Commentary |The National Enquirer’s Pecker Lie and butt-busting frogs

by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

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I’ve never bought a copy of The National Enquirer. However, I’ve read from it some down through the years. If I’ve been standing in a grocery store checkout line for a few minutes then the tabloid has been a source of comic fodder. It’s always been a good comic book.

I’ve never read anything in the publication that I took as gospel truth. Typically, the headlines have been something sensational like, “Green Creatures from Mars Visit the White House,” or, “76-year-old woman has triplets. Democrats blame it on George H.W. Bush.”

The former publisher David Pecker, recently admitted in New York City court that the tabloid had made up the story about Lee Harvey Oswald being associated with Ted Cruz’s father Rafael Cruz. The story was completely fabricated along with fabricated pictures. The fabrication was that Rafael Cruz and Oswald were handing out pro Fidel Castro propaganda prior to Oswald’s assassination. The point of the whole lie had to be to cost Cruz just enough votes to drive him out of the 2016 run for President. This is a rear-end busting moment for The Enquirer.

In recent days, we have also heard about the tabloid buying stories from individuals just so they could simply kill the story. If the publication did not promise they were publishing the story, then they had every right to buy the story and not follow through with publication. They paid for it and had every right to decide not to use the story.

So, what if they had used any of the stories they did not publish? Many Americans are like me they take the stories of The National Enquirer with a grain of salt. However, of course, some people believe everything they hear and read. Even though the story about Ted Cruz’s father was a big lie, many Americans surely believed it because some believe anything that’s in print.

Sadly, we can’t believe everything we hear on television and we can’t believe everything we read in The National Enquirer, if anything.

In today’s world do you believe everything you hear on television or read in print?

Many of us miss the good ol’ days of Walter Cronkite or the evening news with Huntley-Brinkley. You probably don’t even know who I’m talking about but it was back in the old days when pushing a certain political candidate on any news format would not have been tolerated.

We live in a different day, or do we? The National Enquirer, has always been The National Enquirer. Stormy Daniels, has always been Stormy Daniels. She is a pornographic actress. David Pecker has admitted to being who he is, someone who is willing to publish a lie to bring about pain and suffering regardless of the cost. Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are who they are and most likely you have made up your mind which way you are voting.

Regardless of how much you enjoy reading the garbage of The National Enquirer just remember that even though you might put feathers on a frog it will never fly and will always bust its butt every time it jumps.

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He is the author of 13 books including Uncommom Sense, the Spiritual Chocolate series, Grandpa's Store, Minister's Guidebook insights from a fellow minister. His column is published weekly in over 600 publications in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.

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League of Women Voters of Illinois hosting lecture on AI and misinformation

CHICAGO – Diane Chang will give a Zoom talk concerning strategies on how to protect and secure democracy in an age of threats from social media and AI for a virtual meeting of the League of Women Voters of Illinois (LWVIL) on Wednesday, April 17.

Addressing the rise of misinformation and disinformation — and its impact on our elections — the League of Women Voters of Illinois formed the Mis/Disinformation Task Force in January 2024 with their mission to educate the general public on mis/disinformation.

Diane Chang

Chang, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia Journalism School and the former head of Election Integrity and Product Strategy at Meta, will discuss her experience building artificial intelligence and consumer technology products that connect people to information, safety, and sustainability. She led Meta’s election strategy integrity and product strategy from 2021–23.

In her current position at the Brown Institute, Ms. Chang is an advisor and consultant to nonprofits in the U.S. and abroad on technology and elections. She has a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School Research Institute at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.

Organized by LWVIL’s Misinformation and Disinformation Task Force, the event is the second in a series of presentations where noted authorities will discuss topics that inform and educate voters starting at 7 p.m. The webinar is free and open to the public. All programs are recorded and made available on the LWVIL website.

Visit lwvil.org/misdis-info for more information or to register.

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Op-Ed |Where did all our local newspapers go?

Photo: Zo Willibrord/Pexels

from Jim Hightower

I no longer receive my local newspaper, the Austin-American Statesman.

Oh, the paper still comes, but it’s just paper, minus the news part — news that our community once counted on to keep up with local government doings, corporate shenanigans, citizen actions, and other critical features of our city’s democratic life.

