by Sophie Coleman
Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 at 12:00 PM
The movie, or rather documentary, "Truth", establishes the retaliation that takes place when newsmen and producers tell the truth.
George W. Bush's National Guard AWOL record was no secret to anyone who bothered to check out the facts in 2004. Back then, Americans were frustrated in the failure of the news media to cover this important story. Finally, Mary Mapes and Dan Rather did check out the facts and told the truth. As Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman once sang, "Telling the truth can be dangerous business." Rather lost his position as the anchor of the CBS Evening News and producer Mapes was fired. This film is as much than about the tragic loss of truth in reporting as it is about what happened to two courageous reporters who dared to report a legitimate news story containing information the American people needed and deserved to know.
Was Dan Rather set up by Karl Rove? The documents did check out and those who supplied the documents knew they would check out. The documents were supported by the facts, but the way those particular documents mysteriously appeared reminds those who have studied the works of Karl Rove of his other actions used to discredit public figures who dared to cross Bush.. It was known that Rove and Bush had been gunning for Rather for some time.
Immediately, the noose was tightened and the subject became, not the truth, but questions concerning one set of documents backing up the truth. Going into the election, CBS (through its sell-out to Bush for profits and media consolidation) made it appear that the whole National Guard story was false. CBS made Bush look like a sympathetic victim of Dan Rather when, in fact, the opposite was true. Rather and Mapes had acted with integrity and had told the truth.
"Truth" is a movie all school children should see when studying American history and when studying journalism.
Natalie of the Justice Gazette calls "Truth" "the most important film of 2015" and goes on to explain why.
From the Justice Gazette review (reprinted with permission):
"CBS does not want you do see Truth. Karl Rove does not want you to see Truth. Those who broadcast yellow journalism and fake news as opposed to honest news, don’t want you to see Truth. But if there is ever any hope of saving America and restoring the vision of our country’s founders, people may want to consider it their patriotic duty to see Truth. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t walk, but instead run to the nearest theater showing this very accurate account of the fall of honest journalism.
"Regardless of the personal motives of our founding fathers, what inspired the American people to fight and win the revolution of 1776 were the honest words of Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, of Thomas Paine in Common Sense and of Patrick Henry in his speech to the Virginia Convention. Back then truth mattered.
...
"The fall of the truth has resulted in an unprecedented number of whistle-blowers and truth-tellers being prosecuted for nothing more than telling the truth. Edward Snowden has been threatened with prosecution for informing the American people that their Constitutional rights and privacy have been violated by the U.S. Government. Pharmaceutical companies, the biggest purchasers of media spots, have been allowed to falsely claim that dangerous/deadly pharmaceuticals are safe for children. These dangerous products that the mass media has been bribed into promoting have too often resulted in parents needing to bury their infants and children. Recently, the supporters of Bernie Sanders watched in shock as every American network falsified the results of the public reaction to the October 2015 Democratic debate while ignoring their own polls, all of which showed Bernie Sanders had soundly defeated Hillary Clinton in the debate by landslide margins. When Fukushima dropped high levels of radiation across America and seriously contaminated America’s food, water and milk supplies, the media took money from energy companies and suppressed information about the dangers Americans could have taken precautions to protect themselves against. Scientists have estimated that a significant number of American lives have been lost as a result of this cover-up. This discussion doesn't even begin to touch on the military-industrial complex's use of the media falsifications to promote death on a scale of millions of innocents lost for greed and profits. Additional examples of media misinformation detrimental to the American public in the last decade are too numerous to discuss in as few as a hundred articles. But what is clear is that there is a lack of conscience on the part of those running CBS and other Networks. So naturally, CBS hopes you will believe the lies and stay away from exposes like Truth.
"While additional courageous journalists, such Glenn Greenwald, continue to join the fight to keep the public apprised of information it needs to know, the corporate media and our government have done their best to suppress these voices and their sources of information. When will Julian Assange’s freedom be restored?
...
"The Motion Picture Academy often fears the media and might be deterred from properly awarding the best accomplishments this year. If the members of the Motion Picture Academy choose to be honest and give credit where credit where credit is due, Truth will be the big Oscar winner for 2015 with Robert Redford and Kate Blanchett taking home the Best Actor and Best Actress Oscars. "
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Though this is a film about history, it is also a compelling drama that will keep the viewers, even those that were following the facts in 2004, on the edge of their seats.
If you see only one movie this year, make it "Truth."
www.justicegazette.org/truth-review.html