Richard V. Rupp

November 22, 2021

Good Monday morning. I'm author Richard V. Rupp, writing from Burbank, California. Welcome to RUPP'S NOTES/FBI SPECIAL AGENT HARTMAN SERIES posts.

 

I must admit the press is making the holiday season sound like a disaster. I just read that there is a shortage of Santa's because of the tight labor market and concerns over the Covid risk. Then because of inflation and the supply chain problem, Spam is replacing turkey for holiday dinners. Please, don't tell me there will be no champagne for New Years' celebrations.

 

It's a small world. My last post devoted a considerable amount of space to the change of ownership in American newspapers and how China is being favorably promoted by some of them. Yesterday, I opened my LOS ANGELES TIMES, and to my surprise, found an eight-page multi-colored section titled "China Watch." The section was basically a newspaper within a newspaper that definitely shines a positive light on China with page/section heading titled CHINA, BUSINESS, TIBET SPECIAL, and LIFE.

 

The top of sections front page contained this notice – "This supplement is printed and distributed in selected areas by the LOS ANGELES TIMES Media Group. It does not involve the editorial staff of the Los Angeles Times."

 

This notice was at the bottom of the page – "China Watch materials are distributed by CHINA DAILY Distribution Corp., on behalf of China Daily, Beijing, China. Additional information is on file with the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C."

 

I was taken aback at first because of what I had posted just a few days ago. Then I thought, yes, we are a free country that has freedom of the press. There is no question in my mind that if the U. S. Government tried to do the same thing in China, it would not be allowed. I trust the LA TIMES made a good profit off this supplement. Or was it part of Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong's stated plan to use the paper he bought to "orient it to fight against racism against the Chinese?"

 

The "China Watch" section includes a promotional section for digital subscriptions to the CHINA DAILY. An Internet search indicates that CHINA DAILY is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party.

 

I must admit the articles were well written and tailored for an American audience.

 

This reminded me that I'm a dinosaur who still subscribes to newspapers. The younger generation gets their news through electronic media. The American newspaper readership has significantly declined over the past few years. The HUSSMAN SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AND MEDIA website indicates that over the past 15 years, newspaper readership has declined from 122 million to 73 million. Since 2004 almost 1,800 newspapers have gone out of business. Sixty dailies and 1,700 weeklies. Roughly half of the remaining 7,112 in the country – 1,283 dailies and 5,829 weeklies – are in small and rural communities. The vast majority – around 5,500 – have a circulation of less than 15,000. Highly populated states like California, New York, and Illinois have lost the most. An April 6, 2021, article by Milos Djordjevic indicated that newspaper weekday print circulation decreased from 63.3 million copies in 1984 to 28.5 million in 2018.

 

In my novel SKYWARD, all the news is supplied electronically. The content is closely controlled by the Bowman Colony leadership to avoid panicking the colonist who lives in a fragile environment. The administration based their decision to control pronouncements to the community based on Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s opinion (paraphrasing) that you shouldn't allow someone to shout fire in a crowded theatre. He believed this abridgment of free speech was permissible because it presented a "clear and present danger."

 

Also, in SKYWARD, much of the manufacturing is done using 3D printing. It appears this manufacturing concept is growing here on Earth. According to a WALL STREET JOURNAL article, due to the current supply chain problem, many companies are now 3D printing machinery replacement parts rather than ordering them from their usual suppliers.

 

Cheers,

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com

Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright©2021 by Richard V. Rupp