shoot the Jews, it fixes everything.”

Like a referee who consistently makes bad calls in favor of one team, during the Middle East War the worst BBC breaches of journalistic integrity, which they were forced to apologize for, were all at the expense of Israel.

According to the external standards memo, charges were “raced to air” without adequate checks, suggesting either carelessness or “a desire always to believe the worst about Israel.” Early in the war a BBC report that hundreds were killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital turned out to be false.

Last year’s famine narrative in Gaza was highlighted by photos of “starving children” whose emaciation was the result not of starvation but of congenital diseases.

And a widely viewed documentary of wartime life in Gaza was narrated by a 14-year-old boy, who turned out to be the son of a high-ranking Hamas official.

When this was discovered, and the BBC documentary was pulled from view, Deborah Turness tried to justify the obvious breach of standards by claiming the political arm of Hamas is separate from the military arm. This didn’t pass the smell test.

Since Davie and Turness have resigned, there has been a “circle the wagons” mentality among many BBC staff and outside British journalists with likeminded left-leaning views.

The defenses against breaches of impartiality and the denial of contravening journalistic standards are a roundup of the usual suspects,  familiar to us here in America: our edits of videos are minor and standard journalistic practice; your evidence is cherrypicked; gosh, how could our attacks be coordinated and politically motivated (even suggesting that reliable old standby, “the vast, rightwing conspiracy”); and while the supposed facts we report may be untrue or manipulated, they are nevertheless an expression of the spirit of some greater truth.

Anyone remember hearing that excuse when Dan Rather of CBS provided a patently bogus memo suggesting that George W. Bush had dodged National Guard duty?

The BBC partisanship is certainly bad, especially in view of the purported longstanding commitment to impartiality –that vaunted integrity is supposed to be the sine que non of the organization. But abandoning the most basic journalistic standards by so many in the community, not just those at the Beeb, is even worse.

This is the BBC – if it can happen there, it can happen anywhere.  And it has: recall how, during the presidential campaign, 60 Minutes edited a Kamala Harris word salad interview to avoid making her look inept? Same melody, different lyrics.

The reality is the BBC and many American outlets have ceased being journalistic institutions that cover politics. They have clearly become political advocates that occasionally delve into journalism.

The worst part is that they have gone so far down a dark rabbit hole that they have lost public trust. Their vision has become so impaired that no amount of light, however bright, will convince them otherwise.

For decades, the legendary journalistic maxim of Chicago’s now defunct City News Bureau was “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” The editor who supposedly authored the quote claims he was misquoted, and what he actually said was, ‘If your mother tells you she loves you, kick her smartly in the shins and make her prove it.’”  It has reached the point that if a journalist tells you something, it’s her shins or his balls that deserve the smart kick.

-30-

Dr. Cory Franklin

Cory Franklin, physician and writer, is a frequent contributor to johnkassnews.com. Director of Medical Intensive Care at Cook County (Illinois) Hospital for 25 years, before retiring he wrote over 80 medical articles, chapters, abstracts, and correspondences in books and professional journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. In 1999, he was awarded the Shubin-Weil Award, one of only fifty people ever honored as a national role model for the practice and teaching of intensive care medicine. 

Since retirement, Dr. Franklin has been a contributor to the Chicago Tribune op-ed page. His work has been published in the New York Times, New York Post, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times and excerpted in the New York Review of Books. Internationally, his work has appeared internationally in Spiked, The Guardian and The Jerusalem Post. For nine years he hosted a weekly audio podcast, Rememberingthepassed, which discusses the obituaries of notable people who have died recently. His 2015 book “Cook County ICU: 30 Years Of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases” was a medical history best-seller. In 2024, he co-authored The COVID Diaries: Anatomy of a Contagion As it Happened.

In 1993, he worked as a technical advisor to Harrison Ford and was a role model for the physician character Ford played in the film, The Fugitive.

