From Editor Robert Parry: We founded Consortiumnews.com in 1995 as the first investigative news magazine on the Internet. The site was meant to be a home for important, well-reported stories and a challenge to the inept but dominant mainstream news media of the day.
As one of the reporters who helped expose the Iran-Contra scandal for the Associated Press in the mid-1980s, I was distressed by the silliness and propaganda that had come to pervade American journalism. I feared, too, that the decline of the U.S. press corps foreshadowed disasters that would come when journalists failed to alert the public about impending dangers.
Also by 1995, documents were emerging that put the history of the 1980s in a new – and more troubling – light. Yet, there were fewer and fewer media outlets interested in that history.
The memories of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush were enveloped in warm-and-fuzzy myths that represented another kind of danger: false history that could lead to mistaken political judgments in the future.
Some of our early articles reexamined important chapters of the 1980s (such as the “October Surprise” controversy from Election 1980 and evidence of Nicaraguan contra-cocaine trafficking). Other stories explored more topical crises (such as NATO’s war over Kosovo and the impeachment assault on President Bill Clinton).
Author Norman Solomon and I produced a groundbreaking series on the real story behind Colin Powell’s legend. Another of my investigations examined the remarkable story of how Rev. Sun Myung Moon became an influential player in Washington.
Working with talented freelance reporters around the world, we also undertook important historical investigations, such as how the Nazis after World War II — crossing “rat lines” from Europe to South America — contributed to the region’s bloody repression.
Interruption
By 1999 and early 2000, we were looking at the reemergence of the Bush family dynasty. However, as Campaign 2000 was heating up, we ran out of money.
I was forced to make Consortiumnews.com a part-time enterprise and took an editing job at Bloomberg News. One of our last stories before that break described how the news media was exaggerating Vice President Al Gore’s alleged exaggerations.
Though operating on a part-time basis, we managed to churn out a number of stories in the months before Election 2000 and kept tabs on the recount battle with stories including how Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor telegraphed her political agenda at an Election Night party and how George W. Bush dispatched thugs to Miami to intimidate vote counters.
In November 2001, we were the first to note that the big news outlets – which had conducted an unofficial recount of Florida’s ballots – had buried their own lead, the fact that Gore would have won Florida if all legal votes were counted.
In 2002, during the buildup to war in Iraq, we also picked up the pace, questioning the Bush administration’s case about weapons of mass destruction and criticizing the flag-waving coverage from the mainstream news media.
As Bush’s Iraq invasion was underway in March 2003, I consulted with some of my old military sources who warned of the disaster ahead. The article was entitled “Bay of Pigs Meets Black Hawk Down.”
Also in 2003, author Kevin Phillips cited the investigative work of Consortiumnews.com in his seminal book on the Bush family, American Dynasty. Phillips took note of our investigative series that examined the elder George Bush’s role in Republican dirty tricks during the 1980 campaign.
Resumption
To flesh out more about the Bush family’s rise to power, I left Bloomberg News in April 2004 and began work on my fourth book, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq. It was published in late September 2004.
In fall 2004, we also resumed more frequent publication of stories at Consortiumnews.com. One of those articles described John Kerry’s pioneering investigation of contra-drug trafficking in the late 1980s.
In recent years, we have added the insightful writings of former CIA analysts, such as Ray McGovern, Peter Dickson and Melvin Goodman, who saw a corruption of information inside the CIA’s analytical division that paralleled the perversion of journalism that was underway in the American press corps.
We have written extensively about the U.S. media imbalance, tilted by a well-funded right-wing media machine. Indeed, a founding idea of our Web site was that a major investment was needed in journalistic endeavors committed to honestly informing the American people about important events, reporting that truly operated without fear or favor.
Regrettably, the distortion of information remains a grave problem with millions of Americans brainwashed by the waves of disinformation coming from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and the hordes of other right-wing media outlets – distortions often reinforced by the careerist mainstream press.
Because of this media dynamic, many average Americans have bought into a propaganda frame that seeks fewer regulations on powerful corporations, lower taxes on the wealthy, tighter restrictions on unions, and fewer programs to help working Americans with problems ranging from educating their children to caring for the elderly.
Meanwhile, Official Washington is basing international decisions on a false narrative that excludes the real history of the past several decades. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush are hailed as honorable leaders, rather than viewed as politicians who countenanced gross abuses of power.
Even in the Age of Obama, government decisions are being made with only limited knowledge of what was really done by Republican presidents who have dominated the modern era. This ignorance represents not only a threat to a meaningful democratic republic but a danger to the world, as the “last remaining superpower” lurches about, half-blinded by its own propaganda.
