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Category: Media

  • Beijing court to rule in appeal of jailed Chinese journalist Dong Yuyu

    Detention of Dong on espionage charges has been criticised by human rights and press freedom organisations

    A court in Beijing is expected to rule on Thursday in the appeal of Dong Yuyu, a Chinese journalist who is serving a seven-year jail sentence on espionage charges.

    The detention of Dong, a senior columnist with a long career in Chinese state media, has been criticised by the US government and by international human rights and press freedom organisations.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Fox News Misled Viewers About “Riots” Before Trump Ordered Troops to Portland

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • #1. ICE Solicits Social Media Surveillance Contracts to Identify Critics

    US Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to hire private contractors to “monitor and locate ‘negative’ social media discussion” about the federal agency, according to February 2025 articles by Sam Biddle for The Intercept and Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams. Biddle and Wilkins reviewed a lengthy request for bids from contractors…

    The post #1. ICE Solicits Social Media Surveillance Contracts to Identify Critics appeared first on Project Censored.


    This content originally appeared on Project Censored and was authored by Kate Horgan.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • The BBC’s Foolish Gift to Donald Trump

    It began with a revelation in The Telegraph on November 3. The paper had seen an internal memo in the BBC pointing to editing on its October 2024 Panorama programme of two parts of US President Donald Trump’s speech in January 2021. The sin was not in the editing but its liberal manner, suggesting that Trump had explicitly incited the Capitol Hill riots of January 6. Through spliced footage, Trump is initially shown promising to walk with his supporters to the Capitol where he would “fight like hell” when he had said he would walk with them “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”.

    The Panorama special, titled “Trump: A Second Chance?”, goes on to give the impression that flag-waving men had also converged with menacing intent after the speech. In the words of the dossier, this “created the impression Trump’s supporters had taken up his ‘call to arms,’” when the footage had, in fact, been shot before the address.

    The internal leaked memo, running into 19 pages, was all the more stinging in coming from a former external advisor to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (EGSC), Michael Prescott. The document also alleged that senior executives, including the BBC chairman Samir Shah, had given the cold shoulder to various serious complaints submitted by an advisor to the EGSC. There was a general refusal “to accept there had been a breach of standards”. Indeed, at the EGSC meeting on May 12, 2025, the corporation’s deputy director of news, Jonathan Munro, blandly asserts it as “normal practice to edit speeches into short form clips.” Nor did he see any need to balance the Trump Panorama special “with an equally aggressive look at [Democratic candidate Kamala] Harris”. In Munro’s words, there was no need “for due impartiality to have companion programmes”.

    The Conservatives, scrounging for every morsel to claw back some electoral appeal, saw a gaming chance in barking at the corporation. Former Tory prime minister Boris Johnson was seething in calling the revelations a “total disgrace”. Current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch was all in favour of seeing heads roll. “The BBC license fee,” stated shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston, “is justified on the basis of impartiality and trust.” There could be “no justification for this kind of deliberate manipulation and the spreading of misinformation.” And, he argued, the corporation had form. “This is not the first time that evidence of bias at the BBC has emerged, but it is one of the most stark and alarming examples to date.”

    Heads did roll, and not merely because of the Panorama program. The corporation has also been assailed regarding its coverage of Gaza and such topics as transgender rights. Tim Davie, the Director-General of the BBC, along with Deborah Turness, CEO of news, stepped up to the chopping block. In his statement, Davie had “been reflecting on the very intense personal and professional demands of managing this role over many years in these febrile times” allied to “the fact that I want to give a successor time to help the Charter plans they will be delivering.” Admitting merely “some mistakes” in the organisation, the BBC remained “the most trusted news brand globally.”

    Turness was more explicit. “The ongoing controversy around the Panorama on President Trump has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC – an institution that I love.” While taking her share of responsibility for the debacle, she remained “absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”

    For his part, Shah preferred a letter of tardy contrition to the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee. He conceded that “the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgment.”

    It had been a foolish thing to do. The Panorama mangle gift wrapped the claims of bias to British politicians and figures best exposed. It also gave the White House more grist to the mill in arguing that the Fourth Estate was not to be trusted and worthy of being hounded. Trump has already made something of a habit of raging against the American networks and successfully settling claims. In December last year, ABC News settled a lawsuit with Trump in which it agreed to give $15 million to Trump’s presidential library. Trump claimed that anchor George Stephanopoulos had inaccurately asserted on-air that he had been liable for raping E. Jean Carroll.

    In July, Paramount settled with Trump’s legal team to the sum of $16 million also intended for the future Donald Trump Library. CBS’s parent company had folded under pressure, despite frivolous claims regarding editorial decisions on a CBS interview with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024. The settlement was undoubtedly helped along by the presence of Trump’s Federal Communications Commission appointee Brendan Carr.

    Such settlements can only sully the networks and their news divisions. CBS news anchor John Dickerson is hard to fault in points made in his Reporter’s Notebook segment: “Can you hold power to account when you’ve paid it millions? Can an audience trust you when you’ve traded away that trust?”

    With the BBC admitting to error, and a few high-level resignations, Trump’s desire to extend his bullying approach to a foreign broadcaster has been stirred. His lawyers seek three actions from the corporation: a retraction of the documentary, an apology, and compensation. Failing to do this, legal action for $1 billion in damages will be sought.

