Unfreedom of the Press

I have been a fan of Mark R. Levin’s Fox news show “Life, Liberty, and Levin” for a long time. His insight, knowledge and logical mind on American political history, cultural developments and constitutional law have always been interesting and educational.I just finished reading his best-selling book (Unfreedom of the Press by Mark R. Levin) and enjoyed his keen evaluation of how the American press throughout our history has influenced our culture and political landscape. Before reading this fantastic book I did not realize just how politically biased the American news media has been in American history and how they often sided with a particular political party and point of view. I also discovered that early in our history the news media USED TO BE PATRIOTS when they wrote about the news in our country.This book exposes the news media for spreading not just news, but pure lies and propaganda as well depending on their political point of view. I was surprised but also aware of the almost total lack of objectivity in the news media resources both in the past and as well as present day.The sad thing is how the destructive collective mind-set seems to dominate most of the news reporters in the papers, T.V. and other news outlets. It seems our colleges and universities had succeeded in brain washing their graduates to believe that a failed socialism form of government is superior than our freedom based form of government. In fact, it is scary to think that so many people today prefer slavery over free markets?This excellent book covers the following material: News as political and ideological activism, the early patriot press, the modern Democratic Party –press, the real threat to press freedom, new, propaganda and pseudo-events, the New York Times betrays millions, and the truth about collusion, abuse of power, and character.This is an important book for anyone who is interested in truth and facts when it comes to the American far left present day politics and the role our media plays in promoting their socialistic and collectivist ideology.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Never Trust a Politician: A critical review of politics and politicians).

Levin, Mark (2019). Unfreedom of the press. New York: Simon & Schuster.Levin is a lawyer and former adviser to Reagan Cabinet Members (such as Attorney General Meese). He is chairman of the Landmark Legal Foundation, and noted author and radio personality. He is a Constitutional scholar, and excellent legal analyst.This book, in seven chapters, examines to role of the press in Revolutionary America and since, showing its critical role in spreading the ideas of the Revolution. Since then, however, the government and press have been strongly partisan, from the Alien & Sedition Acts of the Adams Administration, to press repression under Lincoln, during WW I under Wilson, under FDR, and since. He describes the misbehavior of the Kennedys and Johnson with the press. Finally, he describes the partisan press of today, with its relentless attacks upon President Trump, fueled by their politics and the use of “advocacy journalism.”Chapter 1 describes how the Press should behave, compared to how it does. Chapter 2 describes the role of idealism and the press during the Revolution: such as Tom Paine, and others described by historian Bernard Bailyn. Chapter 3 describes today’s press, with its abandonment of any pretense of reporting the facts or neutrality. Chapter 5 describes modern press methods, including “pseudo-events.” Chapter 6 describes the failures of the New York Times, including failures to report the Holocaust, failures to report the murders of millions of Ukrainians by Stalin, and more recent lies, omissions, and failures. Chapter 7 reports on press abuses towards Trump including the false Russian Collusion narrative.Among the great evils of the 20th Century were the deceit and self-deceit involved in European and American “intellectuals” supporting communism, especially Soviet Communism. The NYT was part of this, using Walter Duranty as its Moscow reporter, who reported lies which denied the murders and denied the truth about the Soviets. Those delusions continue with today’s Marxism of the universities and many elites, and fuel much of today’s anti-Americanism. In criticizing the NYT, Levin does refer to the brave and excellent reporting of Malcolm Muggeridge, and the historical work of Robert Conquest. The truth was there, for those willing to see it. Great as they are, we did not need Solzhenitsyn’s One Day and The Gulag Archipelago: it was already all there. He does the same when writing about the Holocaust, and about misbehavior of other Presidents with respect to the press, including Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, Kennedy, and Johnson. The book is not a history of the press in America, but of press misbehavior in America.Levin’s is an excellent book for what it does. It does not treat the history of major legal cases involving press and free speech in America. There is no discussion of John Peter Zenger, or New York Times v Sullivan, the Pentagon Papers case, or other leading cases, including on defamation and public figures and immunities. This is not a book on the history of censorship by government, but mostly of self-censorship and collusion with government by the media. Thus, to me, at times the book seems “thin,” although it has several pages of endnotes. Still, it well proves its major points.