freedom of the press isn't a popular idea.

[Sir_Russell]

js207
your examples are areas that have already happened and the answer is yes. If your a public figure or a powerful figure and that bank account shows wrong doing then damn right it should be. A bigger issure is that right now the USA under the bushites are doing all of that on just anyone they want. Do You have no problem with the govnerment going after those who disagree with them?

The press needs to be held accountable and the internet isn't so not really the press. Let me give a short version of why I stopped being an active part of politics for my area.

I was fairly well known real estate person and was asked by a citizen group to help the city develop a parcel of land next to a beach park into a walk of stores and shops to add to our city and bring in outside money into our city.

We talk with several designers of these kind of theme shopping centers including the gentleman that design for Disney World their famous area. He ended up being very interested and his preliminary drawings made him our man. The city had given its blessing for this project and agreed to allow the project to use it land on a rental bases and that no city funds would be used.

We proceeded found private funding and amassed a large group of anchor stores that are well known and respected. This would allow smaller shops to have many of their customers to come into their shops too since there was to be no cars inside the mall area. We had energy effiecent trams and trolleys to take the shopper around from parking lot to the store of their dreams.

The last piece of this puzzle to make this happen was a vote by the public allowing the rental of the land and small amount of rent for the unused land for the first 5 years while this mall got itself established. We felt that it was a win win win situation very almost no risk.

Less then 2 week before the vote a popular country western station drive time DJ started a rant on how the city was financing this deal at a very risking position, and offering a no interest no cost loans to build the stores and mall. All of this was untrue.

Since it was only his opinion based on no facts but it went out to many many listeners. It was about 4 days before the election vote when a friend asked me how the hell I could be involved in such an out right scam or the city. We played 20 question and I found out why he felt this way went back to this DJ.

A group of us including a city attorney went to the station to confront DJ and management to demand a retraction and the actual facts be put on the air. The station basically said their ratings went way up because of this and they refused to to do anything about stating the facts.

I almost laid out the station manager after I got over the shock, I actually had to be restrained, I threatened suit but as a friend explained it was too late.

The vote came and it wasn't even close. I learned a valuable lesson that is used over and over in politics that day. "Tell a lie often enough to enough people and it becomes a truth, unquestioned by the majority."

Think of the way campaigns have been run and you will see this as very true.

Free press needs watch dogs to be sure that no one can subvert their reports for gains of any sort. Till then the idea of free press is mearly a pipe dream, a great idea that really doesn't exist. The press of today owned and controlled by mega corps mearly proves my point.

The republicans have used now for 2 decades the lie of a liberal media being biased against them. What horseshit, we are feed reports slanted to the best interest of their owners and other large money power brokers.

The internet is more likely to give you facts if you could just filter out the personal opinions but that is probably an impossible task.

[TomOfSweden]

Less then 2 week before the vote a popular country western station drive time DJ started a rant on how the city was financing this deal at a very risking position, and offering a no interest no cost loans to build the stores and mall. All of this was untrue.

Since it was only his opinion based on no facts but it went out to many many listeners. It was about 4 days before the election vote when a friend asked me how the hell I could be involved in such an out right scam or the city. We played 20 question and I found out why he felt this way went back to this DJ.

This is a problem with democracy, not free press. It's a radio DJ!!! He's employed to be entertaining. If people take what he says seriously, it says more about them than the DJ.

I think the freedom to be an idiot is one of the inalienable rights we should have by law. I can have opinions about whether or not idiots should speak up, (on air!!!) but that's just my little private opinion. I wouldn't want it to be enforced. It's the same thing with the "biased liberal media" bollocks. If people are dumb enough to fall for that shit... then... yeah. It sucks... but I wouldn't want to change it. I think that putting up with the rule of dumb asses is better than having a system open to abuse and potentially open to autocratic take-overs. Which is the alternative.

We had a similar thing happen in Stockholm. They where planning to rebuild a part around where I live in central Stockholm. I was all for it. I thought it was a great initiative. Everybody I spoke to thought it was great. But as usual it's only the whiny ludite idiots who can be bothered petitioning the politicians so to every bodies great surprise it was blocked in the city hall. I mean, what the fuck. I vote for a politician to represent me because I don't have time or interest to do it. My only thought on this is, Then Fucking Do Your Job, and don't listen to these fuck-ups who I didn't vote for. That was a nice monday morning rant.

[Thorne]

This is a problem with democracy, not free press. It's a radio DJ!!! He's employed to be entertaining. If people take what he says seriously, it says more about them than the DJ.

It's more a problem with people in general, all over the world, and a press which caters to fame and notoriety rather than intelligence and integrity. Why report the truth when a small exaggeration will sell more advertising and isn't likely to be questioned. There are far too many people who are far too interested in the muddled goings-on of people who can barely remember how to fall out of bed in the morning. The deranged capers of a drugged out pop singer seem to be far more important to some people than what's happening in the real world. No wonder the world seems to run on fads and phony "reality."