    The chastening question in all of this was why the Panorama crew even felt the need to splice and adjust footage, despite being aware that news coverage, at least of the BBC brand, must be above reproach. The corporation’s former North America editor Jon Sopel, aware of Trump’s snarling disposition to the press, summed it up: “You do not leave any room for error; you just have to be scrupulous.” Trump is more than able to do the work for documentary makers without elaborate abridgments or forced edits, very much a man capable of being hoisted by his own petard. Unfortunately, those in the news business just can’t help themselves.

    The post The BBC’s Foolish Gift to Donald Trump first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • 80 Camarines Norte barangays isolated after Typhoon Uwan hits Philippines

    By Vince Angelo Ferreras in Daet, Philippines

    Several barangays in Camarines Norte were heavily battered by the powerful winds and rains from Typhoon Uwan — Typhoon Fung-Wong — in the Philippines, destroying homes and downing power lines that also affected the power supply in the province.

    In Darlene Cay’s report in “24 Oras” yesterday, Leonora Tumala emotionally shared her frustration after their homes in Daet were crushed by a tree that was uprooted by the strong winds.

    “Siyempre malungkot, dalawang bahay ang nawala… Okay na rin buhay kaming mag-anak,” Tumala tearfully said. (Of course, we are really sad because we lost two homes … It’s okay, at least we are all alive.)

    The weakening typhoon has departed the Philippines after killing at least 18 people, displacing 1.4 million, and destroying homes and roads across the country’s most populous island Luzon.

    The typhoon – which packed winds of 185km/h and gusts up to 230km/h – made landfall on Aurora province on Sunday evening, unleashing heavy rains and knocking out power to thousands of people.

    Evacuation centre
    Tumala and her family were staying at an evacuation center when the Daet accident happened.

    They returned to their destroyed homes to check if they can still salvage some items that they could still use.

    “Humihingi po ako ng tulong sa inyo para po magawa ng maliit man lang na kubo, para may matuluyan ang aking dalawang anak,” she said. (I’m asking for your help so we can build a small hut for my two children.)

    Others braved the strong winds from Uwan just to repair the roofs of their houses.


    GMA News video of the typhoon in Daet, Camarines Norte.

    Jun Lladoc, for his part, collected parts of the roof from the auto repair shop that he works for.

    “Hindi rin naman basta-basta makapag-operate, kasi wala pa naman kuryente eh,” he said. (We cannot still operate because we don’t have electricity yet.)

    The powerful winds from Uwan knocked down the electric posts in Daet town — causing not just a power outage but blocked practically half of the road. There is no power supply in the entire province.

    In Mercedes town, residents of Purok 1-A in Barangay 7 worked together in lifting a house that was tilted to one side by the strong winds.

    Powerful surge
    However, the situation in neighbouring Purok 1-B was worse as the powerful storm surge and winds downed and washed out almost all of the homes by the coast.

    Arnel Dela Pacion was wounded after his home was washed away by the waves. He salvaged wood from what remained of his house which he could later use.

    “Walang magagawa at malakas yung bagyo. Siyempre kabado din at iniisip mo ang tinitirhan mo,” he said. (I cannot do anything because the typhoon was so strong. But I was also worried because I kept thinking about my house.)

    A seawall could have mitigated the impact of the destructive storm surges, but the seawall is still being constructed and unfinished when Uwan hit.

    Unfortunately, the construction materials were swept away by the storm surge and out into the sea.

    “Masakit talaga po. Itong, Nakita mo ang mga basura. Sino ang kailangan, paano kami?… Nasaan ang mga tulong?” said resident Ronaldo Butial. (It pains us so much. You can see the trash around. How about us now? Where is the help?)

    The report said the Department of Public Works and Highways was already investigating the construction of the seawall.

    Clearing operations are already ongoing in Camarines Norte.

    Uwan (Fung-Wong) arrived mere days after Typhoon Kalmaegi tore through the Philippines’ central provinces and killed at least 224 people. Kalmaegi then struck Vietnam’s central and highland regions, leading to the deaths of at least five people.

    Republished from GMA Integrated News.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • 80 Camarines Norte barangays isolated after Typhoon Uwan hits Philippines

    By Vince Angelo Ferreras in Daet, Philippines

    Several barangays in Camarines Norte were heavily battered by the powerful winds and rains from Typhoon Uwan — Typhoon Fung-Wong — in the Philippines, destroying homes and downing power lines that also affected the power supply in the province.

    In Darlene Cay’s report in “24 Oras” yesterday, Leonora Tumala emotionally shared her frustration after their homes in Daet were crushed by a tree that was uprooted by the strong winds.

    “Siyempre malungkot, dalawang bahay ang nawala… Okay na rin buhay kaming mag-anak,” Tumala tearfully said. (Of course, we are really sad because we lost two homes … It’s okay, at least we are all alive.)

    The weakening typhoon has departed the Philippines after killing at least 18 people, displacing 1.4 million, and destroying homes and roads across the country’s most populous island Luzon.

    The typhoon – which packed winds of 185km/h and gusts up to 230km/h – made landfall on Aurora province on Sunday evening, unleashing heavy rains and knocking out power to thousands of people.

