‘Media Frenzy’ and stupid politician tricks

Were it not for the freedom of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment, politicians in the U.S. could get away unpunished with just about anything. The political gravestones of stupid politicians throughout our history all bear the inscription, “Courtesy of the Free Press.”

Things didn’t start out that way, though. The first newspaper published in the New World was “Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick,” a cumbersome title indeed. It was published in Boston by Richard Pierce in 1690. After a single issue, it was shut down for criticizing the British colonial governor.

Round 1 in the tussle between the people’s right to know and political power was won by power.

Then came the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the guarantee of a free press in America. Game, set and match in favor of the people’s right to know.

Since then, our history is rife with examples of powerful politicians embroiling themselves in scandals of every stripe, the free press exposing and reporting on those scandals, then the guilty politicians whining like gutshot geese and blaming the media for their self-inflicted political wounds. This pattern has repeated itself over and over again, and folks in power never seem to get the message.

It’s almost as if politicians think that, if they try often enough, sooner or later they can do something stupid and get away with it because nobody will find out. In this cat-and-mouse game between power and the press, the free press has consistently cornered the mouse, and informed the American public what is going on with those that we have placed in power.

And when that happens, the mouse always cries “foul” and blames the press for his predicament.

My favorite example is President Richard Nixon. Had Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post not filed their stories about the Watergate break-in and Nixon’s subsequent attempts to cover his ass, the American public would have been kept in the dark, and Nixon would have served out his term instead of resigning in disgrace. But the Post published, and Nixon blamed the press instead of himself for his downfall.

Delve through our history for yourselves to find other examples. They are many, and make for fascinating reading.

Closer to home and the present day, this same pattern is now playing out in the Wyoming Legislature. Freedom Caucus legislators and their apologists who have been caught red-handed in the “Checkgate” scandal have taken to the floor of the Wyoming House to blame their plight on a media frenzy. Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, during his admission of accepting a check and insistence that he did nothing wrong, said that he could hear pens breaking and paper tearing as reporters scrambled to document his mea culpa.

What did he expect? Did he think that a vibrant free press would sit on their pens for a few days and give him time and space to conjure a way to weasel out of this uncomfortable situation?

If so, he doesn’t sufficiently understand our history or that of the press. Woodward and Bernstein would have violated their responsibilities as journalists had they sat on their story long enough for Nixon to use the power at his fingertips to perfect his cover-up.

A free people deserves more from a free press than for the media to provide time and space for powerful politicians to conceal their misdeeds.

I, for one, would have it no other way. In fact, I would call into question the civic-mindedness and patriotism of anyone who would suggest that the press should hold their fire and let politicians do their backroom deals out of the public eye. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and there is no better source of sunlight than a press that is free to inform the citizenry.

And to politicians who blame the press for their problems, and try to muzzle their freedom to publish, I offer this old saying, “Never get into a pissing match with someone who buys ink by the barrel or paper by the roll.”

Or, as in the case of the digital media for which I write, someone who uses gazillions of electrons to shine sunlight on your mistakes.