Press Item

Mar 24, 2008  
9/11 News Coverage Incomplete
— Tom Pinto, in Times-Standard
 
Given the mainstream news media problems, most Americans are underinformed on 9/11 related news.

In America, it has long been recognized that the best ideas survive the test of time after being fully and properly vetted in the marketplace of ideas.

The founders of our great nation, recognizing the importance of this concept, strove to protect it by incorporating the protective mechanisms of free speech and free press into the First Amendment of our Constitution. The founders recognized that the dream of a free America could only be fulfilled if there is a robust exchange of ideas and mechanisms to protect the marketplace.

Even though these original protective mechanisms are still in place today, the percentage of "hard news" reporting by mainstream news networks has dramatically decreased. Many regular people recognize that news networks are not functioning well.

Reporters such as Walter Cronkite, Bill Moyers, Dan Rather, Phil Donahue and Amy Goodman have stated that the mainstream news media, and by implication its majority share of the marketplace of ideas, functions in a less than optimal manner for a wide variety of reasons, including media consolidations and the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine.

Given the aforementioned mainstream news media problems, most Americans are underinformed on 9/11 related news. For example, here are three recent newsworthy items that most people have missed for lack of sufficient mainstream news coverage:

1. The issue of American government complicity in the 9/11 attacks was
discussed on the floor by the Japanese parliament and photographic exhibits were presented to the Japanese nation on television (January 2008).

2. A living icon of Americana, singer Willie Nelson, clearly opined on "Democracy Now" and on the "Alex Jones Show" that he thought that the Twin Towers and Building 7 were brought down in controlled demolitions (February 2008).

3. That there is a strong grass roots effort to put a proposition on the New York City ballot to form a commission, with subpoena power, to investigate what happened in Manhattan. (I am heartened to learn that former U.S. Senator Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island, a former moderate Republican with metallurgical skills honed during his years of blacksmithing, has agreed to serve on such a commission.)

In light of the insufficient coverage that our national mainstream press is giving to 9/11-related news items, it is of heightened importance that our local mainstream news media fulfill its responsibilities to fully and fairly cover serious issues whenever a newsworthy speaker and topic are presented locally.

On Friday, March 7, at 6 p.m. at the Jolly Green Giant Commons at Humboldt State University, and on Saturday, March 8, at 3 p.m. at the Labor Temple in Eureka, some of the most serious and unpopular ideas to ever be vetted in the American marketplace of ideas are going to be presented by a licensed architect who has worked on steel framed buildings and who has been practicing for 20 years.

Richard Gage heads an organization of nearly 300 architectural and engineering professionals called Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth (ae911truth.org). This nascent organization is challenging a common viewpoint and is asserting that explosives brought down three skyscrapers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Mr. Gage will be giving a PowerPoint presentation and explaining why so many engineers overlooked key physical evidence and testimonies supporting the controlled demolition hypothesis. This presentation can also be seen on the above-mentioned website.

These events are open to the general public. The Labor Temple event is being co-sponsored by the Veterans for Peace, Chapter 56 (which also includes active and retired engineers). The HSU event is co-sponsored by the HSU club NET (Nine Eleven Truth).

For pricing and more information, call 707-832-3916 or visit ae911truth.org.

Tom Pinto is a Humboldt county resident who has worked as a technical analyst for 17 years in the justice communities of Los Angeles and Humboldt counties. He resides in Eureka.