    Evacuation centre
    Tumala and her family were staying at an evacuation center when the Daet accident happened.

    They returned to their destroyed homes to check if they can still salvage some items that they could still use.

    “Humihingi po ako ng tulong sa inyo para po magawa ng maliit man lang na kubo, para may matuluyan ang aking dalawang anak,” she said. (I’m asking for your help so we can build a small hut for my two children.)

    Others braved the strong winds from Uwan just to repair the roofs of their houses.


    GMA News video of the typhoon in Daet, Camarines Norte.

    Jun Lladoc, for his part, collected parts of the roof from the auto repair shop that he works for.

    “Hindi rin naman basta-basta makapag-operate, kasi wala pa naman kuryente eh,” he said. (We cannot still operate because we don’t have electricity yet.)

    The powerful winds from Uwan knocked down the electric posts in Daet town — causing not just a power outage but blocked practically half of the road. There is no power supply in the entire province.

    In Mercedes town, residents of Purok 1-A in Barangay 7 worked together in lifting a house that was tilted to one side by the strong winds.

    Powerful surge
    However, the situation in neighbouring Purok 1-B was worse as the powerful storm surge and winds downed and washed out almost all of the homes by the coast.

    Arnel Dela Pacion was wounded after his home was washed away by the waves. He salvaged wood from what remained of his house which he could later use.

    “Walang magagawa at malakas yung bagyo. Siyempre kabado din at iniisip mo ang tinitirhan mo,” he said. (I cannot do anything because the typhoon was so strong. But I was also worried because I kept thinking about my house.)

    A seawall could have mitigated the impact of the destructive storm surges, but the seawall is still being constructed and unfinished when Uwan hit.

    Unfortunately, the construction materials were swept away by the storm surge and out into the sea.

    “Masakit talaga po. Itong, Nakita mo ang mga basura. Sino ang kailangan, paano kami?… Nasaan ang mga tulong?” said resident Ronaldo Butial. (It pains us so much. You can see the trash around. How about us now? Where is the help?)

    The report said the Department of Public Works and Highways was already investigating the construction of the seawall.

    Clearing operations are already ongoing in Camarines Norte.

    Uwan (Fung-Wong) arrived mere days after Typhoon Kalmaegi tore through the Philippines’ central provinces and killed at least 224 people. Kalmaegi then struck Vietnam’s central and highland regions, leading to the deaths of at least five people.

    Republished from GMA Integrated News.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • The Time Is Here To Act On Climate Adaptation

    The United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) is holding its annual meeting in Brazil this year for the 30th time. Despite the creation of the Paris Climate Agreement nearly ten years ago, carbon emissions continue to rise, and the world is now experiencing the impacts of the 1.5° Celsius rise in temperature we sought to avoid. The time has come to shift our thinking and actions to what we can do locally to prepare for and protect our communities from the dangers of the climate crisis. Clearing the FOG speaks with Ed Jarvis, the leader of the Climate Majority Project’s SAFER (Strategic Adaptation for Emergency Resilience) campaign. Jarvis discusses the campaign’s efforts to bring greater awareness to the need for adaptation and shares what people are doing with a focus on climate justice.

    The post The Time Is Here To Act On Climate Adaptation appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Israeli forces kill 44 journalists inside Gaza displacement tents, says report

    Pacific Media Watch

    The Freedoms Committee of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate says the Israeli occupation forces have killed 44 Palestinian journalists inside displacement tents in the Gaza Strip.

    The committee said that these journalists were among 254 media workers who had been killed since the beginning of the Israeli assault on Gaza in October 2023 until the end of October 2025, reports Middle East Monitor.

    According to the report, the attacks were systematic, targeting displacement tents located around hospitals and UNRWA shelters, in addition to direct sniper shootings inside displacement areas.

    It added that the victims were working for local and international media outlets, and most of them were killed while covering the humanitarian situation in the displacement camps.

    The syndicate affirmed that such targeting reflects a deliberate attempt to silence the Palestinian press and prevent the truth from reaching the world.

    It also stressed the need to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its crimes against journalists and to ensure international protection for media crews working in Gaza.

    Israel’s audiovisual media bill ‘a nail in coffin of editorial independence’
    Meanwhile, the Paris-based media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has sounded the alarm following the first reading of a bill sponsored by Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi that would strengthen the executive branch’s control over the audiovisual media, despite opposition from the Attorney General and the Union of Journalists in Israel.

    The bill includes measures that RSF condemned a year ago.

    Although the rest of the legislative process is likely to be difficult, Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, has managed to get a foot in the door. On the evening of November 3, around midnight, his media broadcasting bill was adopted after its first reading, as part of a voting pact with ultra-Orthodox MPs.

    The bill calls for the creation of a Broadcast Media Authority largely composed of members appointed by the Communications Minister himself. His ministry would also be entrusted with calculating television audiences, a measure approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation a year ago that was condemned by RSF.

    Legal and legislative barriers are already being put in place in response to this attempt to strengthen the Israeli government’s control over the media landscape.

    Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, who is responsible for advising the government on legislative matters, is opposed to the bill, which has been deemed unconstitutional by the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament.

