By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
FEB. 12, 2019 | When you think of the higher elements of our American democracy, terms harking back to the Declaration of Independence easily come to mind: “Freedom,” “Liberty” and the “Pursuit of happiness.” With these thoughts extended, you soon remember many positive aspects, such as “The American way,” “Getting the job done,” and our “Can-do attitude.”
It’s worked for more than 250 years in our Republic. It is democracy in action.
Unfortunately these days all too often we see another side of the United States, where un-American terms gnaw at the basic American character. We’re thinking of the words “extortion,” “blackmail,” “bullying,” and “sleaze.”
Such terms came into focus last week when a supermarket tabloid tried to bamboozle Jeff Bezos, the self-made American billionaire whose business idea has become a whirlwind institution, Amazon. He has parlayed this into companies throughout the world that have made him the richest person on the planet, with a fortune of $136 billion.
So the National Enquirer broke a story telling the world of an extra-marital affair which preceded and led to the break-up of Bezos’ 25 years marriage. The CEO of the company that owned the supermarket tab wanted to bully and control Bezos. But Bezos didn’t act as they thought he might, but struck back instead.
Bezos is quoted as saying: “Of course I don’t want personal photos published, but I also won’t participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks and corruption,” Mr. Bezos wrote in a come-back story in the newspaper he owns, The Washington Post. “I prefer to stand up, roll this log over and see what crawls out.”
Bezos
The American journalism industry has long been embarrassed by many base-level elements of the publishing business, who see the First Amendment as their highway toward riches by choosing the lower path toward news. Many of these less-than-quality publications even go so far as offer their readers rewards in cash by giving them the tips and details when a public figure, or even an everyday person, might be up to no good, so that the newspaper can churn out unfavorable stories about them.
Even worse, it’s understood by the standard press that many times these juicy-gossip supermarket sheets have refrained from publishing a negative story about a person or company for one reason. That happens when the target of the story caves in and pays hush-money to the publication’s corporate entity so that the story would never see the light of the day.
To put it bluntly, such “tell-all” publications are not the press’ most shining elements. You don’t hear of the National Enquirer’s name being mentioned in stories announcing high quality awards, like the Pulitzer Prize or any other honor. Who wants even to associate (or read) these publications? Unfortunately, the answer is that many people read these publications, not for news, but for slime and filth about people, and certainly not for opening their minds to the higher elements of life.
Now that Jeff Bezos has felt the sting of the tabloid press, he’s not sitting still. He has the wherewithal to fight the National Enquirer and doesn’t need other people’s support. But we can give him encouragement. We say, “Go for it Jeff. Take them on. Give ‘em the devil, and do all you can to discredit and shut down such sleazy journalism.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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