While we are proud of the journalistic contribution that this Web site has made over the past 15-plus years – and while we are deeply grateful to our readers whose contributions have kept us afloat – we also must admit that we have not made the case well enough that our mission is a vital one.
Despite all that’s happened, including the disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan, many people still don’t understand that the fight for honest information about the past and the present is a battle for the future.
We could do much more with additional resources. If you can and wish to help, we would appreciate your donations, big or small.
You can contribute either by credit card at the Web site or by check to:
Consortium for Independent Journalism (CIJ)
Suite 102-231
2200 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington VA 22201
Or you can use PayPal (our account is named after our e-mail address “consortnew@aol.com“).
Or, If you know someone with the means to make a large donation or someone who is involved with a public-interest foundation, contact them and urge them to consider a grant to Consortiumnews.com. Since 1999, we have operated as a 501-c-3 non-profit, meaning that donations can be tax-deductible. [For more information, such as our recent IRS filings and the IRS approval letter, go to "What Can Be Done."]
We appreciate whatever help you can provide. Thanks.
Robert Parry, Editor
Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. He founded Consortiumnews.com in 1995 as the Internet’s first investigative magazine. He saw it as a way to combine modern technology and old-fashioned journalism to counter the increasing triviality of the mainstream U.S. news media.
Hello,
I am a lecturer in Telecommunications and have good interest in Technology news and in sharing the news.
Can u pls tell me how can I send you technology news, video, services or applications that can be of interest for many?
BR
Hussain
I tried to sign up with you as
MoreNews4Fred@gmail.com
Please add me to your list manually if you can – or send me a note when your system is fixed so i can do the automated route.
and got this error message repeatedly
HTTP Status 500 -
type Exception report
message
description The server encountered an internal error () that prevented it from fulfilling this request.
exception
org.apache.jasper.JasperException: /organizationsORG/consortiumnews/signUp.jsp(2,0) File “/templates/main/orgHeader.jsp” not found
org.apache.jasper.compiler.DefaultErrorHandler.jspError(DefaultErrorHandler.java:40)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ErrorDispatcher.dispatch(ErrorDispatcher.java:407)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ErrorDispatcher.jspError(ErrorDispatcher.java:88)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.processIncludeDirective(Parser.java:345)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseIncludeDirective(Parser.java:378)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseDirective(Parser.java:486)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseElements(Parser.java:1444)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parse(Parser.java:138)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ParserController.doParse(ParserController.java:216)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ParserController.parse(ParserController.java:103)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.generateJava(Compiler.java:154)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:315)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:295)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:282)
org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.compile(JspCompilationContext.java:586)
org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:317)
org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:342)
org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:267)
javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:717)
org.demaction.filters.StripImageSessionIdFilter.doFilter(StripImageSessionIdFilter.java:28)
org.demaction.filters.HeaderFilter.doFilter(HeaderFilter.java:50)
org.demaction.filters.RewriteFilter.doFilter(RewriteFilter.java:1526)
org.demaction.filters.ClusterFilter.doFilter(ClusterFilter.java:127)
note The full stack trace of the root cause is available in the Apache Tomcat/6.0.18 logs.
Apache Tomcat/6.0.18
HTTP Status 500 -
type Exception report
message
description The server encountered an internal error () that prevented it from fulfilling this request.
exception
org.apache.jasper.JasperException: /organizationsORG/consortiumnews/signUp.jsp(2,0) File “/templates/main/orgHeader.jsp” not found
org.apache.jasper.compiler.DefaultErrorHandler.jspError(DefaultErrorHandler.java:40)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ErrorDispatcher.dispatch(ErrorDispatcher.java:407)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ErrorDispatcher.jspError(ErrorDispatcher.java:88)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.processIncludeDirective(Parser.java:345)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseIncludeDirective(Parser.java:378)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseDirective(Parser.java:486)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseElements(Parser.java:1444)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parse(Parser.java:138)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ParserController.doParse(ParserController.java:216)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ParserController.parse(ParserController.java:103)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.generateJava(Compiler.java:154)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:315)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:295)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:282)
org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.compile(JspCompilationContext.java:586)
org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:317)
org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:342)
org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:267)
javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:717)
org.demaction.filters.StripImageSessionIdFilter.doFilter(StripImageSessionIdFilter.java:28)
org.demaction.filters.HeaderFilter.doFilter(HeaderFilter.java:50)
org.demaction.filters.RewriteFilter.doFilter(RewriteFilter.java:1526)
org.demaction.filters.ClusterFilter.doFilter(ClusterFilter.java:127)
note The full stack trace of the root cause is available in the Apache Tomcat/6.0.18 logs.
Apache Tomcat/6.0.18
=-=
Thank you ,
Fred
415-412-8640
“And my class isn’t just winning, I mean we’re killing them.”