    Two petitions against the bill have also been filed with the Supreme Court. One was submitted by the Union of Journalists in Israel, which represents around 3000 media professionals. The other was instigated by the NGO Hatzlacha (meaning “success” in Hebrew), which promotes social justice.

    “This first reading vote is the first nail in the coffin of broadcast media’s editorial independence in Israel,” said RSF editorial director Anne Bocandé.

    “Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi is openly attacking a pillar of democracy. Against a backdrop of war and an upcoming election campaign, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is seeking to silence voices that are critical of the far-right coalition in power.

    “RSF reiterates the warning it issued a year ago: these legislative attacks will have lasting, negative consequences on Israel’s media landscape.”

    Incorporating the ‘Al Jazeera’ ban on foreign broadcasters into common law
    In parallel with his legislative attack on the editorial independence of the country’s broadcast media, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi is also continuing his battle against international broadcasters operating in Israel.

    Although his so-called “Al Jazeera law” — which allowed Israeli authorities to shut down any foreign broadcasters perceived as undermining national security and was condemned by RSF in April 2024 — expired on October 27 with the end of the state of emergency, the minister informed the National Security Council — which is attached to the Ministry of National Security — that he now intended to turn the measure into common law.

    After the missile exchanges between Israel and Iran in June 2024, the Prime Minister’s party had already attempted to amend the “Al Jazeera law” in an attempt to give additional powers to the Minister of Communications to stop the broadcasting of foreign channels in the country.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • UK Newspapers Publish More Ads For Polluting Products Than Climate Coverage

    British national newspapers devoted more than triple the space to advertising polluting industries such as oil, airlines, and sports utility vehicles than they did to covering last year’s United Nations climate talks, according to a new study.

    Total high-carbon advertising — including for fossil fuel companies, cruises, and banks financing oil and gas – amounted to 5,086 column inches on two key dates during 2024’s COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, relative to 1,745 column inches for the negotiations themselves.

    With the next round of talks, known as COP30, getting underway in Belém, Brazil, newspapers will likely repeat the pattern, warned Andrew Simms, co-director of the New Weather Institute think tank, which conducted the research.

    The post UK Newspapers Publish More Ads For Polluting Products Than Climate Coverage appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • NZ’s Te Pāti Māori purge fails to end the party war

    ANALYSIS: By Craig McCulloch, RNZ News acting political editor

    As the Iwi Chairs Forum fought fruitlessly to keep Te Pāti Māori together last week, spokesperson Bayden Barber offered a warning: a split tōtara is only good for the fire.

    Now Te Pāti Māori finds itself in an inferno.

    The slow-burn conflagration in Aotearoa New Zealand has been smouldering for so long, it’s easy to miss the magnitude. But this is no small matter.

    This is a party ousting a third of its caucus, citing “irreconcilable differences” and “serious breaches” of its constitution.

    Fronting reporters today, co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi wished their former colleagues “all the best of luck” and waved them on their way.

    “We had to bring this to a close, and we must move on.”

    But that seems overly hopeful. Both Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris were quick to declare the move “unconstitutional” and are threatening to challenge it “in all respects”.

    Waka-jumping provision
    The party’s National Council has also yet to consider whether to invoke the waka-jumping provision and eject the MPs from Parliament altogether.

    Te Pāti Māori co-leaders announce MPs’ expulsion      Video: RNZ News

    That would require agreement of the two other remaining MPs — Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke and Oriini Kaipara. It’s unclear yet where they stand in all this.

    Either outcome is ugly. If the “rogue” MPs remain, they will serve as a constant reminder of division. If they are booted, two byelections loom, sure to be bitter and bruising.

    At least a public contest might shed more clarity on what’s behind the weeks of infighting, with voters so far largely left in a cloud of smoke.

    Asked to clarify on Monday exactly what the MPs had done to deserve expulsion, the co-leaders refused: “You’re not going to get that detail here in this press conference.”

    From what has dripped out over the past six weeks, it seems the feud is driven more by personality than principle.

    Party president John Tamihere has accused the two MPs of plotting a failed coup. Kapa-Kingi and Ferris have declared no confidence in Tamihere, with their supporters decrying toxic dictatorial leadership.

    Past wave of unity
    Supporters are right to feel aggrieved. A year ago, Te Pāti Māori was riding a wave of unity and purpose, as a driving force behind the historic Toitū Te Tiriti hikoi.

    'Rogue' Te Pāti Māori MPs Ferris and Kapa-Kingi expelled from party
    “Rogue” MPs Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris . . . the roots of the recent crisis lie in Te Pāti Māori’s rapid expansion. Photo: RNZ/Liam K. Swiggs

    It boasted its largest-ever caucus, having swept six of the seven Māori electorates in a dominant 2023 result.

    Ironically, the roots of the recent crisis lie in that rapid expansion.

    The co-leaders went from being a dynamic duo to overseeing a more assertive caucus and competing egos.

    Tamihere, Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi are all dominant personalities, used to steering their own course.

    But both Kapa-Kingi and Ferris regard themselves as electorate MPs first, answerable to their own people, not to the central hierarchy.

    Add in the whānau ties on either side, and the conflict shifts from political to personal.

