Who Will Tell the Truth About the So-Called ‘Free Press’?­ — Jeremy R. Hammond

Longish but detailed exposé of the corporate media as the "custodians" of the narrative, with "the paper of record" in the lead.

Foreign Policy Journal
Who Will Tell the Truth About the So-Called ‘Free Press’?­
Jeremy R. Hammond

Funny old world — Paul Robinson

Press freedom and narrative control.

Irrussianality
Funny old world
Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa

REUTERS IS NOW A UNIT OF US INFO-WAR COMMAND, REPORTERS AND INVESTORS REVOLT — John Helmer

Stephen Adler (lead image), the American chief executive of Reuters news agency, has ordered into publication three US Government-directed stories targeting the Russian oil company Rosneft — the first in mid-April, and two published over the past week. Adler’s operations support US coup plans in Venezuela and US sanctions against Rosneft and its chief executive, Igor Sechin.

The three publications — the first already corrected by the news agency; the second commissioned from a writer outside the company; the latest missing its byline or author’s name — have triggered dismay among Reuters’ reporters worldwide. A New York source claims Adler’s promotion of US Government-sourced propaganda violates the Reuters Trust Principles which have regulated the international news agency since 1941.

The first two Reuters principles Adler is accused of breaking are that “Reuters shall at no time pass into the hands of any one interest, group, or faction; [and] that the integrity, independence, and freedom from bias of Thomson Reuters shall at all times be fully preserved.”

Not just Reuters. All corporate media appear to be guilty of betrayal of trust and have thereby forfeited their right to freedom of the press. Liberal democracy — not that this exists presently in the US — requires not only press freedom and freedom of speech, but also the use this freedom for inquiry as the basis or informed choice. Propaganda is antithetical to liberal democracy. Participation in information warfare is worse.

Dancing with Bears

REUTERS IS NOW A UNIT OF US INFO-WAR COMMAND, REPORTERS AND INVESTORS REVOLT
John Helmer

See also

Edward Curtain
The War Hoax Redux

Narrative Management = Reality Management — Caitlin Johnstone

Press (media) freedom is not enough. A free press must also serve the function for which is the right to free expression, especially in a liberal democracy where freedom depends on an informed electorate rather than a manipulated one. Using media for narrative control is antithetical to liberal democracy.

This includes investigating sources rather than acting as a stenographer for propaganda fronts and intel disinformation plants.

Caitlin Johnstone — Rogue Journalist
Narrative Management = Reality Management
Caitlin Johnstone

See also

Russia Observer
A MONTH IN THE LIFE OF THE WORLD’S RICHEST MAN
Patrick Armstrong

HOME TRUTHS AND PRESS FREEDOM – WHAT THE CASES OF JULIAN ASSANGE AND IVAN GOLUNOV MEAN FOR THE AUSTRALIAN PRESS, AND VICE VERSA — John Helmer

For those [journalists] who want to keep their jobs, police raids and prosecutions are reminders when self-censorship isn’t enough to prevent their investigating abuses of the law, war crimes, fraud and corruption. The first home truth is that truth is loss-making for an enterprise; pauperizing for its reporter. The second home truth is that in wartime – that’s now – truth-telling may be a criminal offence which will get the reporter time in jail.

Dances with Bears
HOME TRUTHS AND PRESS FREEDOM – WHAT THE CASES OF JULIAN ASSANGE AND IVAN GOLUNOV MEAN FOR THE AUSTRALIAN PRESS, AND VICE VERSA
John Helmer

Links — 23 May 2019

Bloomberg View

The New Assange Indictment Endangers Journalism
Eli Lake

RT
'Modern fascism is breaking cover': Journalists react to Assange Espionage Act charges

Buzzfeed

Legal experts say the new indictment against Assange is the first time the Justice Department has used the Espionage Act to charge a third party — not the government leaker — with publishing classified information.

Press Freedom Groups Say The New Charges Against Julian Assange Are A Threat To Journalists
Zoe Tillman

The Hill
Democratic senator warns of threat to press freedom in new Assange charges

Zack Budryk

Boston Review
The Anti-Defamation League Is Not What It Seems: Under the guise of fighting hate speech, the ADL has a long history of wielding its moral authority to attack Arabs, blacks, and queers.
EMMAIA GELMAN

Sputnik International
US Reports of 'Chemical Incident' in Syria Based on Terrorist Claims – Moscow

US Considers Duties on Countries That Undervalue Currency - Report

RT — Russia lists 9 media outlets as foreign agents, including Voice of America, Radio Liberty

Nine media outlets have been registered as foreign agents by Russia’s Justice Ministry, in accordance with a recently passed law. The law comes in response to the US Congress’s moves towards RT America.

On Tuesday, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, including its regional branch Radio Azatliq, along with six other outlets were recognized as foreign agents, according to the website of Russia’s Ministry of Justice.

