Thursday, December 17, 2015

R.I.P. BULLET NEWS

Not at all surprised that the noisy, newsy, nosey Bullet News will soon disappear from the internet. On December 31, 2015, the noise will stop forever. The news and nosiness will also not be missed. The Bullet began five years ago amid great hope that a news source would finally provide real investigative reporting and the truth of what goes on in Niagara.

Alas, that was not to be. The Bullet became a disappointment fairly early on despite a talented editor, a refugee from big corporate media where the truth is buried under advertisers' dollars. I guess it's too much to expect that an independent news source would tackle the sacred cows and expose the corruption that is everywhere, including the Niagara area.

I was inspired many years ago by the story of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward who, with their editor's blessing, exposed the Watergate Scandal that eventually brought down the presidency of Richard Nixon. They were my heroes. I always hoped that some day I could expose corruption as they had done. Well. I tried. LOL.

Lately, I have been hoping to see the new movie, Spotlight which is the story of reporters who exposed the abuse and cover-up of sexual abuse of young boys by Catholic priests in Boston, Massachusetts. That story intrigues me as I know full well the power of the Church as a witness to a massive cover-up of a scandal in my own parish in Buffalo. I knew that I could not report what I knew because there was no local media source that would touch the story. Of course, the Church hierarchy closed ranks very quickly to conceal the scandal, but many knew. All these years later, it remains hidden, the "guilty parties" were reassigned and protected by the hierarchy. All is forgiven and forgotten, yet I remember and so do a very few others, This scandal was not about abuse of young boys, but it was a direct insult to the teachings of the Church. It is still frustrating to know that they got away with it.

I'm still angry that the local "connected ones" got away with subverting democracy in their plan to eliminate four duly-elected men from Fort Erie's Town Council. Too bad the local media, especially Bullet Media did not see fit to report the story fully. It is all there for all to see, yet no one had the guts to follow the money to its obvious conclusion.

No, I am not surprised that Bullet Media went under. Too bad it didn't have the balls to expose the corrupt underbelly of local politics.Guess they didn't want to upset their noisy advertisers.

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