Comments 45

  1. I do not understand how the Americans can believe the BBC or CNN, or MSNBC and of coarse the local Stations. I thank God that I am not a TV watcher, I read and I know all these Stations are liars and hate Trump so they can make money and destroy the rest of the poor. Obama never ever helped the Black Race, after all he is half Black his wife is one very Bitter woman and hates America. Wake up folks save your Country they do not want it to be free anymore, they want it to be their Country. Figure that out and let me know how smart you think you are. So sad. Keep telling the truth so the people that do know the truth can appreciate your writings. I certainly love your Columns always very truthful.

  2. Thank you Cory, and the BBC is only the tip of the British media moral dysfunction. Besides the BBC, most of British media is politically biased by commission or omission. Go online and check out their news outlets, conservatives wherever they may be are always “far right,” President Trump is characterized as a belligerent fool or a lout, and legitimate demonstrations by their own citizens against illegal immigration are mostly ignored at the most or characterized as the actions of “yobs,”
    Only the “Daily Telegraph” is fair and balanced.

  3. Amen, Dr. Franklin. After Trump was accused of inciting the “riot”, I went back and watched the clip and had the same conclusion that the press was wrong. I am amazed that the press has been allowed to not revisit Joe Biden’s exact words about encouraging foreigners to rush the US Border. Instead, The Paper and press keep exploiting negative stories about ICE doing it’s job.

    1. I agree that the Democratic Party was nuts to let in so many people over the border. We have no idea who is here or how big the numbers are. But ICE is deporting illegal immigrants that are hard working and trying to make a living. I know in my area where I live there is a man in construction who cannot fill jobs because Mexicans are afraid to come to work. Our landscaper told me some of his workers have been deported. Our friend’s cleaning lady is afraid to leave the house. Non of these things are good. Trump is not just going after criminals, he is going after all illegal immigrants.

          1. Incorrect….. Under U.S. immigration law, illegal entry into the United States is classified as a federal offense under 18 U.S.C. § 1325. If a foreign national who enters the U.S. illegally can be both convicted of a crime and held responsible for a civil violation under the U.S. immigration laws.

      3. “Illegal immigrant” means just that. They are breaking the law and ICE is just doing its job. Immigration reform, to your point, is another matter that needs to be addressed by both parties.

  4. It’s amazing to me how the media keeps getting away with these deceptive tactics. Even when caught, with the exception of very few outlets, it’s met with a collective shrug by the institutions we are supposed to trust.

  8. As a younger man, I was liberal. Not surprising given my family background, growing up in Madison, WI, and maybe a couple other factors. Voted for Obama in 2008 didn’t vote in 2012, then voted for Trump in 2016. One reason why I drifted right is the MSNBC 2 second edit of the Trayvon Martin 911 call. George Martin called 911, and the dispatcher asked about Trayvon’s race. MSNBC cut that and only broadcast George Martin answering “he’s black”.

    Amazing that BBC, MSNBC, and et al journos think they can get away with this.

    1. It is in the deliberate and/or scurrilous editing or omissions that the main stream media wields its most dangerous and underhanded power, always the coward never the braveheart, it is up to us to rip their Fauci masks off, reveal the Truth, and think and act accordingly.

  10. The MSM stylebook is that everything attributed to statements of fact made by Trump or conservatives is said to be “without evidence” or “false”.
    Any contrary or counterintuitive representations made by the Left are repeated as truth without a shred of verification or villification.
    Bravo to Trump for getting in their corporate wallets at long last.

  11. Dr. Franklin – While I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment regarding the lack of impartiality in today’s news media, I find it interesting that you did not include Fox News in your description. When looking at the third-to-last paragraph:
    “The reality is the BBC and many American outlets have ceased being journalistic institutions that cover politics. They have clearly become political advocates that occasionally delve into journalism.”
    It’s hard to find ANYONE, anymore, that doesn’t attempt to ‘manufacture’ news which is designed to inflame a particular constituency. That goes for ABC, The BBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, etc al…
    I seldom even watch, listen or follow the so-called news now – it has morphed into an obscene variation not far removed from Eliot Carver and CMGN. Pretty pathetic if you ask me…
    Mike Reiss

