Nancy Gallo, Director of the Center For Lifelong Learning, talks about Community Journalism Program
“One of our biggest findings was that much of Europe’s lamb supply had been contaminated, could not be sold for food because of the levels of radioactive Cesium – released at Chernobyl—that were being found in the grass the animals were eating. We were very proud of our report. The bosses in New York were not. A four-minute-deep dive into a topic, was reduced to a minute-twenty that didn’t say very much.”
Page says, “that twisting of content and story selection is no longer a dirty secret and that billionaire class has turned its attention to the news business as an investment and doesn’t see anything wrong with ordering the news to be covered as they wish, to serve their interests.”
He says the billionaires “now own most of our most important institutions.”
Page also ties it to politics and government control “and bending to the will of those in power, which today means [President] Donald Trump.”
He gave factual examples on both spectrums of how billionaires and governments have controlled journalism and the media.
“Donald Trump insists he has the right to control how he is covered,” states Page. “Demanding that media outlets support him and his positions, and what he considers American values, or else. Various writers have called it Trump’s war on the free press. And it isn’t just words.
“Trump takes action against outlets that report something he doesn’t like,” continues Page. “He’ll sue them. Order the FCC to investigate them, thus putting their broadcast licenses at risk. Even have federal regulators threaten a multibillion-dollar corporate merger.”
As for the billionaires, Page says “no group of people in America has done more to curry favor with Trump and bend over backwards to avoid inciting his wrath. And what they’ve done is working. They got first row seats at his inauguration. Elon Musk, was given power never seen before … to rampage through government agencies with a chainsaw.”
He mentions Jeff Bezos, who bought the Washington Post in 2013, and kept his hands off journalism for the first 10 years, but shortly before the 2024 Presidential election, he killed an editorial that endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president “presumably with an eye toward protecting his much bigger business, Amazon, from problems with the government, and to keep the money coming in for his Blue Origin space program,” says Page.
Page also mentions Mark Zuckerberg, owner of META, which owns Facebook and Instagram, who gave Trump $1 million and recently eliminated fact checking on his sites.
On the other hand, some major institutions, such as the Associated Press, who did not “get into Trump’s good graces,” have been held back, says Page. The AP, one of the most respected journalistic institutions in the word that was founded in 1846, was banned from some major presidential events “because the wire service would not refer to the Gulf of Mexico as The Gulf of America. And when the AP won a court fight to get reinstated, Trump banned all wire services, including the AP.”
Page goes on to mention incidences of Trump having conflict with numerous channels including ABC News and CBS, and even the New York Times, and called PBS and NPR “radical left monsters.”
The White House Press Corps is even taking he heat, says Page, as the White House Correspondents Association which represent journalists, decided what outlets get seats in the briefing room, but the White House has now controlled that.
“Clearly, what the Trump administration wants is a compliant press that doesn’t criticize him or question anything he says,” Page says. He goes on to talk about when he worked as an NBC producer on the other side of the Iron Curtain where the press was only allowed to publish what the government said it could and speaking out was very dangerous under Communist rule.
Page ends his talk by giving advice to American news consumers.
“We need to actively seek out information, not passively wait for it to come to us,” says Page. “If you rely on a social media feed to push your news to you, you are living in a biased bubble,” because of its algorithms remembering the person’s likes and interests. Page calls social media “false,” claiming people write whatever they want without an authoritative source and pusher of disinformation.
“To truly be informed you’ve gotta get out of your silo and consider other opinions.
“AI in journalism is not your friend,” he adds. “An increasing number of outlets are using it to summarize or even write some stories and so far, it is frequently proving to be wrong.”
Page suggests readers turn to publications that publish both sides of the story and do not skew left or right or read from both such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, which skew a little bit but have fair reporting.
He also suggests news outlets that are not American: “The view of our country from afar, is often more clear-eyed with distance than what is written here,” he says suggesting BBC, The Economist, The Times of London and the Financial Times.
To end his speech, Page offered some tips to the community journalists in the room.
“First, talk to people,” he says. Emailing could be easy but “meeting them face to face is so much more effective.
“Go to public meetings, and when you don’t understand something, ask for an explanation,” he continues.
“Don’t be afraid to push,” he adds. “The First Amendment applies to everyone. Public information is public. You can have it.”
Continues Page, “don’t be intimidated,” but at the same time avoid bad manners. “Localize the impact of national developments,” such as impacts of tariffs to local car dealers and store owners, or local community’s reaction to cutting social security.
“Don’t repeat a rumor as if it is a fact,” adds Page. Find confirmation in a trusted mainstream source.
“If something sounds unbelievable, chances are very good that you shouldn’t believe it,” he adds.
“Be open to having your mind changed,” says Page.
“I believe journalism is an essential part of keeping America free,” he concludes. “I want everyone to understand just how precarious our grip on a free press has become.”
Attendees Respond
Some who attended shared their thoughts.
“I thought he was excellent; really covered a lot,” says Lorraine De Lorenzo of Stillwater.
“It started very interesting and informative, but unfortunately, it later turned into nothing but a Trump bash-fest,” says Maria Kovik of Sparta , one of the online Community Journalists. “Unfortunately, some attendees who came to enjoy the presentation seemed turned off by his tirade.”
Adds another Community Journalist Pat Galperin of Sparta, “I found myself leaning forward in my seat to hear more about David Page's exhilarating adventures as a journalist and an eyewitness to world events in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He is a Renaissance man and a skillful raconteur. He put me in mind of Lowell Thomas, the journalist who traveled with "Lawrence of Arabia."
Adds Galperin, “I attended the lecture to hear specifically what this seasoned journalist had to say. I wasn't disappointed. He was inspirational.”
While politics may have come into play, Page says he really just stuck with the facts. His point for journalism and media is to “keep up the good fight!”
The future awaits and perhaps the last of the horse races will determine America’s fate.
The last of the triple race is set for tomorrow, June 7—the 2025 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Racecourse. With the list finalized yet, Sovereignty will face off against Journalism. American Promise was not rostered, but would have been a good choice to complete this narrative.
The American Promise, in terms of sovereignty and journalism, is the commitment to a free, self-governing society—made possible only when journalism is independent, truth is protected, and the people, not powerful institutions, hold the reins of democracy.
May the best horse win! Giddyup!
SCCC offers courses in Journalism I and II as well as a Community Journalism Certificate Course through the Center for Lifelong Learning at SCCC, funded through a grant from the N.J. Council for the Humanities. Take some classes and join the effort to keep the free press strong.
Visit Sussex County Community College | Quality Education in NJ to sign up!
