All ThoughtCrimes Will Be Persecuted

How we doin', kids?

Today on The Ride - we plunge back into the world of ethical journalism. Check this out.

From ButAsForMe.com: Orwellian NY Times: The Times Alters the Occupy Wall Street Storyline

As they say, a picture tells a thousand words. A quick look at the side by side comparison of an original piece posted to the New York Times website last night at 6:59 PM - laid next to the "updated and revised" version which was posted 20 minutes later at 7:19 PM - speaks volumes.

The original text of the story explains how the NYPD herded protesters from the OccupyWallStreet protest out onto the Brooklyn Bridge, where they could then begin to unjustifiably arrest the protesters en masse. 20 minutes later the words are completely changed. What once told the story of the unscrupulous methods employed by the police department to control the protesters now reads as a sensationalized account of a "tense showdown" between police and protesters. What once started as the police "allowing [protesters] onto the bridge" before arresting them, becomes protesters "marching onto the Brooklyn Bridge's roadway". And with a simple change of two quick sentences, the Gestapo-esque practices of the New York Police Department becomes the valiant efforts of a few good men trying to keep the streets safe for you and your family.

And where did these edits come from? Well, if you look at the story, the original text was authored by a man named Colin Moynihan. The story as it was updated 20 minutes later claims authorship by both Moyniha, and a man named Al Baker. Who is Al Baker, you ask?

From the NYT website: Al Baker, police bureau chief for The New York Times — and the son of a police lieutenant — brings you inside the nation’s largest police force every Thursday.

Well then. Talk about conflicting interests interfering with the objectivity of the news. Astounding that the NYTimes resident police reporter and chief is allowed to make such extreme editorial decisions without any oversight. Unless of course, the NYTimes is no more trustworthy than FOX News, shaping the headlines until they are formed into a worthy tool for the indoctrination of its readership.

So hooray for journalist integrity! Hooray for honesty in the media!! Hooray for America!

But above all - hooray for those beautiful protesters. Keep fighting the good fight. The Whole World is Watching.



Here is some footage from the Brooklyn Bridge incident from this weekend, accompanied by an interview from a protester who was actually there on the bridge. Watch the clip - you decide who to trust. Your neighbors - or the police.