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Power, money and the age-old impulse to silence the truth
From ancient prophets to a cancelled radio interview, the impulse to silence inconvenient voices with money and power is nothing new. One journalist argues it’s time for people of integrity to stop letting advertisers and influencers decide whose story gets told.
By Julie A. Ferraro | FāVS News Columnist
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News.
The saying, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” has a long-standing record of truth. And, as someone who wears a silver ring with the words, “Never fear truth,” I can’t help but wonder why human beings don’t stand up, speak up and yell at the top of their lungs to shut down those whose power — backed by money — is used to stomp ordinary folk under their designer shoes.
What I’m referring to can occur in large cities or small towns and, frankly, the small town version is far more frightening.
Some years ago, working on a small southern paper, I made a point to report more than what was referred to as “fluffy” news. One such article dealt with the school system, and when it was published, phone calls from prominent business owners threatened to pull their advertising if I didn’t stop.
The men who’d bought the paper as part of a growing chain sided with the advertisers.
A few affluent people, unwilling for their corruption to be exposed, used their wealth to silence the truth.
An old story, retold
But then, 2,000 years ago didn’t the same happen to Jesus? His quiet example, his words of kindness, compassion, respect and love, ran against Roman dominance and even Jewish interpretation of Moses’ law. So, what did the elders of the temple do? They used their power and their money to silence him.
In centuries prior, weren’t the prophets harassed, discredited and persecuted by those with power — as well as soldiers and money — to keep silent about the corruption they witnessed and how repentance should be the order of the day?
In recent weeks, I again ran afoul of a public figure with power and money in a city that shall not be named. I was to be interviewed on the radio, but because I hadn’t met the supposed criteria to merit this individual’s approval, a phone call was made, and I was later notified the interview had been cancelled.
While the radio station manager admitted to being “excited to interview” me, because the caller was “a friend and advertiser,” it was necessary to “respect their wishes.”
Rather than let me tell my story, I was silenced.
I can honestly say this hurt. I’d done nothing to offend the person who felt obliged to control how I was treated. In fact, had I been allowed on the airwaves, what I would have said would have reflected positively on them.
Because a potential loss of advertising dollars to the radio station was involved, though, they sided with the money, and I was thrust aside like an old shoe.
Integrity over income
In my opinion, the way people are treated should have nothing to do with power or money. Jesus preached and demonstrated as much when he told the story of the Good Samaritan, or spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well. He never asked the lepers, the lame and the blind who approached him for healing where they came from. Most of those Jesus cured expressed their faith in him.
Humanity needs to lose the bonds of a consumer mentality, the priority being how much money is raked in each day. Executives, for instance, require their customer service representatives to “upsell” those who patronize their business or call in with issues about a particular product. This applies to everything from fast food to tech companies.
The reason I could not hire on as an employee in such a position: I would bluntly tell my boss, “I’m here to help people, not sell stuff.”
I’ve written elsewhere how, this past April in Ireland, workers mounted protests where they parked huge tractors on the highways to block traffic, their way of telling the government, “You can’t walk all over us.”
In like fashion, threats of financial losses from those with power — corrupted to the point of believing they have the right to silence anyone deemed unworthy — should be roundly rejected by souls holding fast to their professional and personal integrity, sending the message, “You can’t walk all over us.”
They should be willing, like Jesus, to take the losses while standing with those who have the right to be heard and respected.
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