    2. As a conservative, America First, Trump supporter, Fox News is not my friend. During the 2020 Presidential Election, Fox news and its CEO/globalist Rupert Murdoch were actively working against the reelection of President Donald J Trump. In the words of Sundance at The Conservative Treehouse, “Democrats want power, Republicans want money.” That maxim explains why See BS (i.e. CBS), ABC, NBC, PBS, MSNBC, BBC and all other Mainstream Media/Legacy Media will continuously LIE to advance their leftist doctrines/agenda. Many of these leftist mouthpieces lose money every year (see PBS, Jimmy Kimmel, SEE BS, etc.) TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) has certainly increased the natural tendency of Leftist Media to LIE. As a conservative, it is my belief that the MSM lies are the single biggest obstacle that conservatives face in persuading ordinary Americans to embrace today’s America First policies. On the other hand, Fox News is more like a typical RINO or CINO (Conservative IN Name Only) in that Fox News will LIE to attract more viewers and corresponding ad revenue/money just like your typical Republican as defined above – Democrats want power; Republicans want money.
      The latest BBC LIE is just the tip of the iceberg. We can fill 50+ pages with the countless examples of MSM lies. Recall Juicy Smollett hoax here in Chicago just to name an obvious Media Lie. In a sane and fair media worId, the Juicy hoax would be forever known as the TDS hoax that “jumped the shark” (Arthur Fonzarelli reference) when it comes to MSM impartiality and sanity. Instead, the Juicy Hoax is forgotten. Is it true Juicy is back on TV? What a joke. In a somewhat related story, Steven A Smith recently claimed that Trump is “coming for the WNBA” after the FBI indicted NBA basketball coaches and players for point shaving.
      As others have stated, the Main cause of today’s political polarization in America is most traditional Dems (what’s left of them) and Libs are in their news bubble where facts that damage their worldview are seldom reported and always downplayed (e.g. Russia Hoax, Ukraine Corruption, Fine people on both sides, USAID corruption, Covington Racists, Clinton Foundation, etc., etc., etc.). And all the facts in the world could not persuade an indoctrinated Leftist/Socialist/Marxist. Most Fox News viewers live in a news bubble as well. The solution: seek out independent news sources such as John Kass. Read and embrace history-related, NON Fiction books and multiple historical accounts written close to the dates that the events originally occurred and form your own opinion based on facts. Quit relying on Google & Wikipedia, etc. via your cell phone every time a historical question is considered. History is complex; Wikipedia is not because Wikipedia (and all AI) is one-sided and biased in favor of liberal/leftist ideology.
      I link a long-forgotten ABC apology for a typical Media Lie (as reported by New York Times) to refresh some memories. This Lie was debunked by one lone individual not beholden to the Legacy Media. To that individual and others like John Kass, my sincere thanks. PLEASE keep doing the 21st Century muckraking that the legacy media refuses to do.
      https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/business/media/turkey-syria-kentucky-gun-range.html

  12. Trump should name each wing of his presidential museum after the media conglomerates who he sued, collected damages that helped pay for the construction of the museum. At the entrance of each wing would be an engraved plaque, handsomely mounted explaining why Trump was awarded judgement for the lies and slander printed and aired by the media and identify the sued outlet. Donald Trump absolutely deserves the credit for destroying what once was the American News Combine. It still exists but with little or no credibility. No one believes anything they print/ air. Zero credibility as any factual news sources. The Biden administration tried to stifle Independent News on the web by creating a “Minister of Disinformation” position to stop the spread of “disinformation” on the internet. The outrage from the public forced this plan to be abandoned. Not to let such a vile idea go to waste, it could only be adapted by other governments to squelch any free thought by its own citizens. Great Britain has been using this template to criminally charge its citizens for internet memes and jokes. Yes, the police show up at your door, handcuff you for posting an internet meme and march you to jail. America, along with Donald Trump has dodged many bullets in the last few years, but this is one of the most odious. American News Media has these big symposiums in front of crowded auditoriums with the heads of these outlets lecturing about the business of disseminating the news. Someone should ask these highly paid network heads a question like ” Do you think American Media will ever be taken seriously as a credible source of truthful information? “. I can guess what the answer will be.

