Media Slander - Enough Is Enough!
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
"Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media for they will steal your honor." - Bobby McBride, Crew Chief, 128th Assault Helicopter Company, RVN 1969-1970
Attention on the Net, this is Blackfive...
People that know me know that I usually can maintain my composure during most circumstances. But on a phone call with Bill Roggio of the Fourth Rail and Winds of Change, in reference to Linda Foley (after her "clarification" of her slanderous statement), I actually lost it a bit and Sergeant Blackfive came out swinging, "Can you @#$%ing believe this @#$%???!!!!".
That's what I think I said the first time I ever spoke to Bill Roggio on the phone. Of course, Bill understood my sentiment all too well. I think that we had hoped that we wouldn't need to band back together again.
When EasonGate was finished with the resignation of Eason Jordan from CNN, the EasonGate team disbanded. I was naive enough to think that there wasn't that much reason to stick together over this. The media reacted to the EG story (mostly in Jordan's defense), and, in one interview with a prominent national magazine, the author kept trying to get me to gloat about EasonGate...I take pleasure in ensuring that our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines aren't slandered. I don't take pleasure in spending my valuable time ensuring that people, who are supposed to be dedicated to uncovering and reporting the truth, don't malign our good troops.
Unfortunately, the EasonGate team disbanded too soon. There's an underlying anti-military current in some of the Main Stream Media. Whether it's the editors or the management or the journalists, it's there. Whether it's due to hatred of George Bush or big business or the government, it's there. One journalist on this site commented that it was a result of the mistrust of the military from the Viet Nam war (and he's not one of them, BTW).
I don't really care for what the motivation is...I just want them to give the military a fair shake. No suppositions, no lies, just the truth. I want them to do their job.
We gave the MSM time to react to Linda Foley. With the exception of a few sources, there wasn't much out there. Maybe they agreed with her, didn't care, or thought it wasn't newsworthy...
We just couldn't sit there and let her comments stand.
MediaSlander is born.
Below is our Purpose. There is also a Timeline and a lot of information so be sure to check the site.
The goal of Media Slander is to hold journalists and bloggers to high ethical standards regarding coverage of the War on Terror and other military-related issues. We plan to achieve this by highlighting bias, rumor and falsehoods that have been creeping into military coverage under the guise of objective news.
We by no means advocate censorship or the deliberate suppression of well-researched and relevant stories about the war and the military.
As much as journalists feel that they are the guardians of the First Amendment, its true protectors are standing watch in Iraq, Afghanistan and places no one will ever hear about. Journalists owe it to the true gatekeepers of our liberties to be fair, balanced, relevant and accurate in covering them.
Signed,
The entire staff of MediaSlander.comBill Roggio
Blackfive
Brian Scott
Charles Goggin
Kevin Craver
LaShawn Barber
Mike Krempasky
Roger Morrow
USMC_Vet
Winds Of Change.NET
So, what's the next step?
We have a plan. We have the will. And, hopefully, we have you to help us. This post is your Warning Order. Operation Order to follow...
Blackfive Out.