The list also includes the Kavkaz.Realii, Krym Realii and Sibir Realii websites, the Current Time TV channel – a joint project of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty – the Radio Liberty-owned factograph.info website and IdelRealii project....

RT
Russia lists 9 media outlets as foreign agents, including Voice of America, Radio Liberty

Sputnik International — ‘Political Intervention’: Budapest Furious at US Initiative to Fund Rural Media

On Wednesday, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry summoned US envoy David Kostelancik to formally complain about Washington’s new $700,000 initiative to fund rural media outlets in the country. The program provides technical and financial assistance to these media outlets, granting them increased exposure as well as small grants.…

Of course, there is some irony in the United States — a country that itself has experienced a precipitous drop in press freedom, from 20th in 2010 to 43rd in 2017 according to PFI — demanding greater press freedom in its NATO ally Hungary.

Sputnik International
‘Political Intervention’: Budapest Furious at US Initiative to Fund Rural Media

Katrina vanden Heuvel — Registering the Cable Channel RT as a Foreign Agent Is a Threat to Press Freedom

Stigmatizing Russian broadcasting is the latest unnecessary escalation in the new Cold War.

Western elites are playing with fire in the expectation of political gain at the expense of risking war and threatening liberal democracy in a bogus attempt to defend it.

On the other hand, sates do has the right and responsibility to protect themselves from foreign influence, and tin this regard the US has also been a key player in influencing other countries.

So there lines that need to be drawn. The questions are how and where to draw them. These questions become more pressing with the sophistication of state-sponsored propaganda and disinformation apparatuses operating domestically as well as abroad, in addition to the proliferation of "alternative" media that make narrative control difficult for elites.

The Nation
Registering the Cable Channel RT as a Foreign Agent Is a Threat to Press FreedomStigmatizing Russian broadcasting is the latest unnecessary escalation in the new Cold War.
Katrina vanden Heuvel

See also

British Prime Minister Theresa May sought to divert attention from her Brexit troubles the other day with some inflammatory remarks about Russia at the annual banquet of the Lord Mayor of London…

May accused Russia of ‘threatening the international order on which we all depend,’ and concluded by saying that, ‘I have a very simple message for Russia. We know what you are doing. And you will not succeed. Because you underestimate the resilience of our democracies, the enduring attraction of free and open societies, and the commitment of western nations to the alliances that bind us.’

As if to back May up, Ciaran Martin, the head of Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre, stated yesterday that, ‘I can confirm that Russian interference, seen by the National Cyber Security Centre over the past year, has included attacks on the UK media, telecommunication and energy sectors.’ To this Martin added, ‘Russia is seeking to undermine the international system. That much is clear. The PM made the point on Monday night – international order as we know it is in danger of being eroded.’…

And then we come to question b) – does this constitute an attempt to ‘undermine the international order?’ The answer to this is fairly simple – No, and two times no! Yes, the Russians engage in espionage. They try to influence people. They always have! And so have Western countries! This isn’t an attempt to undermine the international order. This is the international order!! Let’s not be naïve about this. The international order consists of a whole set of institutions and rules which states for the most part abide by. At the same time, they occasionally break the rules, by for instance carrying out espionage on one another. Yet the order continues on nonetheless. Russia spies on Britain. Britain spies on Russia (remember the British spy rock in Moscow, anyone?) That’s how the order works.

Western elites understand this, of course. It's obvious that the faux outrage over "Russian interference" in democracy is a political ploy to protect Western elites from the political consequences of their own failed policy by creating scapegoats.

Irrussanlity
The international order
Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa

See also

Debunking the latest "Russia did it" headline hysteria.

BuzzFeed’s latest “explosive” scoop on “secret” Russian financing of a 2016 election turned out to be an instant hit by burying a key detail: it was a Russian election.

Russia Feed
Scandal! Russia nefariously funded 2016 elections – its OWN

related

Earlier on Tuesday, the BuzzFeed internet portal claimed that the FBI was scrutinizing the Russian Foreign Ministry’s money transfer through Citibank, bearing a note that said the money was to be used "to finance election campaign of 2016."

According to the report, the transfer, totaling $30,000, was allegedly sent on August 3 to the Russian Embassy in Washington and was a part of more than 60 money transfers sent by the Russian Foreign Ministry to its embassies across the globe. The transfers via Citibank, totaling about $360,000, were carried out between August 3 and September 20, were directed to various countries "from Afghanistan to Niger."

The article, however, notes that on September 18, 2016, Russia held elections to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. Russian embassies and diplomatic compounds opened polling stations for voters living abroad.

