All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone

Fred Peabody’s informative and impassioned film examines the work and legacy of American investigative journalist I.F. Stone, who is posited as the spiritual predecessor of present-day outlets concerned with corporate and governmental transparency and accountability, such as The Intercept and Democracy Now! Alongside a pointed critique of mainstream media outlets that avoid difficult stories and sometimes get their facts wrong, All Governments Lie presents instances of brave and timely work being published through non-mainstream channels. To this end, John Carlos Frey’s long-simmering investigation into mass graves of undocumented migrant workers in Texas and Jeremy Scahill’s impeccably researched report about America’s drone program in Germany are put in a direct line with Stone’s seminal writings about the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the Arab-Israeli conflict. In a current climate where dissent is smothered and intelligent political discourse is difficult to find, Peabody’s film is a powerful and important corrective.