    1. Has anyone noticed after all of the hell raising from the Democrats and their media allies over the release of the Epstein files it is suddenly quite in the last two days? It is now known that they were collaborating with Epstein and soliciting money from him in an effort to discredit Trump. No more demands. No more questions of Temu Obama and that carpetbagger from the Virgin Islands. Nothing. From. The. Media. Crickets now…

  13. Great article, Dr. Franklin- this clearly shows the bias, and is another of the many, many reasons why I haven’t watched the (sic) “news” on TV in over ten years. I find it insulting for some talking reading a teleprompter, who may never have had an original thought, to try to convince me how to think.

  15. Yellow journalism is not new. Pulitzer, Hearst had agendas. McCormick did, the NYT praised Stalin. What is new is the group think, the utter cancellation of those who disagree by a relative few who know how to use tech to make a small number of losers appear as an angry mob.

    Nuance is in short supply. Details are often omitted. Quotes are spliced to make the target look bad. They do it to Trump, they did it to Biden. They also cherry pick certain statements out of a large volume of content, omitting any context.

    Kass was dead on about Soros and the effect his money and influence would have on our cities. He was smeared, mis quoted, and vilified.

    There is no such thing as objective journalism, I don’t think there ever has been. The massive consolidation, along with tech has resulted in a canabalization of resources and when only a relative handful own the outlets, it’s easier to control the message.

    The anchors on TV use the exact same phrases. Fox skews the news as much as anyone. The crew in this echo chamber likes it though.

    Big money pays “influencers”, podcasters to peddle what they want. Pro Israel is a prime example.

    They tried to buy Charlie Kirk too, but when he started asking the wrong questions, he was taken out. That case stinks to high hell.

    I see a glimmer though. Jimmy Dore, Candace Owens, Breaking Points, all have huge audiences, and are doing great work. Are they sometimes wrong? Sure. Are they sometimes biased? Sure. Is Kass sometimes wrong if biased? Even he would say yes, I’m sure.

  16. I don’t appreciate politicians, news commentators, reporters, etc… taking pot shots at everyone with childish taunts befitting a ten year old. The entire political landscape would be more pleasant without monikers such as Commie Mamdani, Pocahontas, Chuck E. Cheese, Trumped Out Trump, Billary and the list is long. I suppose it’s too much to ask people to conduct themselves as adults.

  17. Illegal still means illegal. Crossing our border without authorization is a crime. Immigration Laws are meant to be enforced and most Americans support that. Because someone committed a crime years ago and hasn’t committed another doesn’t eliminate the fact that a crime occurred.

  18. Good article Dr, Franklin! Ethical journalism is presently an oxymoron. I quit reading the Tribune and the Sun Times a long time ago. Watching the news at night is an effort in futility as to factual and unbiased reporting.

  19. Excellent Doc as always,

    Cheney s funeral service yesterday showed it all what’s wrong with American Journalism.

    Rachel Maddow with George Soros and the COVID Czar Dr. Fauci.

    The real journalists in the day never socialized with those they covered.

    Not one mainstream obituary mentioned Cheney s involvement in the Halliburton War machine corporation, and the money he made. A real journalist would respectfully tell the good and the bad about the man.

  20. Great article, Cory. The big difference between the BBC and US broadcast journalism is that the BBC is government journalism, funded by mandatory taxation. In the US journalism is mostly a “private” enterprise subject to market forces. And clearly the market has not been kind to (the biased) journalists in the US. The closest US analog to the BBC is CPB/NPR which has recently lost its public funding. Like the BBC, its extreme liberal bias was obvious. In my mind, what the BBC (and CPB/NPR) has proven over the years is the unadvisable foolishness of government owned media. Journalism is grim in the US. True. But structurally it is in much better shape being in private hands (that supposedly respond to market forces) than in the hands of government. Government journalism is an oxymoron.

  21. Bruce, except for venues like this, we are decidedly not better off.
    Pharma supplies 60% of the ad revenues to legacy media. What are the chances of true investigative journalism in that area? Ditto Israel, big Ag, and virtually any other are where the deep pocketed oligarchs reign supreme as the carry around our judges and politicians like so many nickels and dimes.

    Don’t fool yourself into thinking anything is in the square. There is psychological manipulation, divisiveness, and fraud going on and it’s by design.