    Party’s brand damaged
    The co-leaders admit the recent disunity has damaged the party’s brand. The enthusiasm of a year ago has turned to disillusionment, with voters now forced to pick sides or to look elsewhere.

    When Hone Harawira split from the Māori Party in 2011 to form Mana, both sides eventually vanished. Harawira was sent packing by voters in 2014, and the rest of the Māori Party followed in 2017.

    For the wider opposition, there is good and bad here.

    The Labour Party will see an opportunity to win over those disenchanted voters and to retake the Māori electorates amidst a more divided race.

    But the wider picture is riskier. Centrist voters may well look at the turmoil on the left and decide to stick with the status quo.

    Labour leader Chris Hipkins has yet to publicly declare whether he would welcome Te Pāti Māori as part of a future Cabinet.

    Those questions will only grow louder now — expanding to include the “rogues”. Where do they stand in any coalition calculation?

    The Iwi Chairs Forum had arranged “peace talks” this week, bringing together the two factions at a Wellington marae.

    Bayden Barber still thinks that would be beneficial and the co-leaders agree it could still go ahead. But few expect much to come of it now.

    The next moment of reckoning may come on December 7, when members gather in Rotorua for the party’s AGM — and confront how Te Pāti Māori can piece itself together from the ashes.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • New Pacific Media journal launched in APMN and USP partnership

    Asia Pacific Media Network

    Pacific Media, a new regional research journal, made its debut today with a collection of papers on issues challenging the future, such as independent journalism amid “intensifying geostrategic competition”.

    The papers have been largely drawn from an inaugural Pacific International Media conference hosted by The University of the South Pacific in the Fiji capital Suva in July last year.

    “It was the first Pacific media conference of its kind in 20 years, convened to address the unprecedented shifts and challenges facing the region’s media systems,” said conference coordinator and edition editor Dr Shailendra Singh, associate professor in journalism at USP.

    The cover of the first edition of Pacific Media
    The cover of the first edition of Pacific Media. Image: PM

    “These include pressures arising from governance and political instability, intensifying geostrategic competition—particularly between China and the United States—climate change and environmental degradation, as well as the profound impacts of digital disruption and the COVID-19 pandemic.”

    Topics included in the volume include “how critical journalism can survive” in the Pacific; “reporting the nuclear Pacific”; “Behind the mic” with Talking Point podcaster Sashi Singh, the “coconut wireless” and community news in Hawai’i,; women’s political empowerment in the Asia Pacific; “weaponising the partisan WhatsApp group in Indonesia; and “mapping the past to navigate the future” in a major Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) publishing project.

    Other contributors include journalists and media academics from Australia and New Zealand featuring a “Blood on the tracks” case study in investigative journalism practice, and digital weather media coverage in the Pacific.

    This inaugural publication of Pacific Media has been produced jointly by The University of the South Pacific and the New Zealand-based Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN), with Dr Amit Sarwal, one of the conference organisers, joining Dr Singh as co-editor.

    APMN managing editor Dr David Robie welcomed the new publication, saying “this journal will carry on the fine and innovative research mahi (work) established by Pacific Journalism Review during a remarkable 30 years contributing to the region”.

    It ceased publication last year, but is still ranked as a Q2 journal by SCOPUS.

    Associate Professor Shailendra Singh (left) and Dr Amit Sarwal
    Associate Professor Shailendra Singh (left) and Dr Amit Sarwal. Image: PM

    The new journal will open up some new doors for community participation.

    Both the PJR and PM research archives are in the public domain at the Tuwhera digital collection at Auckland University of Technology.

    Khairaih A Rahman has been appointed by APMN as Pacific Media editor and her first edition with a collection of papers from the Asian Congress for Media and Communication (ACMC) conference in Vietnam last October will also be published shortly.

    Published with permission from Asia Pacific Media Network.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • ‘Profound distrust’ in France, says Pacific people’s mission report calling for new Kanaky negotiations

    Asia Pacific Report

    A Pacific people’s mission to Kanaky New Caledonia was repeatedly confronted with a “profound sense of distrust” in the French state’s role in the decolonisation process, a new report released this week has revealed.

    “This scepticism, articulated by Kanak representatives, is rooted in the belief that France is not a neutral arbiter but a key actor in perpetuating the conflict,” said the mission, which concluded that the French management of the territory continued to undermine the Kanak right to self-determination and breached international commitments on decolonisation.

    As one speaker cited in the report explained:”France is acting like a referee, but instead they are the main perpetrator.”

    The mission — led by the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) and the Protestant Church of Kanaky New Caledonia (Église protestante de Kanaky Nouvelle-Calédonie, EPKNC) — was conducted on April 10-19 this year following invitations from customary and church leaders.

    Its findings, released last Wednesday by PANG, reveal persistent inequality, systemic discrimination, and political interference under the French administration. The report said that France’s role in Kanaky’s long-delayed decolonisation process had deepened mistrust and weakened the foundations of self-rule.

    “The Pacific Mission in Kanaky New Caledonia is a reminder of our Pasifika connection with our families across the sea,” said Pastor Billy Wetewea of the EPKNC.

    “It shows that we never exist alone but because of others, and that we are all linked to a common destiny. The journey of the Kanak people toward self-determination is a journey shared by every people in our region still striving to define their own future.”

