The rise of "fake news" and the absence of journalistic integrity is a threat to North American democracies

Surprisingly, often maligned Fox News is the one mainstream American medium that offers balanced coverage of the news despite its conservative leaning

On November 2, 2000, in the final hours of an election campaign, news surfaced that George W. Bush had been charged with driving under the influence (DUI) in 1976 and paid a fine of $150. The incident was not surprisingly covered by CNN, CBS and ABS but was also covered by Fox News despite its unflattering tone for the Bush election campaign. Bush, for his part, made no effort to dodge the coverage but admitted his sins and did not try to distance himself in any way from the incident. Bush, who was 30 years old at the time of the DUI incident, had been out drinking with (among others) tennis start John Newcombe, and made the lamentable decision to drive while intoxicated. Bush went further in responding to reporters, admitting he once had an alchohol problem which he dealt with by simply stopping drinking and stated he had not had a drop since 1986.

There are many things worthy of criticism about George Bush but dishonesty is not among them. He and his beautfiul wife Laura earned their place in history, like them or lump them.

Compare Fox News and its coverage of George Bush then to mainstream media today and the recent coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop fiasco. CNN, CBS, ABS, New York Times, Washington Post, and tech giants Google, Facebook, and Twitter all climbed aboard and promoted the “fake news” that the laptop and its contents had all the hallmarks of “Russian disinformation”, censored the story published first by the oldest newspaper in America, the New York Post, and filled the airwaves with their false narrative. Now that it is clear the laptop was in fact Hunter Biden’s (he has admitted as much) and the contents are at least disturbing evidence of possible corruption by President Joe Biden, the news media are admitting they were wrong but continue to soft-pedal the story. Unlike Bush’s honest and forthright admission, Biden denies even talking to his son about his son’s business dealings despite allowing his son to travel to China with him at government expense and giving Hunter free reign over his Delaware home chock full of classified information (which Joe Biden had no authority to possess) in plain sight in his garage and office. As I see, Bush is an honest man and Biden shades the truth for political gain and to avoid justifiable criticism.

Fox News, for its part, covers not only issues that are embarassing for Joe Biden but also issues that are embarassing for his rivals, and makes sure its panels have strong left wing voices as well as those who lean towards the conservative side of the aisle. Juan Williams, Harold Ford, and Leslie Marshall feature prominently on Fox News and offer a Democratic perspective on issues unbridled by their employer. All three exhibit journalistic integrity, supporting Democrat Party values without making shit up or pretending Biden can do no wrong or that Trump can do no right.

I cancelled my subscription to CNN, stopped reading New York Times, and haven’t watched anything on MSNBC or CBS for years. I don’t need to pay anyone to lie to me. I did sign up for Twitter under Elon Musk and gladly pay a monthly fee, use my real name, and Tweet my views openly without fear. That is what “free speech” looks like and what keeps our democracies safe. For years under Ted Turner, CNN filled an important role as a purveyor of accurate news but those days are gone. In Canada, the once reliable CBC is a left wing propaganda machine entirely dependent on government subsidies to exist.

I also subscribe to Bloomberg, an expensive subscription relative to others, but a reliable source of business news. While Michael Bloomberg may be a Democrat, his organization is staffed with top notch journalists of every political persuasion whose articles demonstrate integrity, thoughtful analysis, and a high degree of analytical value added.

Fox and Bloomberg give me hope. Only the Calgary Herald, Toronto Sun and National Post in Canada make an effort to publish factual and objective news and clearly identify opinion pieces whether they lean left or right. The Toronto Star and Globe and Mail have long since abandoned any modicum of journalistic integrity in favour of left wing talking points, and you only have to listen to Rosie Barton on CBC for five minutes to gag on the tripe she pushes fawning over Justin Trudeau - a Prime Minister who has done more damage to Canada in 8 years than all his predecessors did since Confederation and who has yet to demonstrate a single policy that has made Canada a better place to live.