    We condone theft, abuse, war, malfeasance, perversion, if OUR TEAM does it. The amount of intellectual contortion that our leaders engage in is breathtaking. And the amount of cope on the Left and Right is absolutely astounding.

    We are living Animal Farm, 1984, 2001 A Space Oddessey, and A Clockwork Orange come to life. A genius like Kubrick or Coppola or Scorsese couldn’t write this stuff that’s actually happening.

    1. Wrong. Regardless of what you write, even if in large part true, we are always better off not having the gummint involved in “journalism.” Always. Do you think that Kass’ site is the only site of “enlightened opinion” and “journalism?” If so you are delusional. Do you think that you, Robert Maitino is the only one gifted, blessed and intelligent enough to be clued in to reality; the only one NOT fooled? All the rest of us are clueless naive dolts, and YOU, Robert Maitino are the disciple of truth, and only YOU know the way? If so you are not only delusional you have a case of terminal hubris.

      Oh by the way, other than you sitting on your big fat keister blabbering away there are actually investigative journalists doing working journalism – the very “evil” entities you site – you have actually exposed the very issues of which you complain:

      https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/drugmakers-have-spent-millions-targeting-middlemenand-its-paying-off-08bdef04?mod=hp_lead_pos5

      And then of course who took down Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos in one of the biggest health care frauds of all time – you know Homes the “new Steve Jobs” who was deified by all? That would be the WSJ and its investigative journalism arm, once again … and not bloviating sanctimonious gasbags who just sit around expounding hot air.

      Like I wrote at the top of this post: You are wrong. We are infinitely better off having “free market” journalism – despite its problems – than government journalism. It’s not even close.

  22. Mr. Franklin- I have read several of your previous articles and genuinely respect your insights.
    Your article does a great service in calling out the BBC’s despicable and irresponsible behavior concerning their misleading reporting of Mr. Trump’s January 6. speech. I hope Trump wins his $5 billion lawsuit and extracts an apology from the hypocrite BBC “journalism” executives.

    In this case the BBC misled by omitting – they left out a key part of Mr. Trump’s Jan. 6 speech to make it sound even worse than it was.

    Your article then continues by rightly pointing out additional examples of misleading reporting by other left wing media. Often the method by which they deceive is also through omission.

    So far so good.

    But then you, Mr. Franklin, basically commit the same sin.

    You mislead through omission.

    Your article would be so much better, so much fairer, if it included examples of equally egregious behavior by right wing media. Fox News for example paid a $780 billion out of court settlement over a false reporting concerning Dominion voting machines during the 2020 election.

    And I’ve followed national politics very closely since graduating college in 1980, the year of Reagan’s victory over Carter.
    Never in my lifetime have I observed a politician who lies and misleads as freely as Donald Trump.
    It’s only because of equally irresponsible and misleading coverage by right wing media that Trump gets away it.

    I’ve read most of the comments to your article. With only a few exceptions they are the usual self-righteous piling on of the same points that you made. You would think that the problem exists only by left-wing media.

    Why mislead your readers by omission?

    Why not simply and fairly condemn all lying and deception as wrong?!
    Especially when it’s committed by our media and our national leaders.

    Can you please respond Mr. Franklin?

    1. Please Bob. Its DR. Franklin. I know these days, it’s trendy to denigrate physicians as mere health care providers and not the “diagnosticians and healers” they are (as Dr. Rudd once explained).

      The larger issue in my mind is Government control of journalism as in BBC or NPR.

      1. Bruce- I disagree. The core issue is deception and lies by the media (and our politicians). I don’t ultimately care who controls it, only that they are ethical.

  23. Mr. Lee:
    First off, let me thank Bruce. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
    Second, yes, all lying and deception is wrong in the media- that’s the basis of the article.
    Third- The BBC has a special place in all this, because of their reach, their reputation and as Bruce said their government control. If you have a TV you have to pay a tax in Great Britain to finance the BBC.
    Fourth – many of the people at the BBC and in the left-wing British media don’t seem to have a problem with the BBC lying and deception – deceptive video edits for political purposes – and by the way this was known for months, and no one said anything..And they are the journalists. They seem to bask in self- =regard and self-virtue instead of self-awareness.
    Fifth – I didn’t mention Fox or any right-wing media because I didn’t see this as a political article as much as a commentary on journalistic ethics. That doesn’t make Fox or anyone else better or worse, it’s not the thrust of the piece.You can always go tu quoque as a way of avoiding the issue.
    Sixth- you want to find criticism of Fox journalism? You won’t have to go very far. Those sources are readily available to you.
    Seventh – it is Dr. Franklin, but as long as you are a reader, I don’t mind Mr. Franklin.

