Why I Do This and Why He Can't Stop Me

For about ten years before the year 2,000 and ten years after, The Maui News, the only daily paper on the island, frequently engaged in sensationalist, dishonest promotion of postmodern healing miracles and other “new age” fads and frauds. Disease diagnosis by aura photography, the wonders of astrology, miracles of ancient herbs, and feng shui “science” to make you rich – such BS was standard fare in the paper, as it was in hundreds of dailies in those days. This type of quackery is not as fashionable now, so the papers run fewer ads and puff pieces (ads disguised as articles) promoting the frauds.

Over almost a quarter century I have clashed repeatedly with The Maui News about its corruption and dishonesty. It claims to abide by The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, but this is patently untrue, a most brazen lie. Though it violates the code by promoting health quackery and anti-science less often than it once did, it violates the code in other ways more stubbornly than ever.

The sins of the paper are now more of deliberate omission than of commission. As is true of most dailies, the loyalty of The Maui News belongs to its advertisers, not its readers. The island’s economy is almost entirely tourism dependent, so the paper plays cheerleader and propagandist, always projecting an image of paradise. Show the beauty and hide the ugliness.

However, the SPJ code stipulates that ethical journalists investigate and report on issues of importance to the community and do not collude with government officials or industries to ignore, bury or cover up the issues. This is Maui, not Putin’s Moscow where Pravda does the will of the Boss. Yet The Maui News rarely deviates from the county government’s line or reports anything likely to embarrass Mayor-Forever Alan Arakawa or put Maui in a bad light. This means total silence on our most important issues – the rule of law and the protection of constitutional rights of common people and poor people.

For years the editors of The Maui News have refused to publish my letters and commentaries exposing the county’s crimes or to investigate for itself. The facts are not in dispute and are mostly matters of public record, but they are taboo to the paper. Meanwhile it devotes acres of print to trivia (a big front-page story this morning is a slight change in the shape of Oreo cookies)  and puff pieces, including articles about awards and promotions for local cops, some well-known bullies and criminals. This kind of self-censorship and propagandizing is unethical and should be exposed. Thus my demonstrations.

No doubt Mr. Bradley hates my little protests, but there is nothing that he can do to stop them. Any legal action would give me an opportunity to show, in a court of law, that the paper routinely violates the SPJ ethics code. Its pretense of journalistic competence, honesty, integrity and fairness would be blown away. Bradley can’t allow that, so he tries to ignore me. But his inaction might lead some to think the accusation on my sign is true. And so he is trapped.

Similar reasoning holds regarding my signs accusing, “under penalty of perjury,” the mayor, the chief of police, the prosecutor and other county officials of various heinous crimes.

This is another example of a tactic I call “dirty tricks for clean government.” It’s too early to say whether it will prove effective in this case, but it is fun to get big shots into a kind of checkmate where, because of their own stupidity, dishonesty, corruption and arrogance, you get to defame them to the world in the nastiest possible ways with total impunity. That way, if you never get justice at least you get a little revenge. 

Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerBlogs.blogspot.com. 

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”. It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett, MD.  The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.  

When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com.