This week at the Emmy Awards for News, student journalist Santiago Campos won CBS’s Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship. Here’s what he said in his speech:
“While I want to thank CBS News for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to also acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace.
As corporate elites take hold over the very pipes through which our information flows, journalism that serves the people becomes increasingly harder to come by, yet ever more crucial. And what people want is the truth.
So if at any time you hesitate to utter the word genocide or remain silent in the face of blatant lies, remember to ask yourself: who is this for? I hope you choose us.”
There is currently an existential battle over the future of journalism, with pro-Israel billionaires like the Ellisons and Jeff Bezos attempting to suck up media outlets and install pro-Israel activists like Bari Weiss, Jake Tapper, and Jeffrey Goldberg into positions of power, taking on the rapidly accelerating explosion of independent media, which has brought on the mass exodus of viewers from corporate news outlets like CNN, Fox News, and the New York Times.
With young journalists like Santiago boldly taking the side of independent journalists, the corporate elites may not stand a chance.
Also in this Friday Free-for-All: DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin thinks he can shut down international flights to sanctuary cities during the World Cup, Fraudfather/ADL head Jonathon Greenblatt tries to talk away a mass shooting at a San Diego mosque, and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz wants Democrats to get credit for being more Israel-first than Donald Trump.
It’s a sickening week as always, but with a bright twist that gives us some hope. Keep on supporting independent journalism and catch the full episode here:
