Book Excerpt: A Graveyard of Truthtellers (Pt 3)
Featuring Chris Hedges, Phil Donahue, Ashley Banfield, and Jesse Ventura.
If you're hearing about a war in the corporate media, one side of the story is likely being suppressed. With the current wars in Israel and Ukraine, there’s little doubt that the reporting is slanted towards prolonging war, based on what we know about past war coverage. Journalists at outlets like the New York Times, Newsweek, ABC, and MSNBC who have questioned the push for past wars have routinely been silenced, demoted, and fired.
Part One and Part Two of this series featured journalists who were fired or silenced by corporate media outlets for: revealing CIA drug running, uncovering Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, supporting Bernie Sanders, or revealing the truth about an alleged gas attack used to justify bombing Syria.
These posts are all excerpts from my 2023 book Red White & Blind: The Truth About Disinformation & The Path to Media Consciousness.
Ashleigh Banfield (MSNBC)
Fired for not supporting the invasion of Iraq
Upton Sinclair once said, “It is difficult to get a man to see something his salary depends on him not seeing.”
Most journalists are simply unable to see the bias in the way that, say, the lead-up to a war is covered and analyzed in corporate news. But sometimes a man or woman does come to see and to understand something that endangers his or her salary; sometimes that man or woman is too conscientious to lie about it. In these instances, if the lie runs counter to dominant narratives or to the objective of the news organization, the person is asked to leave—or, in certain cases, put in a tiny closet office without a phone or computer for a year.
In 2001, a young and promising journalist named Ashleigh Banfield won awards for her coverage on 9/11 from Ground Zero. Her work earned plaudits for her network, MSNBC, and she was promoted quickly thereafter. Banfield was assigned some of the network’s most important work. At one point, she was making daily appearances in different countries around the world for the nominally left-leaning media network. Her star was rising, and she became host of a show of her own entitled, On Location, for parent company NBC News. She became an “embedded journalist” in Iraq for a short period after the initial invasion of that country in 2003. By all accounts, she was on a skyrocketing trajectory as a television news journalist.
She was invited to give a prestigious guest lecture at Kansas State University.[1] It was May of 2003, just after returning from her stint in Iraq. In her speech to the university, she questioned the media coverage of the war, coverage she had participated in providing. She questioned whether what she had done in Iraq was journalism at all, suggesting instead that serving as an “embedded journalist” was helping the government to ensure people never saw the horrible, bloody deaths suffered by hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. What was shown to viewers, she said, was insufficient.
[It] was not journalism. Because I’m not so sure that we in America would be hesitant to do this again, to fight another war, because it looked like a glorious and courageous and successful and terrific endeavor… To truly understand what war is all about you’ve got to be on both sides.[2]
It didn’t seem like heavy criticism of the network, but none other than Neal Shapiro, president of NBC News, singled her out.[3] The network permanently banished Banfield in an almost comical way.
I was office-less for ten months. There was no phone, no computer. For ten months. I had to report to work every day and ask where I could sit... Eventually, after ten months of this, I was given… a tape closet. They cleared the tapes out and put a desk and a TV in there. Yet they wouldn’t let me leave. I begged for 17 months to be let out of my contract. If they had no use for me, [I thought], let’s just part ways amicably—no need for payouts, just a clean break. And Neal wouldn’t allow it. I don’t know what his rationale was—perhaps he thought I would take what I felt was a very strong brand, and others felt was a very strong brand, to another network and make a success of it. Maybe that’s why he chose to keep me in a warehouse. I will never forgive him for his cruelty and the manner in which he decided to dispose of me.[4]
Christopher Hedges (New York Times)
Silenced for not supporting the invasion of Iraq
An award-winning journalist and bestselling author, Chris Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent, reporting from more than fifty countries. With stints in Central America, West Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans, Hedges filed stories for The Christian Science Monitor, NPR, Dallas Morning News, and in particular, the New York Times, where he was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years. He published numerous articles in the Times during the buildup to the invasion of Iraq that allowed the Bush administration to allege Iraqi involvement with 9-11. His articles guided discussion about the war across the country.
Then, he gave a commencement speech at Rockford College in May 2003. In the speech, he voiced his opposition to the war. “This is a war of liberation in Iraq,” he told the new graduates. “But it is a war of liberation by Iraqis from American occupation.”
The Times immediately issued a formal reprimand, condemning his remarks as “undermining the paper’s impartiality” and forbidding Hedges from speaking further about the war. Hedges was silenced for “compromising his neutrality.” Rather than abide by the proscription on speaking on the critical issue of the day, Hedges resigned.
As has been the case with many of these truthtellers banned from corporate media, Hedges has found success in independent and online media. He writes for independent online journals Truthdig and ScheerPost, teaches in a New Jersey prison, and hosts the program On Contact for the RT television network.
Well, he did host On Contact until RT America was censored and killed in 2022 at the outset of the war in Ukraine, which is a proxy war between the United States and Russia. It’s a telling sign of desperation that the corporate media silenced RT. The Balanced Media Diet in the next chapter still includes RT because a diversity of perspectives—and a diversity of biases—is essential on the path to media consciousness. When a corporate media journalist is fired or silenced, it is often important to seek that voice out and listen to it if possible. Hedges has turned to Substack, and his incisive writing remains a part of the Balanced Media Diet.
Phil Donahue (MSNBC)
Fired for not supporting the invasion of Iraq
The groundbreaking, world-renowned Phil Donahue Show ran for three decades on nationwide television, including syndication on CBS and NBC. The show deftly bridged political divides in the country by addressing controversial topics with intelligence and patience. Epitomizing the best of the golden era of “objective, professional journalism,” it is widely regarded as one of the best television programs in American broadcast history. Donahue retired in 1996, but he came out of retirement in 2002 to host a new show, Donahue, on MSNBC. The show became the network’s most popular, but it didn’t even last a year.
In the frenzied media buildup to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, which we detailed in the “Weapons of Mass Distraction” section of Chapter 3, fraudulent claims about Iraq blanketed every network. Donahue meanwhile asked questions in his classic open-minded manner. In 1991, he had made no secret of his opposition to the first Iraq War, and now it seemed he was no fan of a new invasion.
Three weeks before the launch of the horrific attacks on Iraq, on February 25, 2003, Donahue’s show was canceled, and Donahue was fired. The reason given was that the show had insufficient viewership. Within weeks, leaked MSNBC memos circulated by company brass revealed the true reason for his dismissal. Donahue was fired because he opposed attacking Iraq. According to the leaked memos, his show could become “a home to the liberal anti-war” masses who were protesting in the streets. Donahue would be “a difficult public face for NBC” during the war.
In Donahue’s own opinion, he was fired simply because MSNBC was owned by General Electric, a war and weapons contractor who stood to make billions in profits off the war. He commented that GE “had required that we have two conservative guests on for every liberal … and I was counted as two liberals.”
Jesse Ventura (MSNBC)
Fired for not supporting the invasion of Iraq
Yet another casualty of the corporate media’s pro-war agenda is Jesse Ventura. A rare and compelling figure in American popular culture over the last half-century, Ventura served in Vietnam as a Navy SEAL where he performed underwater demolitions. Returning home after that war, he embarked on a successful career as a professional wrestler. Born James Janos, he adopted the sobriquet Jesse “The Body” Ventura and took on a persona that combined a California surfer’s looks with Billy Graham’s flamboyance. His successful wrestling career spanned three decades, and he eventually became a popular television personality, commentator, and announcer for the World Wrestling Federation as well. Ventura then moved into acting and appeared in over a dozen major action films, such as Predator (1987) and Demolition Man (1993). He became a modern-day corporate media renaissance man.
In 1991, Ventura entered yet another field, politics. He won a surprising upset to become mayor of the town of Brooklyn Park in his home state of Minnesota. A mere seven years later, in 1998, this man’s already uncommon life was transformed by its most remarkable accomplishment. As an outspoken and unapologetic political independent—a member of the fledgling Reform Party—Ventura shocked the country by winning a statewide election and becoming the Governor of Minnesota.
His term was widely regarded as successful, and upon leaving office in 2002, Ventura was one of the most sought-after personalities in corporate news. Networks approached him for his services as a commentator. A bidding war ensued, which MSNBC finally won by offering him over $2 million annually, equivalent to $3 million in 2022 dollars.
“People just love this guy,” MSNBC President Erik Sorenson said at the time. “He has some kind of connection with the average guy.”[8]
Despite all the efforts and all the money they spent to land him, his show didn’t last a season. After two months, MSNBC canceled it. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times years later, Ventura recounted the shock he felt when his show was killed:
It was awful. I was basically silenced. When I came out of office [as governor], I was the hottest commodity out there. There was a bidding war between CNN, Fox, and MSNBC to get my services. MSNBC ultimately won. I was being groomed for a five-day-a-week television show by them. Then, all of a sudden, weird phone calls started happening: “Is it true Jesse doesn’t support the war in Iraq?”
My contract said I couldn’t do any other cable TV or any news shows, and they honored and paid for the duration of it. So in essence I had my silence purchased. Why do you think you didn’t hear from me for three years? I was under contract. They wouldn’t even use me as a consultant!
When you live in Mexico, your houses all have names. I almost named my house “Casa MSNBC” because they bought it. I was paid like a professional athlete, and I got very wealthy. For doing nothing.[9]
Similar to Banfield, above, and Donahue, below, Ventura’s network aggressively prevented Ventura from speaking his mind—not just on its own shows but on other networks as well.[10] In this case, they literally purchased his silence.
Ventura bought a house in Mexico with the cash, and he has gone on to a successful career in alternative media, hosting a popular news analysis show on RT.
Well, he was hosting a popular news analysis show on RT until RT America was censored and killed as mentioned above. Ventura too has turned to Substack,[11] and his incisive writing remains a part of the Balanced Media Diet.
[1] Banfield, Ashleigh. “Landon Lecture Series on Public Affairs.” Kansas State University, April 24, 2003. www.k-state.edu/landon/speakers/ashleigh-banfield/video.html
[2] Banfield, Ashleigh. “Landon Lecture at Kansas State University Transcript.” American Rhetoric, April 24, 2003. www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ashleighbanfieldlandonksu.htm
[3] Dumas, Timothy. “Truth and Consequences: Meet Ashleigh Banfield. She Spoke Out About TV War Coverage and Paid a High Price. Would She Do It Again?” New Canaan-Darien Magazine, February 2009. web.archive.org/web/20150217090152/http://www.newcanaandarienmag.com/n/January-2009/Truth-and-Consequences/index.php?cparticle=1&siarticle=0#artanc
[4] Ariens, Chris. “I Will Never Forgive Him for His Cruelty and the Manner in Which He Decided to Dispose of Me.” Adweek, February 11, 2009. www.adweek.com/tvnewser/i-will-never-forgive-him-for-his-cruelty-and-
the-manner-in-which-he-decided-to-dispose-of-me/23865/
[8] “Jesse Ventura’s Talk Not Cheap for MSNBC.” Globe & Mail, February 10, 2003. www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/jesse-venturas-talk-not-cheap-for-msnbc/article18284415
[9] Collins, Scott. “Jesse Ventura Searches for Coverups.” Los Angeles Times, November 29, 2009. www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-nov-29-la-ca-conversation29-2009nov29-story.html
[10] Roper, Eric. “Jesse Ventura Says MSNBC Nixed His Show for Not Supporting Iraq War.” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, November 30, 2009. www.startribune.com/ventura-says-msnbc-nixed-his-show-for-not-supporting-iraq-war/78150302
[11] Van Oot, Torey. “Jesse Ventura Turns to Substack.” Axios, June 1, 2022. www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2022/06/01/jesse-ventura-substack-newsletter
[22] Clark, Chrissy. “ABC’s David Wright Admits Network Doesn’t Care About News.” The Federalist, February 26, 2020. thefederalist.com/2020/02/26/watch-abcs-david-wright-admits-network-doesnt-care-about-news
[23] See Clark, above.
[24] See Clark, above.
[25] See Clark, above.
[26] Farhi, Paul. “ABC News Suspends Correspondent David Wright After Comments About Trump Coverage, Socialism, in Project Veritas Sting.” Washington Post, February 26, 2020. www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/abc-news-suspends-correspondent-david-wright-after-project-veritas-sting/2020/02/26/764efc06-5849-11ea-9b35-def5a027d470_story.html
[27] Miller, Hayley. “Journalists Slam ABC News for Suspending David Wright After Project Veritas Sting.” Huffington Post, February 26, 2020. www.huffpost.com/entry/abc-news-suspends-david-wright-project-veritas_n_5e569234c5b62e9dc7db547d
[28] See Clark, above.
Tony, I know you spent significant time in China. Long ago, I read this adage, attributed to the Chinese government attitude toward dissenting voices: "Protruding nails will be pounded."
Such it is with the truth tellers you profiled in this book excerpt: they stuck out from the prevailing narrative and they got cancelled.