TASS
Issue of ‘Russian meddling’ in US polls about to be marginalized — Russian embassy
Also

Russia Feed
BREAKING: Russia approves foreign agents bill for media in ‘mirror response’ to US

Geopolitics Alert
Russia Passes Bill That Will Label US Media As ‘Foreign Agents’

Jim Carey

Reuters — Moscow warns it may restrict U.S. media in Russia

“We have never used Russian law in relation to foreign correspondents as a lever of pressure, or censorship, or some kind of political influence, never,” [Russian Federation foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria]] Zakharova said in an interview with Russia’s NTV broadcaster. “But this is a particular case.”

She cited a 1991 Russian law which, she said, stated that if a Russian media outlet is subject to restrictions in a foreign country, then Moscow has the right to impose proportionate restrictions on media outlets from that country operating inside Russia.

“Correspondingly, everything that Russian journalists and the RT station are subject to on U.S. soil, after we qualified it as restriction of their activities, we can apply similar measures to American journalists, American media here, on Russian territory,” Zakharova said.…

She said it made no difference from the Russian government’s point of view if those outlets were backed by the U.S. state, or privately-funded.

US-Russian relations further sour.

Reuters
Moscow warns it may restrict U.S. media in Russia

Also from Reuters

White nationalists return to Charlottesville for torch-lit protest

Zero Hedge — Newly Unearthed CIA Memo: Media Are The "Principal Villains"

A new declassifed CIA report unearthed by the FOIA investigive cooperative MuckRock contains some shocking commentary on how the intelligence community views and interacts with the media. The 1984 series of internal memos, part of the CIA’s recent CREST release (CIA Records Search Tool) of over 900,000 newly declassified documents, were drafted in response to a study on unathorized leaks and disclosures written by legendary CIA officer Eloise Page....

Zero Hedge
Newly Unearthed CIA Memo: Media Are The "Principal Villains"

Tyler Durden

Robert Parry — How War Propaganda Keeps on Killing

The “fake news” hysteria has become the cover for the U.S. government and mainstream media to crack down on fact-based journalism that challenges Official Washington’s “group thinks,” writes Robert Parry....

A key reason why American foreign debacles have been particularly destructive mostly to the countries attacked but also to the United States is that these interventions are always accompanied by major U.S. government investments in propaganda. So, even when officials recognize a misjudgment has been made, the propaganda machinery continues to grind on to prevent a timely reversal.

In effect, Official Washington gets trapped by its own propaganda, which restricts the government’s ability to change direction even when the need for a shift becomes obvious.

After all, once a foreign leader is demonized, it’s hard for a U.S. official to explain that the leader may not be all that bad or is at least better than the likely alternative. So, it’s not just that officials start believing their own propaganda, it’s that the propaganda takes on a life of its own and keeps the failed policy churning forward....

Even if a President Trump decides that these tensions with Russia are absurd and that the two countries can work together in the fight against terrorism and other international concerns, the financing of the New Cold War propaganda will continue.

The well-funded drumbeat of anti-Russian propaganda will seek to limit Trump’s decision-making. After all, this latest New Cold War cash cow can be milked for years to come and nothing – not even the survival of the human species – is more important than that.

Consortium News
How War Propaganda Keeps on Killing

Robert Parry

Jack Shafer — Who’s Afraid of a Little Russian Propaganda?

Where the Washington Post see propaganda, Politico sees elite alarmism.

I wonder if Russian propaganda would be Topic A had Hillary Clinton beaten Donald Trump.

Politico
Who’s Afraid of a Little Russian Propaganda?
Jack Shafer
ht Jerri-Lynn Scofield at Naked Capitalism

Thanks to input from an emergency meeting of members the Shafer Media Brain Trust: Stephen Bates, Mark Feldstein, Michael Socolow, Nikki Usher, W. Joseph Campbell and David Greenberg, none of whom are Russian disinformation agents.

Dave Lefcourt — Why did it have to be this way?

Deve Lefcourt reviews some of US history and concludes:

We have a free press in name only. It's become an unofficial complicit enabler of the government, accepting the government's version of events so the people get from the MSM only what the government provides as its version of events. 

Only the alternative press, mostly internet sites like this one-named as one of the 200 providing "fake news"- can people get a broader version of events, many times questioning the "official" government version. 

If somehow alternative news sites are banned or as been suggested that Google or Facebook act as censors determining what is "fake news" then the Constitution will have been stood on its head, completely subverted and we will have become the dystopian world George Orwell wrote about in his novel, 1984. 

The US will have descended into absolute tyranny.

As to the question why did it have to be this way? Well we weren't vigilant. We took our freedoms for granted. We let it happen. The next question may very well be can the damage be corrected?

I suggest re-reading the Declaration of Independence. 

OpEdNews
Why did it have to be this way?

Dave Lefcourt

Donn Marten — Treacherous Congress Quietly Moving to Eradicate Alternative Media

This is going to come down to freedom of the press and what the definition of "press" is. Obviously, the Establishment wants press to mean only the the mainstream media and is setting up to further marginalize alternative media by denying first amendment rights and protections.