    I hope that answers your questions.

  24. Dr. Franklin (and Bruce)- I apologize for not addressing you by your proper and well deserved title. Also, I appreciate that you replied.
    All the points in your reply seems fair except the fourth, which I find hypocritical.

    1. Bob: Not to belabor this, since Dr Franklin already addressed your concerns. I would just add my two cents. “Deception” in the competitive free market place of ideas – private journalism – eventually is revealed and punished. Government, as an uncontested monopoly, has no such incentives, worries or fears. That is the difference. Entities in the private sector are faced with the potential ultimate penalty: going out of business. Government never goes out of business.

      As far as salutation: I would prefer being addressed as Bruce rather than Dr. Kleinman, especially on this site. My point was that if YOU choose to use a salutation then “Dr.” is more appropriate than “Mr.” for those who in fact have MDs. Thats all.

      1. Bruce- Thank you for the reminder about salutations. Everyone deserves respect and none more than our doctors.

        I wish I could be more agreeable, but I just can’t. Two main points-

        1) It is true that government never goes out of business. But in one sense government (at least in a democracy) has to be MORE accountable than private business because our government officials have to be elected.
        Call me naïve, but I believe eventually the American public will fire our fundamentally dishonest and self-serving leaders like Mr. Trump and his cronies.

        2) Dr. Franklin did not address my concerns, he evaded them. Dr. Franklin claims that his article was not political when in fact it was, by omission. If he truly cares about journalistic ethics, he should be more objective.
        Following the 2020 election Mr. Trump, aided by an even more corrupt and dishonest right wing press, relentlessly tried to overturn a free election and block the peaceful transfer of power, which is the precious but fragile bedrock of any democracy. Mr. Trump threw his own vice president under the bus and endangered his life. For the most part, the American right wing media went along for the ride. What happened to all this reverence for the constitution and the rule of law?
        For Dr. Franklin to ignore these contradictions makes his article blatantly political.

        1. Your lack of a grasp of actual facts versus talking points and emotion is alarming.

          The major fact that we should all be concerned about re: January 6 is that the FBI was well represented at the event (the latest count is something like 250 or so) even as FBI director Wray said no one was there!

          Given you’re a Chicagoan I would have expected better considering our history with the FBI vis a vis Hanrahan and the Black Panthers.

  25. Dr. Franklin, this is a good piece and you’ve definitely made some great point. Bruce, you are so quick to insult, but as far as government control, which was the thesis of Dr Franklin’s article, I agree with you.

    I veered off course with the corporate consolidation theme, and its inherent damage to society. In the marketplace of ideas, the free market is decidedly better.

    You are correct

  26. Bob, we need competition in all industries. This is where government comes in. We are going back to the gilded age where a handful own everything and the hordes are poor, hungry, desperate. These huge corporations need to be broken up and more food should absolutely be sourced locally along with many other things.

    PBS was always liberal, but in recent years, they’ve gone off the rails. They should not get tax dollars.

    Big media entities need to be broken up as well.

    Trump never conceded the election and lost virtually every case regarding the 2020 election, but the Jan 6 debacle was more the fault of the Democrats and FBI/CIA than Trump’s telling folks to march peacefully to the capital and fight the election.

    Dems refused help that was offered. It was also reported that despite all the rumors and craziness. There was not a robust capital police presence on Jan 6. It was a set up I believe.

    I think Pelosi and Democrat elites wanted a riot and it got out of hand. I think feds were in the crowd whipping up hysteria, I think the aftermath was theater, and the Biden administration severely overdid it by going after people who were there, but did nothing but walk in and walk out.

Leave a Reply