Food for Thought
“If you do not read the newspaper, you are not informed; if you read the newspaper, you are misinformed.”
Mark Twain
Does mainstream news publish false stories? Definitely, for young children, they do. We are annually given details on how NORAD tracks Santa Claus. Recently, we were told the Easter Bunny and Tooth-Fairy are considered essential services, unaffected by Covid-19.
Am I a “Grinch” for questioning this “fake news”? Should reporters publish what is not true, even if “Everybody” knows it is not true? What other “adult, tongue in cheek, jokes” appear in newspapers? Do animosities between various groups begin at a very young age when some children berate fellow schoolmates for their “stupid” belief in Santa Claus? Are adults having a laugh at the expense of naïve, innocent, and gullible children? Some psychologists assert that these type of “innocent white lies” do children no harm, while other psychologists believe this behaviour does extensive injury.
Reporters knew what Peter Nygård was up to thirty years ago, but chose to turn a blind-eye. Nygård was involved with members of the British Royal Family. The Royal Family was also involved with Jeffrey Epstein and Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE KCSG (Jimmy Savile). For more than forty years Dr. Kevin Annett, a former United Church minister, has been alleging that Canada has several pedophile rings run by influential men. Annett also alleges, for more than a dozen years now, all media in Canada have been banned from mentioning his name or printing any of his articles.
British newspapers are now admitting, for over fifty years, they, as well as the British police, were turning a blind eye towards Jimmy Savile’s activities. Seven national British newspapers refused to publish a story from Miles Goslett, a freelance reporter, before The Oldie, a small little known British publication, printed Goslett’s story which exposed Jimmy Savile’s atrocities. It was only then did other reporters admit that Savile’s activities had long been discussed in their press circles, but never published. Johnny Rotten, of the Sex Pistols, claims that, as far back as 1978, he was banned by BBC, and silenced with threats of libel lawsuits when he tried to expose Jimmy Savile.
Recently, world-wide newspapers were printing stories about pedophile cover-ups by all levels of governments, various religious institutions, as well as mainstream media. Do we have cover-ups in Winnipeg? If I provide Winnipeg police with a video of a man illegally soliciting sex on the street, I am considered the criminal. Authorities accuse me of invading this man’s privacy, and harassing him as if he is the victim. Winnipeg police admit their mandate is not to arrest johns. They claim they are out to help the young girls who these men are exploiting. Male police officers pose as johns in order to apprehend these girls who are then branded for life as sex workers. The Canadian Women’s Foundation recommends, “Reverse stings, where female police officers pose as women engaged in prostitution” in order to arrest johns.
When Winnipeg police arrest underage girls, they claim they take them to a “safe place”, a euphemism for a gaol of one sort or another. Police, once in a while, will pick up a few johns and send them to a one-day “John School”. No criminal charges are brought against these johns and no records are kept. This goes against The Canadian Women’s Foundation recommendations of “shaming” by “publicizing the identities of arrested johns through news outlets, police websites, and/or billboards.” They also recommend cameras should be used, “to discourage sex buyers and to provide evidence against them.”
In Winnipeg, girls as young as eleven, and possibly younger, have been forced into prostitution and are working the streets. They are being exploited. They are the true victims who will eventually end up either behind bars or dead. If there were no johns, there would be no prostitutes. Why is Manitoba not following the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s recommendations for getting the johns off the streets?
Today, is it because of the Covid-19 pandemic dominating the news, that sex exploitation and pedophilia are no longer mentioned? Or, is this just the beginning of another cover-up?
Wayne Weedon is an Indigenous Manitoba writer of novels and short stories. To sample his wonderful work go to Wattpad.com.