Another paradox of liberalism surfaces.

OpEdNews
Treacherous Congress Quietly Moving to Eradicate Alternative Media
Donn Marten

Italian analyst condemns European Parliament's fascist frenzy — Giulietto Chiesa, interviewed by Amerigo Mascarucci

"Fascists. They are fascist in the true sense of the word. They want to prevent freedom of the press and impose a censorship on the eurosceptical positions."

Neoliberalism is slipping over into fascism?

Fort russ
Italian analyst condemns European Parliament's fascist frenzy-

Giulietto Chiesa, interviewed by Amerigo Mascarucci

translated by Tom Winter, intellegonews.it

See also

Even the EU’s own propaganda outlets are ‘pro-Russian’, it seems. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Irrussianality
Euronews
Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa

Ivan Stamenkovic — It’s Outrageous That I’m Facing 45 Years In Prison For Filming A Climate Protest

Amy Goddman was exonerated for doing her job as a reporter. Not yet Deia Schlosberg.

My name is Deia Schlosberg and I am an independent filmmaker and climate reporter. I was arrested while filming an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in North Dakota and I’m currently facing felony charges that I believe are unjust. I am a climate reporter; my specialty is following the story of how humankind is creating a grave problem for civilization by continuing to flood the atmosphere with greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels and other industrial processes. I don’t think there is nearly enough reporting on climate change nor the movement of people around the world working to lessen the impacts of climate change.…

When I was arrested, I was doing my job. I was reporting. I was documenting. Freedom of the press, guaranteed by the First Amendment, is absolutely critical to maintaining an informed citizenry, without which, democracy is impossible.

Counter Current News

It’s Outrageous That I’m Facing 45 Years In Prison For Filming A Climate Protest
Ivan Stamenkovic

William K. Black — Prosecutors for the Petrocrats Try to Imprison the Media

Sheriff Bill is on North Dakota's case.

New Economic Perspectives
Prosecutors for the Petrocrats Try to Imprison the Media
William K. Black | Associate Professor of Economics and Law, UMKC
See also

Doug Krejci’s effort to use the University of Iowa’s 2008 flood footage for an upcoming documentary is being blocked by state officials who say copyright overrides public records.
The rare argument, if successful, could not only impede Krejci’s effort to raise public awareness of the disaster but also dismantle the state’s public records law, government transparency experts claim.

“It’s just bizarre,” said Adam Marshall, an attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a First Amendment advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. “It can’t be the case that copyright law enables every state entity to withhold every single record they generate. That would totally eviscerate the public records laws.”

DesMoines Register
University of Iowa claims copyright law to block use of flood video
Jason Claywort

Free Thought Project — BREAKING: RT’s Bank Accounts Frozen, Assange’s Internet Cut In Apparent Move to Silence West’s Critics

Desperation takes hold. The sunshine is too much.

Free Thought Project
BREAKING: RT’s Bank Accounts Frozen, Assange’s Internet Cut In Apparent Move to Silence West’s Critics

The "state actor" that cut off Assange's internet access was apparently Ecuador. Speculation is that the US pressured President Correa. Ecuador uses the USD and is a currency user in the dollar zone.

Zero Hedge
Wikileaks Provides An Update On The Assange Internet Outage

Ivan Stamenkovic — This is Why the Media Is Silent — Award Winning Journalist To Be Jailed For Covering Dakota Pipeline

More news blackout. Another attempt at suppression of a free press.

It’s not the first time that award-winning journalist Amy Goodman has been arrested, and it might not be the last, but the mainstream media correspondent will present herself to the Morton County–Mandan Combined Law Enforcement and Corrections Center at 8:15 a.m. local time (CDT) on Monday for processing.

Goodman is the host of her own television show Democracy Now, and according to the show’s website, Goodman has been charged with criminal trespassing for “filming an attack on Native American-led pipeline protesters” at what is now known as the Dakota Access pipeline.…

Goodman was present on 9/3 and documented the attack, which according to one source, left, “six people, including one child, were injured after being bitten by the security dogs.” According to Steve Sitting Bear, an eyewitness to the attacks, at least 30 people were also pepper-sprayed.

Counter Current News
This is Why the Media Is Silent — Award Winning Journalist To Be Jailed For Covering Dakota Pipeline
Ivan Stamenkovic

More:

A North Dakota prosecutor is seeking to charge Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman for the more serious offense of "rioting" over her filming of Native American protests against the North Dakota pipeline when a number of people were attacked by private security attack dogs.

Originally Goodman said she was charged with trespassing over the incident from September. Now North Dakota State Attorney Ladd Ronald Erickson has filednew "riot" charges.
Goodman said that the charges were changed because they authorities realized they couldn't make the trespassing "stick."…

teleSUR
North Dakota Prosecutor Charges Amy Goodman with Rioting