Independent Media for the Win
During this past presidential election season mainstream media focused their cameras on an empty podium waiting for Donald Trump to give a speech. They could have broadcast images of Bernie Sanders giving his message to the people but they chose not to do so. This decision was made by mainstream media officials.
The present situation has gotten worse. The White House Press Corps has become a bunch of weak and feeble lemmings. They have lost the respect of true hardworking photojournalists who have stuck their necks out to cover a story. The Press Corps were recently told to turn off their cameras by the Press Secretary. It appears to be a page out of the playbook called Fascism.
Why are these so called photojournalists acting like a bunch of punks? A real photojournalist would continue to photograph any event that has social/political importance, regardless of the consequences. What would happen if war photographers or documentary photographers covering important social issues were told to stop capturing those important images and turn off their cameras?
Mainstream media will rant about freedom of the press in the age of Trump. But they quiver when a finger of authority is pointed at them. Where are their onions! All of the Press Corps should have continued to photograph and record the press conference. If any members were removed the remaining members should continue to photograph the unfolding event. This is how real photojournalists work.
In all fairness to the White House Press Corps, we should cut them a bit of slack. They’re not prepared to ask the real tough questions. They sat in that room for eight years being prim and proper with Barack Obama. Obama knew and still knows how to talk the talk. He was a kinder, gentler machine gun hand. So the Press Corps did not try to put him on the spot or be as aggressive towards him as they now try with the present Trump administration.
Now we have the end result. A Fourth Estate that many feel have colluded with government for years. Mainstream media helped to create the present state of affairs. Thankfully we now live in an age of independent media. While there is fake news out there, we have more choices to search through and corroborate information. Various platforms are available for the dissemination of information to protect our First Amendment rights. People have depended on mainstream media journalists to keep them informed with unbiased information. But now it seems that the independent medias of today are the true protectors of our Freedom of the Press.
— John Romanski
Health is a Right
Health insurance is more than a policy, it’s peace of mind. It’s knowing your family will be cared for and not having to worry about going broke when you get sick. That’s why I strongly oppose the Senate health care bill. The more I learn about it, the less I like. Robbing health care from millions of Americans to give yet another tax cut to the rich and powerful is just plain cruel. Our health care system needs to be improved — we all agree on that. But this bill would do exactly the opposite — for no other reason than greed. I urge Sen. Ed Markey to vote no on the Senate health care bill.
— Thomas McCreedy
Trump … Care?
Of course the president is eager to enact his campaign promises because he wants his base to remain faithful. Apparently it is. However, all must now realize that when the Republican Health Care bill, alias Trumpcare, passes the Senate and is signed by Mr. Trump, this is it … There will be no walking back! These same voters along with all of us will loose their coverage, those patients with pre-existing conditions or currently in treatment for a long term disease will no longer be covered. Those who receive Medicaid to assist with sick relatives, a handicapped child, sickly old parents, some of them in nursing homes, that’s it. It will be all over. The end! Medicaid will be withdrawn, no more help. Nursing homes will send sickly parents home because very few of us are able to afford the astronomical cost of these institutions, and this member of your family in treatment for cancer, Parkinson, MS, asthma, cerebral palsy, will have to fight insurance companies to get coverage after they are diagnosed. Very, very likely they will be unable to because of the prohibitive cost they will charge. Trumpcare may not affect your life or your child’s or spouse’s or parent’s today, but there will be a day when this lump on you arm or breast, this tumor in your belly, this broken back from a bad fall, will send you to the hospital and medical cost will exhaust your savings, without any help to cover your medical cost. Only the very wealthy will be able to get insurance and care. Why? Because they can afford it and because they are receiving a huge tax break with the money withdrawn from our own healthcare insurance. Is this really what anybody, Republican or Democrat, want for their loved ones, and for themselves? Please ask your senators to vote NO on the Trumpcare bill.
— Isabelle Kaplan, Pittsfield