What happened? Wall Street profiteers swept in a few years ago to conglomeratize, homogenize, and financialize the Statesman.

Jim Hightower

It’s now a money cog in the Gannett/USA Today chain of some 200 major dailies that the syndicate seized. Indeed, Gannett itself is wholly owned by SoftBank, a Japanese hedge fund. Those distant bankers are not interested in local news, but in slashing news staffs to fatten their profits. In Austin alone, Softbank has cut two-thirds of the paper’s journalists since taking over — and coverage of local stories has also plunged by two-thirds.

Interestingly, the Statesman recently ran a front-page piece about a local union protest by flight attendants demanding fair wages. On that same day, the paper also reported that Uber and Lyft drivers were striking in Austin.

But at the same time, the Statesman journalists were picketing right in front of the paper’s office, protesting the greed of SoftBank/Gannett and the demise of local news. Curiously, Statesman editors did not consider this local news about our newspaper to be news, so they cravenly kept this important information from the people.

Austin was not alone in this news blackout by the chain’s managers. Journalists at a dozen other Gannett papers — from Akron, Ohio to South Bend, Indiana — were picketing, yet, none of those papers ran a peep about their journalists’ defense of local news. Nor did Gannett’s flagship paper, USA Today, mention this nationwide union rebellion by its own journalists.

To support journalists and real journalism, go to newsguild.org.

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About the author ~

OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.

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Journalism scholarships available for students, application due Feb. 22

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by Adriana Gallardo, Ash Ngu and Mollie Simon
ProPublica

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We are proud to announce our sixth annual scholarship program. This year we are teaming up with The Pudding, a visual essays online publication.

ProPublica, with additional support from The Pudding, will be sponsoring need-based scholarships for 25 students to attend an eligible journalism conference in 2021 and/or to contribute toward journalism related expenses such as subscriptions to news publications, software, FOIA fees, or equipment (think cameras, recorders, etc.).

Anyone who is a permanent U.S. resident is eligible to apply. We especially encourage students from an underrepresented group in journalism — including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities — to apply.

The $750 scholarships will go to students who would otherwise be unable to attend conferences or purchase supplies to support their education and ongoing reporting.

The following conferences offer great opportunities for networking and professional development, especially for those just starting out in journalism. Scholarship recipients will also have the opportunity to meet ProPublica and The Pudding staff throughout the year at conferences (virtual or in person). Check out last year’s scholarship recipients.

You can apply for the scholarship here. The deadline is Feb. 22. Students have the option to select a conference as part of their application. We understand many have yet to announce dates and that formats may change, but we would still like to know which you are interested in attending.

• AAJA, Asian American Journalists Association. Location and dates TDB.
• AHCJ, Association of Health Care Journalists. Austin, Texas, June 24-27.
• IRE, Investigative Reporters and Editors. Indianapolis, June 17-20.
• JAWS, Journalism and Women Symposium. New Mexico, Sept. 24-26.
• NABJ National Association of Black Journalists. Houston, Aug. 18-22.
• NAHJ National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Virtual, July (exact date TBD).
• NAJA, Native American Journalists Association. Phoenix, Sept. 15-19.
• NICAR, The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting. Virtual, March 3-5.
• NLGJA, Association of LGBTQ Journalists. Location and dates TBD.
• NPPA, National Press Photographers Association (Northern Short Course). Location and dates TBD.
• ONA, Online News Association. Location and dates TBD.
• SND, Society for News Design. Location and dates TBD.
• SRCCON, organized by OpenNews. Location and dates TBD.

Every year, we share what ProPublica is doing to increase the diversity of our newsroom and of journalism as a whole. These scholarships are a small but important step to help student journalists from underrepresented communities take advantage of everything these conferences offer.

High school, college and graduate students are welcome to apply. You must be a student at the time of application, but it’s OK if you’re graduating this spring.

Questions about the application process? Want to contribute to our scholarship fund to send more students to these conferences? Get in touch at adriana.gallardo@propublica.org.

This story was originally published by ProPublica on January 20, 2021. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.