Lots Of News Goes Unreported
October 28, 2017 at 4:33 a.m.
By Gary [email protected]
I get that a lot of people who work in the mainstream media are on the left.
I also get that Trump says lots of inflammatory or just plain dumb things and gives media types lots of ammunition.
But these days it has gotten to the point where if Donald Trump announced a cure for cancer the media would characterize it as an attack on the Grim Reaper.
There has always been bias, but anymore, it’s a full-blown media hate fest.
At the same time, there’s this penchant by the majority of national networks – cable and otherwise – to underreport anything that doesn’t hurt Trump.
The economy seems to be doing better these days and the stock market is rising. ISIS is being weakened. Stories like that get little play.
During the Obama years, positive news was routinely reported, which, I think, is fair.
Then there are the sins of omission. News items the mainstream just plain ignores.
It’s troubling to watch how the mainstream eschews major scoops by outfits like TheHill.com.
These places have been doing some pretty in-depth reporting.
John Solomon and Alison Spann wrote a fascinating piece under the headline “FBI uncovered Russian bribery plot before Obama administration approved controversial nuclear deal with Moscow.”
Here’s a little bit of it:
“Before the Obama administration approved a controversial deal in 2010 giving Moscow control of a large swath of American uranium, the FBI had gathered substantial evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering designed to grow Vladimir Putin’s atomic energy business inside the United States, according to government documents and interviews.
“Federal agents used a confidential U.S. witness working inside the Russian nuclear industry to gather extensive financial records, make secret recordings and intercept emails as early as 2009 that showed Moscow had compromised an American uranium trucking firm with bribes and kickbacks in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, FBI and court documents show.
“They also obtained an eyewitness account – backed by documents – indicating Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to the U.S. designed to benefit former President Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation during the time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served on a government body that provided a favorable decision to Moscow, sources told The Hill.
“The racketeering scheme was conducted ‘with the consent of higher level officials’ in Russia who ‘shared the proceeds’ from the kickbacks, one agent declared in an affidavit years later.
“Rather than bring immediate charges in 2010, however, the Department of Justice continued investigating the matter for nearly four more years, essentially leaving the American public and Congress in the dark about Russian nuclear corruption on U.S. soil during a period when the Obama administration made two major decisions benefiting Putin’s commercial nuclear ambitions.
“The first decision occurred in October 2010, when the State Department and government agencies on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States unanimously approved the partial sale of Canadian mining company Uranium One to the Russian nuclear giant Rosatom, giving Moscow control of more than 20 percent of America’s uranium supply. ...
“In 2011, the administration gave approval for Rosatom’s Tenex subsidiary to sell commercial uranium to U.S. nuclear power plants in a partnership with the United States Enrichment Corp. Before then, Tenex had been limited to selling U.S. nuclear power plants reprocessed uranium recovered from dismantled Soviet nuclear weapons under the 1990s Megatons to Megawatts peace program.”
Of course, Hillary Clinton immediately downplayed the Russia scoop, saying during an interview on C-SPAN (at least it got coverage on C-SPAN, as if anyone was watching), “I would say it’s the same bologna they’ve been peddling for years and there’s been no credible evidence by anyone. In fact, it’s been debunked repeatedly and will continue to be debunked.”
No credible evidence? Did she not read The Hill’s story?
But don’t take their word for it. How about the April 23, 2015, story in the New York Times under the headline, “Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal”?
Just because CNN doesn’t run it wall-to-wall for weeks on end doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It just means they don’t like to tell people about it.
Or how about this headline from The Hill: “FBI watched, then acted as Russian spy moved closer to Hillary Clinton”?
As Hillary Clinton was beginning her job as President Obama’s chief diplomat, federal agents observed as multiple arms of Vladimir Putin’s machine unleashed an influence campaign designed to win access to the new secretary of state, her husband Bill Clinton and members of their inner circle, according to interviews and once-sealed FBI records.
Some of the activities FBI agents gathered evidence about in 2009 and 2010 were covert and illegal.
A female Russian spy posing as an American accountant, for instance, used a false identity to burrow her way into the employ of a major Democratic donor in hopes of gaining intelligence on Hillary Clinton’s department, records show. The spy was arrested and deported as she moved closer to getting inside State, agents said.
(Thought all they really had to do was give a mountain of cash to the Clinton Foundation.)
The first Hill story broke on Oct. 17. As of Tuesday – a week later – CBS had devoted 69 seconds to the story, while ABC and NBC had yet to cover it at all.
The second story broke last Sunday. Not a peep from the mainstream.
But that’s not shocking.
Even a casual observer knows news about Russia only gets reported if it makes Trump look bad.
This isn’t journalism.
It’s irresponsible, agenda-driven propaganda. And frankly, it’s tragic because it has the potential to erode the underpinnings of our Republic.
“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.”
