Jeffrey Epstein: how US media - with one star exception - whitewashed the story

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"When Julie K Brown of the Miami Herald approached a former police chief of Palm Beach, Florida, in 2017, hoping to get him to open up about his investigation of the child sex crimes for which the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein had been fleetingly jailed a decade earlier, she was surprised by how unresponsive he was.

Michael Reiter told Brown he had been down this road many times and was sick of it. As Brown recalled in a WNYC interview last month, Reiter said he had talked to many reporters and told them precisely where to find damning evidence against Epstein. But nothing ever came of it.

“He was convinced that a lot of media had squashed the story and he was fed up,” she said.

Reiter warned Brown what would happen were she to continue digging: “Somebody’s going to call your publisher and the next thing you know you are going to be assigned to the obituaries department.”

Brown did not heed his warning. She flung herself at the investigation and eventually persuaded Reiter to go on record. Her resulting, award-winning three-part series last November exposed a vast operation in which 80 potential victims were identified, some as young as 13 and 14 at the time of the alleged abuse. She persuaded eight to tell their stories."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/13/jeffrey-epstein-alex-acosta-miami-herald-media

[dchill]

1. Julie K Brown is one of the reasons...

...we have the word "intrepid."

[tulipsandroses]

2. If you ever had any doubt that Acosta and his team were not on the victims' side

One of Acosta’s prosecutors wrote in an email to Jay Lefkowitz, an Epstein lawyer: “On an ‘avoid the press’ note … I can file the charge in district court in Miami which will hopefully cut the press coverage significantly. Do you want to check that out?”

[CousinIT]

3. White male privilege in operation. Wealthy white guys own ALL the media...

.... They cover for themselves & each other. This is how how privilege works.

ORIGINAL twitter thread:

Link to tweet

UNROLLED:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1150015473913909248.html?refreshed=yes

US media whitewashed the Epstein story previous to 2019. Why? You can say "money, power" of Epstein's operation. BUT - the biggest reason is that WEALTHY MEN cover for WEALTHY MEN.

Jeffrey Epstein: how US media – with one star exception – whitewashed the story
The Miami Herald exposed a vast criminal network and a government cover-up – but why the silence elsewhere?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/13/jeffrey-epstein-alex-acosta-miami-herald-media

15 billionaires (ALL MEN) own all the media in the US. So WHY was the Epstein story whitewashed before #MeToo - THAT'S WHY.

These 15 Billionaires Own America's News Media Companies
While a billionaire secretly funding a lawsuit to take down a news outlet may be a new way of using money to influence the media business, billionaires have long exerted influence on the news simply …
https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2016/06/01/these-15-billionaires-own-americas-news-media-companies/#257cc564660a

It was an intrepid FEMALE reporter who refused to let them bury the story. SHE is why Epstein is FINALLY IN PRISON. SHE is why Epstein's protector from prosecution Alexander Acosta had to step down from his lofty "labor + pro-sex trafficking" sec'y position. @jkbjournalist
The men who own and run the US media companies were fine to just let it drop. From the billionaire owners to the managing editors - all protected Epstein and/or caved to his threats. It took a WOMAN who had enough courage to break the story open.

Too much male media ownership and governorship in the US is a PROBLEM. Not enough women in US government is a PROBLEM. White wealthy male privilege is a PROBLEM. And these are all woven together in a tight fabric around women's necks, their entire bodies, their entire lives.

And underage girls too. What happened with Jeffery Epstein and Alexander Acosta and the media's whitewashing of it all for decades is the EPITOME. OF. WHITE. WEALTHY. MALE. PRIVILEGE. This is how it operates. This is what it looks like. In case you need a great example.

THESE are the guys protecting sexual slavery, reproductive slavery, and their own abject privilege in our country by BUYING the government they want for themselves, our votes be damned. Protecting white, wealthy male privilege is the FOUNDATION of Donald J. Trump's support.

That there are uneducated, conspiracy-theory-addled morons out there (courtesy of Fox and InfoWars) who are convinced to believe it is about anything else is just a sad sideshow that adds to his base.

If you're a girl or woman in the US, learn to recognize what white wealthy male privilege looks like. It's operational. It's systemic. It's a pattern of behavior that is overt and it's covert. They protect themselves at all our expense. NEVER let them silence you.