Warren Buffett
Dear Editor,
The lives of how many people throughout the United States are being shortened at this time, what are the ways in which this is being accomplished, what are the names of the people who are carrying this out? The intention to kill does kill, eventually.
Yours,
Leland Mellott
Mount Vernon, Washington
if all that were true that you outline in your “about” article.
How then, did we end up here in this state of affair?
How did the USA turn its government into a huge inefficient machine?
how did we start with the constitution which outlines a small government with LIMITED POWER to what we have today?
It sounds like it is the POT calling the kettle black.
Your story is accusing one side of what exactly YOU are doing.
hahaha so sad and so obvious
You just joined the liberal lamestream media group.
What a crock. This guy is a shill for the ruling elite.
“Important, well-reported stories” should not come from a view of political prejudice. It affects the ‘well-reported’ aspect of said story.
Again, what a crock.
Attn. Robert Parry:
Consortiumnews.com
Dear Mr. Parry,
Please consider networking the following:
A FaceBook page called Occupy Cyberspace, bean-count the revolution. Essentially, it’s an opportunity for all of us who support the Occupy movement (the “99%”) to stand up and be counted, LITERALLY.
Very simple and painless: Click on the link, below, “Like” the page then network it as you see fit. Help the page go viral, and see where that might lead. Would you do that?
There’s great power in numbers if the numbers are large enough; just ask the bankers!
Here’s to a peaceful evolution.
Peter
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Cyberspace-bean-count-the-revolution/203590566382726?sk=wall&fb_source=message
Thank you for your work. I have just completed reading in Consortiumnews the damning criticism of the man and movie “J. Edgar,” and have forwarded it to a younger civil servant now relatively new to federal service as a caution regarding the powers available even to administrators at relatively low levels. The temptation to bend the offices one holds to one’s personal direction is often great, and Hoover’s career appears to be a case to study.
I will follow your group’s work now and in the future with very great interest.
Hello – I believe it would be more accurate to refer to Gary Webb’s death, rather than to his suicide. [ On this seventh anniversary of journalist Gary Webb’s suicide, we are re-posting one of the stories that Webb’s brave work forced out, albeit without a satisfying ending.]
Other than that, I have to say that you do impeccable work and I will be making my contribution any minute now.
The very best,
cUCfNM mzllwzqpxzqh
EXCELLENT work; And Thank You. It is heart warming during a very chilling time to see you’ve hit upon many key academic items that since the election of R. Nixon have systematically built and empowered the Fourth Reich that eventually on 9-11 pulled-off the biggest and filthiest coup upon our government in the history of our dear country. Reporting Truth in the face of the Fourth Reich’s terribly lying brainwashing propaganda machine is indeed truely difficult and often soul taxing; But it is such REAL Patriots that history will records as the TRUE beacons that heard and answered the many warnings and calls by our greatest Patriot Forefathers such as Thomas Jefferson, to be vigilantly on guard for the very worst threat to our Democracy: Domestic enemies from within and the careless self-important Ignorance among our citizens those enemies foster and depend upon.
The essence of our government is supposed to be free honest and fair debate and representation by people who act in the interest of those who elected them–not inflammatory name calling or arguing about who the “real” patriots are (aren’t we ALL patriots?) I find any reference to Naziism distasteful. If you want to call the right’s power crusade plutocracy then now I’m OK with that. Because that is a true label for what is happening and it is going to ruin our country.
Dear Editor Robert Parry
We are very gratefull for your article about Reagan and Rios Mont.
We have no resources, is it possible to ask for permission to republish this article.
Sincerely
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) _ A new political party that’s pushing for a bipartisan ticket in the 2012 presidential election says it’s earned a spot on November’s presidential ballot in Maine.
The group called Americans Elect says state election officials have verified enough of the 32,000 signatures it turned in last month to gain access to the Maine ballot. To maintain a spot on the ballot, the group also has to hold caucuses and a state convention.
The Washington-based nonprofit wants voters to select a candidate in an online convention who would be joined on the ticket by a vice presidential candidate from a different party. Former Maine gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler is on its board of directors.
Americans Elect says it’s been certified in 15 states so far.
Imagine a dirty trickster working in a right-wing think-tank given the task of finding ways to steal elections. One good way would be to run phony independent candidates to siphon votes away from Democratic candidates. The right has lots of money, so why not.
There are plenty of Democrats who don’t realize a vote for an independent is likely to help elect a Republican. Does anyone know that Americans Elect isn’t a right wing outfit that funds independent candidates to help elect Republicans? Was Eliot Cutler legit or a Republican plant to take enough votes to allow Republican Paul LePage to become governor? Does anyone know who funded Cutler then and who is funding him now?