John Adams
1765
Our Founding Fathers knew better. Why don’t we?
I get that a lot of people who work in the mainstream media are on the left.
I also get that Trump says lots of inflammatory or just plain dumb things and gives media types lots of ammunition.
But these days it has gotten to the point where if Donald Trump announced a cure for cancer the media would characterize it as an attack on the Grim Reaper.
There has always been bias, but anymore, it’s a full-blown media hate fest.
At the same time, there’s this penchant by the majority of national networks – cable and otherwise – to underreport anything that doesn’t hurt Trump.
The economy seems to be doing better these days and the stock market is rising. ISIS is being weakened. Stories like that get little play.
During the Obama years, positive news was routinely reported, which, I think, is fair.
Then there are the sins of omission. News items the mainstream just plain ignores.
It’s troubling to watch how the mainstream eschews major scoops by outfits like TheHill.com.
These places have been doing some pretty in-depth reporting.
John Solomon and Alison Spann wrote a fascinating piece under the headline “FBI uncovered Russian bribery plot before Obama administration approved controversial nuclear deal with Moscow.”
Here’s a little bit of it:
“Before the Obama administration approved a controversial deal in 2010 giving Moscow control of a large swath of American uranium, the FBI had gathered substantial evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering designed to grow Vladimir Putin’s atomic energy business inside the United States, according to government documents and interviews.
“Federal agents used a confidential U.S. witness working inside the Russian nuclear industry to gather extensive financial records, make secret recordings and intercept emails as early as 2009 that showed Moscow had compromised an American uranium trucking firm with bribes and kickbacks in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, FBI and court documents show.
“They also obtained an eyewitness account – backed by documents – indicating Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to the U.S. designed to benefit former President Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation during the time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served on a government body that provided a favorable decision to Moscow, sources told The Hill.
“The racketeering scheme was conducted ‘with the consent of higher level officials’ in Russia who ‘shared the proceeds’ from the kickbacks, one agent declared in an affidavit years later.
“Rather than bring immediate charges in 2010, however, the Department of Justice continued investigating the matter for nearly four more years, essentially leaving the American public and Congress in the dark about Russian nuclear corruption on U.S. soil during a period when the Obama administration made two major decisions benefiting Putin’s commercial nuclear ambitions.
“The first decision occurred in October 2010, when the State Department and government agencies on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States unanimously approved the partial sale of Canadian mining company Uranium One to the Russian nuclear giant Rosatom, giving Moscow control of more than 20 percent of America’s uranium supply. ...
“In 2011, the administration gave approval for Rosatom’s Tenex subsidiary to sell commercial uranium to U.S. nuclear power plants in a partnership with the United States Enrichment Corp. Before then, Tenex had been limited to selling U.S. nuclear power plants reprocessed uranium recovered from dismantled Soviet nuclear weapons under the 1990s Megatons to Megawatts peace program.”
Of course, Hillary Clinton immediately downplayed the Russia scoop, saying during an interview on C-SPAN (at least it got coverage on C-SPAN, as if anyone was watching), “I would say it’s the same bologna they’ve been peddling for years and there’s been no credible evidence by anyone. In fact, it’s been debunked repeatedly and will continue to be debunked.”
No credible evidence? Did she not read The Hill’s story?
But don’t take their word for it. How about the April 23, 2015, story in the New York Times under the headline, “Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal”?
Just because CNN doesn’t run it wall-to-wall for weeks on end doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It just means they don’t like to tell people about it.
Or how about this headline from The Hill: “FBI watched, then acted as Russian spy moved closer to Hillary Clinton”?
As Hillary Clinton was beginning her job as President Obama’s chief diplomat, federal agents observed as multiple arms of Vladimir Putin’s machine unleashed an influence campaign designed to win access to the new secretary of state, her husband Bill Clinton and members of their inner circle, according to interviews and once-sealed FBI records.
Some of the activities FBI agents gathered evidence about in 2009 and 2010 were covert and illegal.
A female Russian spy posing as an American accountant, for instance, used a false identity to burrow her way into the employ of a major Democratic donor in hopes of gaining intelligence on Hillary Clinton’s department, records show. The spy was arrested and deported as she moved closer to getting inside State, agents said.
(Thought all they really had to do was give a mountain of cash to the Clinton Foundation.)
The first Hill story broke on Oct. 17. As of Tuesday – a week later – CBS had devoted 69 seconds to the story, while ABC and NBC had yet to cover it at all.
The second story broke last Sunday. Not a peep from the mainstream.
But that’s not shocking.
Even a casual observer knows news about Russia only gets reported if it makes Trump look bad.
This isn’t journalism.
It’s irresponsible, agenda-driven propaganda. And frankly, it’s tragic because it has the potential to erode the underpinnings of our Republic.
“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.”
John Adams
1765
Our Founding Fathers knew better. Why don’t we?
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092