    The delegation included Anna Naupa (Vanuatu — the mission head), Lopeti Senituli (Tonga), Dr David Small (Aotearoa New Zealand), Emele Duituturaga-Jale (Fiji), with secretariat support by PANG and Kanak partners.

    The team met community leaders, churches, women’s groups and youth networks across several provinces to document how the effects of French rule continue to shape Kanaky’s political, economic and social life.

    Key findings
    The Pacific Peoples’ Mission Report identifies four main areas of concern:

    • France is not a neutral actor in the transition to independence. The state continues to breach commitments made under the Accords through election delays, political interference and the transfer of Kanak leaders to prisons in mainland France.
    • Widening socio-economic inequality. Land ownership, employment, and access to public resources remain heavily imbalanced. The 2024 unrest destroyed more than 800 businesses and left 20,000 people unemployed.
    • A health system in decline. About 20 percent of medical professionals left after the 2024 crisis, leaving rural hospitals and clinics under-resourced and understaffed.
    • Systemic bias in the justice system. Kanak youth now make up more than 80 percent of the prison population, a reflection of structural discrimination and the criminalisation of dissent.
    The full Kanaky People's Mission report
    The full Pacific People’s Mission to Kanaky report.

    Kanak writer and activist Roselyne Makalu said the report documented the lived experiences of her people.

    “This support is fundamental because, as the Pacific family, we form one single entity united by a common destiny,” she said.

    “The publication of this report, which constitutes factual evidence of human-rights violations and the denial of the Kanak people’s right to decide their future, comes at the very moment the French National Assembly has voted, against popular opinion, to postpone the provincial elections.

    “This Parisian decision is nothing short of a blatant new attack on the voice of the Caledonian people, intensifying the political deadlock.”

    Tongan law practitioner and former president of the Tonga Law Society, Lopeti Senituli, who was a member of the mission, said the findings confirmed a deliberate system of control, adding that “the deep inequalities faced by Kanak people — from land loss and economic marginalisation to mass incarceration — are not accidents of history”.

    “They are the direct outcomes of a system designed to keep Kanaky dependent,” he added.

    ‘Politics of revenge’
    Head of mission Anna Naupa said France could not act as both referee and participant in the decolonisation process.

    “Its repeated breaches, political interference and disregard for Kanak rights expose a system built to protect colonial interests, not people,” she said.

    “The mission called for immediate action — the release of political prisoners, fair provincial elections, and a Pacific-led mediation process to restore trust and place Kanaky firmly on the path to self-determination and justice.”

    The mission also confirmed that the May 2024 crisis was an uprising by those most affected by France’s flawed governance and economic model.

    It described France’s post-crisis policies — including scholarship withdrawals, fare increases, and relocation of public services — as “politics of revenge” that had further harmed Kanak and Oceanian communities.

    Recommendations
    The mission calls for:
    • Free and fair provincial elections under neutral international observation;
    • A new round of negotiations to be held to find a new political agreement post Nouméa Accord; and
    • Pacific-led mediation through the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

    The report further urges Pacific governments to ensure Kanaky remains on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories and to revitalise regional solidarity mechanisms supporting self-determination and justice.

    “The world is already in the fourth international decade of decolonisation,” the report concludes.

    “Self-determination is an inalienable right of colonised peoples. Decolonisation is a universal issue — not a French internal matter.”

    • The full report, Pacific Peoples’ Mission to Kanaky New Caledonia, is available here through the Pacific Network on Globalisation.
    Supporters of Kanak self-determination hold aloft the flags of Fiji and Kanaky
    Supporters of Kanak self-determination hold aloft the flags of Fiji and Kanak independence in Suva. Image: PANG

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • ‘Profound distrust’ in France, says Pacific people’s mission report calling for new Kanaky negotiations

    Asia Pacific Report

    A Pacific people’s mission to Kanaky New Caledonia was repeatedly confronted with a “profound sense of distrust” in the French state’s role in the decolonisation process, a new report released this week has revealed.

    “This scepticism, articulated by Kanak representatives, is rooted in the belief that France is not a neutral arbiter but a key actor in perpetuating the conflict,” said the mission, which concluded that the French management of the territory continued to undermine the Kanak right to self-determination and breached international commitments on decolonisation.

    As one speaker cited in the report explained:”France is acting like a referee, but instead they are the main perpetrator.”

    The mission — led by the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) and the Protestant Church of Kanaky New Caledonia (Église protestante de Kanaky Nouvelle-Calédonie, EPKNC) — was conducted on April 10-19 this year following invitations from customary and church leaders.

    Its findings, released last Wednesday by PANG, reveal persistent inequality, systemic discrimination, and political interference under the French administration. The report said that France’s role in Kanaky’s long-delayed decolonisation process had deepened mistrust and weakened the foundations of self-rule.

    “The Pacific Mission in Kanaky New Caledonia is a reminder of our Pasifika connection with our families across the sea,” said Pastor Billy Wetewea of the EPKNC.

    “It shows that we never exist alone but because of others, and that we are all linked to a common destiny. The journey of the Kanak people toward self-determination is a journey shared by every people in our region still striving to define their own future.”

