Which side really emulates fascism?

By Tony Farkas
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This is a story about two different, yet somehow the same, events that have occurred regarding the so-called right in this country to a free press.

Some of you may recall that in March of last year, Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal was arrested in Russia on charges of espionage. Apparently, the writer had the temerity to cover the war in the Ukraine, given that his parents had escaped from the Soviet Union.

He was attached to the Journal as its Russian correspondent.

Interestingly, almost a year later, another journalist was arrested for covering a “conflict,” in this case the so-called “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol.

Steve Baker, an independent writer working for Blaze Media, surrendered to the FBI on Friday to face misdemeanor charges connected with his being in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, the second day that will live in infamy.

Those charges include knowingly entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building, and parading or demonstrating in a Capitol Building.

Leaving the individual charges alone, there is a very distinct similarity between the two cases in that governments are looking to suppress information. Russia doesn’t want to look bad for their naked aggression, and the U.S. government is trying to paint the Jan. 6 events in such a light as to keep Trump from being elected again.

In the case of the U.S., the government can’t afford for the truth to come out, since it would destroy the orange-man-bad scenario they’ve painted. This narrative has had ripple effects, trickling down to the states to where Colorado, Maine and now a county in Illinois is looking to keep Trump off the ballot.

In another unrelated, but sorta related, case, former Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge is being held in contempt of court for not revealing her sources for a story she was pursuing involving a Chinese American scientist.

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The First Amendment specifically states that a free press shall not be abridged, so the fellers supposedly protecting our rights — oaths of office usually have a codicil about protecting the Constitution — instead try to game the system with arrests for other things.

Wanna write a story about a developing riot? Be careful not to step foot in a public building that someone has deemed not accessible without proper authorization.

Wanna cover the war in the Ukraine, since the U.S. government sees fit to subsidize the entire thing? Don’t make Uncle Vlad uncomfortable.

The arrest in Russia happens simply because it’s Russia. While not as stringent as the former Soviet Union, everyone and everything remains squarely under the government thumb, and Pravda remains the greatest oxymoronic newspaper name in history.

But this is supposed to the U.S., the antithesis of that. More and more, the government controls the narrative, and from there starts getting pushy when the party line isn’t being parroted as written. It’s almost as if George Orwell issued a challenge, not a cautionary tale.

Thomas Jefferson felt that the people were the only censors to government. His quote, “The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

A newspaper that is beholden to government is the same as a government without newspapers, and unless it’s stopped, it will only get worse.

Towny Farkas is publisher of the San Jacinto News-Times and the Trinity County News-Standard. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The views expressed here avre his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.