Truth and Consequences By William Bowles

20 April 2004

“We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.” – John Swinton, the New York Times

Well he should know shouldn’t he but does your ‘average’ reader? And in this age of instantaneous and interlinked communications, dominated by a handful of powerful (and interconnected) media/communications companies, the power of the press to shape our knowledge let alone our opinions has taken centre stage in the struggle ‘for hearts and minds’ as the US political pundits put it during the epic struggle of the Vietnamese to free themselves from US corporate domination.