    The delegation included Anna Naupa (Vanuatu — the mission head), Lopeti Senituli (Tonga), Dr David Small (Aotearoa New Zealand), Emele Duituturaga-Jale (Fiji), with secretariat support by PANG and Kanak partners.

    The team met community leaders, churches, women’s groups and youth networks across several provinces to document how the effects of French rule continue to shape Kanaky’s political, economic and social life.

    Key findings
    The Pacific Peoples’ Mission Report identifies four main areas of concern:

    • France is not a neutral actor in the transition to independence. The state continues to breach commitments made under the Accords through election delays, political interference and the transfer of Kanak leaders to prisons in mainland France.
    • Widening socio-economic inequality. Land ownership, employment, and access to public resources remain heavily imbalanced. The 2024 unrest destroyed more than 800 businesses and left 20,000 people unemployed.
    • A health system in decline. About 20 percent of medical professionals left after the 2024 crisis, leaving rural hospitals and clinics under-resourced and understaffed.
    • Systemic bias in the justice system. Kanak youth now make up more than 80 percent of the prison population, a reflection of structural discrimination and the criminalisation of dissent.
    The full Kanaky People's Mission report
    The full Pacific People’s Mission to Kanaky report.

    Kanak writer and activist Roselyne Makalu said the report documented the lived experiences of her people.

    “This support is fundamental because, as the Pacific family, we form one single entity united by a common destiny,” she said.

    “The publication of this report, which constitutes factual evidence of human-rights violations and the denial of the Kanak people’s right to decide their future, comes at the very moment the French National Assembly has voted, against popular opinion, to postpone the provincial elections.

    “This Parisian decision is nothing short of a blatant new attack on the voice of the Caledonian people, intensifying the political deadlock.”

    Tongan law practitioner and former president of the Tonga Law Society, Lopeti Senituli, who was a member of the mission, said the findings confirmed a deliberate system of control, adding that “the deep inequalities faced by Kanak people — from land loss and economic marginalisation to mass incarceration — are not accidents of history”.

    “They are the direct outcomes of a system designed to keep Kanaky dependent,” he added.

    ‘Politics of revenge’
    Head of mission Anna Naupa said France could not act as both referee and participant in the decolonisation process.

    “Its repeated breaches, political interference and disregard for Kanak rights expose a system built to protect colonial interests, not people,” she said.

    “The mission called for immediate action — the release of political prisoners, fair provincial elections, and a Pacific-led mediation process to restore trust and place Kanaky firmly on the path to self-determination and justice.”

    The mission also confirmed that the May 2024 crisis was an uprising by those most affected by France’s flawed governance and economic model.

    It described France’s post-crisis policies — including scholarship withdrawals, fare increases, and relocation of public services — as “politics of revenge” that had further harmed Kanak and Oceanian communities.

    Recommendations
    The mission calls for:
    • Free and fair provincial elections under neutral international observation;
    • A new round of negotiations to be held to find a new political agreement post Nouméa Accord; and
    • Pacific-led mediation through the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

    The report further urges Pacific governments to ensure Kanaky remains on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories and to revitalise regional solidarity mechanisms supporting self-determination and justice.

    “The world is already in the fourth international decade of decolonisation,” the report concludes.

    “Self-determination is an inalienable right of colonised peoples. Decolonisation is a universal issue — not a French internal matter.”

    • The full report, Pacific Peoples’ Mission to Kanaky New Caledonia, is available here through the Pacific Network on Globalisation.
    Supporters of Kanak self-determination hold aloft the flags of Fiji and Kanaky
    Supporters of Kanak self-determination hold aloft the flags of Fiji and Kanak independence in Suva. Image: PANG

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ Palestine protesters condemn govt over failure to impose sanctions against Israel

    Asia Pacific Report

    New Zealand Pro-Palestine protesters gathered at West Auckland’s Te Pai Park today, celebrating successes of the BDS movement against apartheid Israel while condemning the failure of the country’s coalition government to impose sanctions against the pariah state.

    “They’ve done nothing,” said Neil Scott, secretary of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA), noting that some 35 protests were taking place across the motu this weekend and some 4000 rallies had been held since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023.

    He outlined successes of the global BDS Movement and explained now New Zealanders could keep up the pressure on the NZ government and on the Zionist state that had been “systematically” breaching the US-brokered “ceasefire” in Gaza.

    The criticisms followed the condemnation of New Zealand’s stance last week by the secretary-general of the global human rights group Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard, who said the government had a “Trumpian accent” and had remained silent on Gaza.

    “Internationally, we don’t hear New Zealand. We haven’t heard New Zealand on some of the fundamental challenges that we are confronting, including Israel’s genocide, Palestine or climate,” she said in a RNZ radio interview.

    Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford also spoke at the Te Pai Park rally, saying that the government was “going backwards” from the country’s traditional independent foreign policy and that it was “riddled with Zionists”.

    After the rally, protesters marched on the local McDonalds franchise. McDonalds Israel is accused of supporting the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) genocidal crimes in Gaza by supplying free meals to the military, prompting a global BDS boycott.

    Türkiye arrest warrants for Israelis
    Meanwhile, Türkiye has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and 36 other suspects over Gaza genocide charges

    Israel, under Netanyahu, has killed close to 69,000 people, mostly women and children, and wounded more than 170,600 others in the genocide in Gaza since October 2023.

