From the Publisher

he media leads the way. The people follow, and the politicians echo. That is the order of things today.

There used to be a time when the media prided itself on how objective and honest it was. It did not always succeed, but it at least seemed to try. Back then the slogan of the much-vaunted New York Times was “All the News That’s Fit to Print.” Today, that motto has become “All the News That We Choose to Print.” The Times is willing to select, place and formulate news language in a way unimaginable just 20 years ago. The goal is to persuade rather than to report.

Even the news industry’s conservative standard bearer, Fox News, is no longer what it used to be. It is not fair and balanced, just relatively so. It is an alternative to CNN and MSNBC, just like the New York Sun emerged as a necessary alternative to the New York Times and the Washington Times was a response to the Washington Post.

But the tragedy is that these are our main—and frequently our only—sources of information. The power of the media is so great that it can bring down or protect administrations. It can elect Presidents, Senators and Congressmen. Spare me your editorial endorsement; that is chump change compared to the support of those who put together the front page.

The media can determine foreign policy, and it can help to win or lose wars. It can bring about a recession, or it can bolster confidence in the economy.

In short, we live in a dictatorship of the media. It controls what we know, what we think, and what we buy. It is not Big Brother we have to fear so much as it is Citizen Kane. And if we are to be really free, we must lift the veil that blinds us.

With this in mind, please enjoy this copy of The Journal. We hope that, in some small way, it helps to lift that veil.