To control American news, statistics suggest that journalists are not usually killed; they are suppressed. It has taken months to bring this article, and the impact of its message is dampened and discredited.

Last September (2018), we explained how Reporters Without Borders - RSF (Reporters Sans Frontières)’ reported on the United States that its press freedom index was in 45th place globally. The 2018 team based out of Paris, France seemingly determined that killing American journalists does not silence the press, so powerful influencers virtually strip other parties of their right to report. 2018 RSF said, “US press freedom, enshrined in the First Amendment to the 1787 constitution, has been under increasing attack over the past few years, and the first year of President Donald J. Trump's presidency has fostered further decline in journalists' right to report."  They also said, “he (Trump) has declared the press an enemy of the American people in a series of verbal attacks toward journalists, attempted to block White House access to multiple media outlets, and routinely uses the term 'fake news' in retaliation for critical reporting. He has even called for revoking certain media outlets’ broadcasting licenses” -- using fear to control opinions and determine the news' path. 

U.S. Press Freedom Tracker brings increased awareness to how American press freedom has been limited, "journalists in the United States face hostility from local and federal governments, along with a number of legal threats to themselves and their sources." The site's, "About," section also includes examples that interfere with press freedom such as -- journalists fear of facing legal charges, or "reporters being stopped at the U.S. border or asked to hand over their electronics."

RSF has updated its United States' press freedom profile and stated, "press freedom has continued to decline in the second year of President Donald Trump’s presidency," which has dropped 3 places, now to only be the world's 48th most free. For record time periods, journalists have been repreatedly denied access to briefings and public events. In response to increased the tension -- "at least one White House correspondent has hired private security for fear of their life after receiving death threats, and newsrooms throughout the country have been plagued by bomb threats and were the recipients of other potentially dangerous packages, prompting journalism organizations to reconsider the security of their staffs in a uniquely hostile environment." 

To distract the public and control perceptions, boss-fearing reporting/programming has become sensational, suppressed, disproportionate, and most pleasing to superiors.

Stay tuned to Ascendents.net News! 

"I suggest you think twice."

Carnival Row is an upcoming American neo-noir fantasy web television series created by René Echevarria and Travis Beacham that is set to premiere in 2019 on Amazon Video.

On its list of most anticipated shows premiering in 2019, Zimbio said that in this series, the streaming service (Amazon Prime) appears to have Orlando Bloom (Rycroft Philostrate) starring opposite of Cara Delevingne (Vignette Stonemoss), "guiding an eight-episode straight-to-series drama. Carnival Row is a fantasy noir that's set in a neo- Victorian city where mythical creatures, who have fled their war-torn homelands, have gathered." The article continued outlining the series -- "tensions arise between citizens and the ever-growing immigrant population. Ultimately, things reach a boiling point when a string of unsolved murders push public unrest and threaten peace."

Deadline reported, "Delevingne will play Vignette Stonemoss, a faerish refugee who flees her war-torn homeland to come to the Burgue, where she must contend not only with rampant human prejudice against her kind, but with the secrets that have followed her to this new land." It also said production started in fall 2018, in Prague.

In an article on MSN, a caption along with a video showing behind the scenes footage for the series has outlined a special twist -- "as a serial killer preys on mystical creatures in a dark futuristic city, a detective on the case becomes the prime suspect in the murders."

This was repeated on the series' IMDB page that also has more complete cast and writer information. 

Watch a Carnival Row behind the scenes video (Ascendents.net or YouTube) from the YouTube channel, First Look. 

More discoveries are taking place regarding “troll farms,” along with the Internet Research Agency out of Russia being major culprits in the integrity of U.S. voter systems. While as the midterm elections approach, aside from disinformation campaigns spreading false and seditious smear news, many are finding evidence of ballot tampering and voter fraud.

It isn’t only oligarchs, Russia, or Iran interfering with elections -- politicians often try to buy votes. The Intercept brought together many key politicians’ explanations to how money makes the laws, buys the votes, and leads to the election of ‘criminal’ politicians.

The American collective opinion gets tainted by foreign trolls flooding communications streams. Vox reported, “Twitter, in keeping with its recent promise to Congress to be transparent about its attempts to prevent election interference on its platforms, released more than 10 million tweets that had been circulated by propaganda farms and their associated puppet accounts.”

Some states offering vote-by-mail, which FairVote.org has explained several benefits, allows voters more time to study voter pamphlets as they fill out their ballot. It was even introduced to Congress by members from Oregon (one of many vote-by-mail states), to be adopted federally, however; with the current political landscape, the bill seems to have little chance of passing -- as Vox said, “one of the core truths of US politics is that anything that increases voting turnout hurts Republicans, so they inevitably oppose it.”

Unfortunately, even the vote-by-mail system is under attack as gerrymandering and voter suppression run rampant. Some states have rejected ballots if someone decides the signature doesn’t closely enough match the voter’s name. Brian Krassenstein, reporter for The Hill said, “approximately 8.5% of all vote-by-mail ballots have been rejected by Gwinnett County election officials in Georgia.” He continued to include, “60 percent of residents in Gwinnett County are Latino, black, or Asian.” The voting process seems to be getting compromised every way possible as KPTV in Oregon also reported, "a Portland woman walking in her Cully neighborhood Thursday said she discovered 19 abandoned voting ballots among other apparently stolen mail."

To inspire voter participation, former first lady Michelle Obama said, "while some folks are staying home on election day, other folks are showing up. Democracy continues with or without you."

With so much drama, hype, and propaganda, the media machine drowns society. No longer seeming like the source to get information, the news simply presents what advances its corporate agenda. Stories don’t have to be meaningful or important, the intention is to excite the masses and drive ratings.

Topics are covered to exaggerate the drama which captivates the nation and world. For the media, the boring truth is often less important than the market shares that determine profits for stakeholders. And from that business perspective, regardless of how (in)significant news ultimately is, the news presented can simply be the information that has the best financial impact for a company. Data can be found to support pretty much anything.

If people base their idea of what is important from what seems to capture attention, then they actually don’t know what is important -- they only know what is trending. This has been the true story. Compared to real news, and as the weekend approaches, many passionately hooked fans are more entertained by next week’s exciting episode.

Read Ascendents.net News and stay updated on what to know.

The music industry rejoiced as different sides united. Even opposing politicians seemed to find agreement. Countless sources ran articles to help celebrate that after many rounds of hard work and addressing concerns, the Music Modernization Act finally passed Congress and is on its way to the president.

Originally introduced in April 2018 to the House of Representatives by Rep. Goodlatte, Bob (R-VA), was bill H.R.5447, which seemingly earned full representative support with 415-0 votes. The act had a harder time before eventually on September 18 passing lobbied senators, likely because as it affects many aspects of the music business, the possibility of the bill becoming law and changing the marketplace landscape got realer. As of September 25, there have been links reported by Copyright Alliance and stories from several other sources that Senator Orrin Hatch's revised Music Modernization Act successfully made its final pass through the House of Representatives and is indeed ready for presidential approval. 

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