“Who would have thought that this circus would come to town? It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS. The money is rolling in. It’s a terrible thing to say, but bring it on, Donald (Trump). Go ahead. Keep going.” Leslie Moonves. President of CBS.
One of the just many strong quotes used in the Best of Fests (Program section) of IDFA2016 ‘All Governments Lie’ documentary discussed below. Yes folks, this is literary what the President of CBS Leslie Moonves told investors February 29, 2016 at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. Read more from David Lieberman’s article on Deadline.com
Jeff Cohen, media critic, associate professor of journalism at Ithaca college, and the founder of Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), a media watchdog group in the US, asks the following question at the beginning of ‘All Governments Lie’ documentary;
“It makes you “ask” whether those executives who run media conglomerates, have any more ethics or morals then those who run the oil and gas industry, the pharmaceutical industry, tobacco industry, It’s an open question to me?”
Documentary ‘All Governments Lie’
Vancouver-based, Emmy-winning journalist, and filmmaker Fred Peabody (CBC – “the fifth estate”) on November 4th released a brilliant new documentary about the current state of journalism in the United States. The Film truly provides us with talking heads like Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, Ralph Nader, and the great investigative journalists such as Matt Taibbi, Jeremy Scahill, Glenn Greenwald, Amy Goodman, and features great archive footage from 60 years of US History.
A look at the life and work of American journalist, I.F. Stone, who leads a one-man crusade against government deception.
“All Governments Lie” is made in the spirit of maverick American investigative journalist and writer “I.F. Stone,” who covered the Vietnam War, McCarthyism, Nixon, racial discrimination, Lyndon B. Johnson (Gulf of Tonkin incident) , through his popular 1950′s newsletter “I.F. Stone’s Weekly.”
Stone found himself blacklisted and unable to get work. Stone publicly admitted to his “fellow traveler” tendencies. The pejorative term fellow traveller identifies a person who is sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization’s political activities, without being a formal member of that organization – (Wiki). Inspired by journalist George Seldes and his political weekly, In Fact, Stone decided to start his own independent newsletter, I. F. Stone’s Weekly. Stone really got known from the following qoute:
“All governments are run by liars and nothing they say should be believed.”
“The media has spent decades turning the news into a consumer business.”
We all know these days that mainstream media is intertwined with business through corporate ownership and advertising. And this film greatly demonstrates the need for free press. Watch the trailer here, and order your tickets below:
“All Governments Lie” provided us with a great list of 16 independent journalists that are truly changing the face of journalism, providing investigative, adversarial alternatives to mainstream, corporate news outlets in the tradition of I.F. Stone.
BONUS
- 1970: Day at Night James Day talks with journalist I.F. Stone as they discuss investigative journalism, politics in the U.S. and corruption in the government. Watch right here
- Ben Norton from salon.com sat down with Taibbi and Peabody to dissect the U.S. media and reflect on I.F. Stone’s muckraking legacy – WATCH: “All Governments Lie” — Matt Taibbi and filmmaker Fred Peabody on media failures and dissident journalism (02:16)
- The full interview can be watched here
International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA)
During IDFA2016 (Amsterdam, November 16 – 27), creative documentaries take centre stage. Since its launch in 1988 IDFA has been one of the world’s leading documentary film festivals, dedicated to the exhibition and promotion of ground-breaking creative documentaries.
Trailer IDFA 2016
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The complete film list for IDFA2016 is now online!
Photo credit: White Pine Pictures.