Too many people don’t realize that this sort of thing could happen and they could be suckered into voting for a phony independent, waste their vote and help elect a Republican. We need instant-runoff-voting in case an independent candidate is legit and to keep Republicans from stealing elections. We need a big effort to educate the public about what’s really going on in government, who is hurting and who is helping them and lots more things.
Deek Crowley
Wayne, Maine
deekcr@roadrunner.com
I’ve written to you before about a right wing political conspiracy that’s being waged against me. Today, I’ll further detail some of the other aspects involved. Some of the unique things about these on-line reality shows filmed via satellite is that viewers can be interactive with me through any media outlet as they watch live. They communicate with me through literature for example. The newspaper that I read everyday is different than any other newspaper. It may seem to be a regular Florence, AL”Times Daily” or “USA Today” and it was probably printed by those particular publishing companies but the articals in it are many times made up and not factual news. They are written specifically for me and there are no others like them in circulation. That also happens in on-line stories, e-mails, books and magazines that are placed in the library right before I arrive for only me to find. It’s hard to explain but there are coded messages in these forms of literature that I find and decode. Then I respond to the messages verbably via satellite. They may be from journalist, actresses, models, politians or really just could be from anybody that sombody from the media has contacted concerning something that has to do with me. There have been whole books and magazines that have been coded throughout including messages on there covers. TV programing is distributed differently on my TV than anybody elses. Breaking news on my TV is filmed seperately from the regular news being broadcast to everybody else in the nation and is full of messages to me in the form of hints and incinuations. TV talk shows, televised award shows or really just anything on TV in many cases, there are segments filmed seperately from regular broadcasting and is distributed to my TV only as a message to me. Before I enter an establishment that I frequent regularly, people in my area are being paid or convinced to carry on scripted dialog with me and with each other around me. Many times these people have an ear peice so they can be told what to say by somebody via satellite. It has been very rare over the years that I have a conversation with somebody who has not been instucted with what to say to me. Many times sombody in another state watching me live via satellite tells them what to say to me through an ear peice. People being told what to say includes police officers, attorneys and even my family. It is rare that I am exposed to anybody that has not been sent to deliver a message from a viewer watching via satellite. This communication is again littered with hints and incinuations that I have to figure out, although nobody ever speaks of what’s happening or that they have been sent to me and have been instructed on what to say. These are the ways that I receive death threats and threats of physical harm from people concerning this political conspiracy and many times it’s on a daily basis and has happened for years. For example, I could be in a restuarant setting by a window and people will instructed to pull right up to the window in front of me with a handicap decall on their rear view mirror when there obviously not handicapped. Then, somebody will be in instructed to walk over to me and hand me a newspapper turned to the obituaries while an employee will be instructed to walk over to me and give me a coupon that has expired. There are many many more examples and some of these things have happened hundreds of times. Somebody starts planning these types of threats the night before and sets this type of harassment up to go on all day over and over again. This has happened for a long time. Threats on TV are made up stories like somebody being unjustly murdered by a police officer or somebody being run over by a motorist while crossing the street. Those types of threats will then be broadcasted only on my TV when I return home. Republican presidential candidates in the primaries are filmed exclusively for me and there messages are exclusive to my TV.
Joel Blackburn
Joel, Please see a psychiatrist to deal with delusions that interpret events such as you have written. Anti-psychotic medications can be very beneficial for persons having such delusions that everything is about you. Psychiatric conditions are related to imbalances in the small molecule neurotransmitters in the brain, and, as such are amenable to medications to restore the brain’s equilibrium. The medications themselves have no political agenda.
“Former FBI chief: Congress must stop chemtrails”
The chief’s statement along with photos and information on the Strantotankers that are doing, in his words, the “death dumps” are in the UNDERCOVER OPERATIONS section of http://www.skyshipsovercashiers.com.
HANDS OFF IRAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACzYJ9IGlTg
dear sir, i am homelass in the city of seattle (wa)our here police department doing crime aginest with me police do not have any evidence to i am doing stealling crime our here and i all so report to the police department same one assault me but police officer do not assist me and i all so contact to the law firm the do not assist me,
i am in (us)since 1994
i need your help. thank you
my nationality is (india
Hello,
I would appreciate your consideration to investigate the two designs on this website, and the impact they would have on our world: The Pinwheel Generator, and the Grow-Live Tower.
Thank you,
Russell Lee
2 Hungarian people in USA!! Big record attempt news in 2012!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qm0PBgiohM
Wow, just what we need. Another hard-left opinion rag masquerading as if it were an actual “news outlet”. LOL! Too funny…
-Sundy
You have to read the entire piece. It says “to become a challenge to the mainstream news media”. Nothing disingenuous about that.