The Russian title is a pun about newspapers in the Soviet era. There were two national papers: Izvestiya, which roughly translates as "News," was the official newspaper of the Soviet government; Pravda, which means "Truth," was the official news outlet of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
The pun says, "There is no 'Izvestiya' in 'Pravda,' and no 'Pravda' in 'Izvestiya'." That is, "There is no news in the truth and no truth in the news," and speaking it in the wrong company could get you tossed in jail.
That is why the framers of the Constitution insisted on free speech and a free press.
As
Americans we have the right not only to say what we think, but also to publish it. If the government takes a position we do not agree with,
we are free to speak and publish protests against it.
American journalism has been something of a rough-and-tumble enterprise almost from the beginning, but it has always been imbued with a kind of nobility, especially when reporting the news. Such was the case through the era of radio and the first few decades of television.
Sadly, it has not been the case since the mid-1980s when Rupert Murdoch began infecting American news media. Through the 1980s and '90s, entertainment gained primacy, which led to news programs that had more in common with entertainment than with traditional news reporting.
We have now reached a pass where it can be said of much American news reporting, "There is neither truth nor news in the news."
I am not going to comment on any network or station or channel, or make any recommendations based on my own opinions. What I have to offer, for those of you who might be interested, are a few links that might help navigate the sea of un-news and disinformation.
A Wikipedia article on the history of false news and how to detect it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_news#Detecting_fake_news_online
The transcript library of Rev.com, where you can find verbatim transcripts of almost everything newsworthy:
https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts
For purposes of comparing and contrasting, here's the official White House transcript site:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/
Another site for identifying falsehoods in the news:
https://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/
There are many more such sites and I urge you to find some you like so you can do your own fact checking. I trust those above--well, except the White House, of course.
--- Diogenes, 5/2/20
Fox News is a brand name, not a descriptor of content.
U.S. Constitution
The voice of the people
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