    PSNA secretary Neil Scott speaking at today's Te Pai Park rally
    PSNA secretary Neil Scott speaking at today’s Te Pai Park rally in West Auckland. Image: Asia Pacific Report

    TRT World News reports that the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said yesterday it had issued arrest warrants for 37 suspects, including Netanyahu, on charges of “genocide” in Gaza.

    In a statement, the Prosecutor’s Office said the warrants were issued after an extensive investigation into Israel’s “systematic” attacks on civilians in Gaza, which it described as acts of genocide and crimes against humanity.

    The probe was launched following complaints filed by victims and representatives of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian humanitarian mission, that was recently intercepted by Israeli naval forces while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.

    A "Free Gaza now" placard at today's Te Pai Park rally
    A “Free Gaza now” placard at today’s Te Pai Park rally in West Auckland. Image: Asia Pacific Report

    The statement said evidence gathered from victims, eyewitnesses, and international law provisions indicated that Israeli military and political leaders were directly responsible for ordering and carrying out attacks on hospitals, aid convoys, and civilian infrastructure.

    Citing specific incidents, the Prosecutor’s Office referred to the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab by Israeli soldiers, the bombing of al-Ahli Arab Hospital that killed more than 500 people, and the strike on the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, among other atrocities.

    Additional war crimes
    The office said that the investigation determined Israel’s blockade of Gaza had “deliberately prevented humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians,” constituting an additional war crime under international law.

    The suspects, including Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi, and Navy Commander David Saar Salama, were accused of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity.”

    As the individuals are not currently in Türkiye, the Prosecutor’s Office requested the court to issue international arrest warrants (red notices) for their detention and extradition.

    The investigation is being carried out with the cooperation of the Istanbul Police Department and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), and it remains ongoing.

    The statement concluded that Türkiye’s legal actions are based on its obligations under international humanitarian law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, affirming the country’s commitment to accountability for war crimes and justice for the victims in Gaza.

    Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

    Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave and Türkiye has joined South Africa and other countries in bringing the allegations.

    In Tel Aviv, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel “firmly rejects, with contempt” the charges, calling them “the latest PR stunt by the tyrant [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan”.

    A fragile ceasefire has been in force in the devastated Palestinian territory since October 10 as part of US President Donald Trump’s regional peace plan.

    The Islamist militant group Hamas welcomed Türkiye’s announcement, calling it a “commendable measure [confirming] the sincere positions of the Turkish people and their leaders, who are committed to the values of justice, humanity and fraternity that bind them to our oppressed Palestinian people”.

    The Te Pai Park pro-Palestinian rally in West Auckland today
    The Te Pai Park pro-Palestinian rally in West Auckland today. Image: Asia Pacific Report

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ Palestine protesters condemn govt over failure to impose sanctions against Israel

    Asia Pacific Report

    New Zealand Pro-Palestine protesters gathered at West Auckland’s Te Pai Park today, celebrating successes of the BDS movement against apartheid Israel while condemning the failure of the country’s coalition government to impose sanctions against the pariah state.

    “They’ve done nothing,” said Neil Scott, secretary of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA), noting that some 35 protests were taking place across the motu this weekend and some 4000 rallies had been held since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023.

    He outlined successes of the global BDS Movement and explained now New Zealanders could keep up the pressure on the NZ government and on the Zionist state that had been “systematically” breaching the US-brokered “ceasefire” in Gaza.

    The criticisms followed the condemnation of New Zealand’s stance last week by the secretary-general of the global human rights group Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard, who said the government had a “Trumpian accent” and had remained silent on Gaza.

    “Internationally, we don’t hear New Zealand. We haven’t heard New Zealand on some of the fundamental challenges that we are confronting, including Israel’s genocide, Palestine or climate,” she said in a RNZ radio interview.

    Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford also spoke at the Te Pai Park rally, saying that the government was “going backwards” from the country’s traditional independent foreign policy and that it was “riddled with Zionists”.

    After the rally, protesters marched on the local McDonalds franchise. McDonalds Israel is accused of supporting the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) genocidal crimes in Gaza by supplying free meals to the military, prompting a global BDS boycott.

    Türkiye arrest warrants for Israelis
    Meanwhile, Türkiye has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and 36 other suspects over Gaza genocide charges

    Israel, under Netanyahu, has killed close to 69,000 people, mostly women and children, and wounded more than 170,600 others in the genocide in Gaza since October 2023.

    PSNA secretary Neil Scott speaking at today's Te Pai Park rally
    PSNA secretary Neil Scott speaking at today’s Te Pai Park rally in West Auckland. Image: Asia Pacific Report

    TRT World News reports that the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said yesterday it had issued arrest warrants for 37 suspects, including Netanyahu, on charges of “genocide” in Gaza.

    In a statement, the Prosecutor’s Office said the warrants were issued after an extensive investigation into Israel’s “systematic” attacks on civilians in Gaza, which it described as acts of genocide and crimes against humanity.

    The probe was launched following complaints filed by victims and representatives of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian humanitarian mission, that was recently intercepted by Israeli naval forces while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.

    A "Free Gaza now" placard at today's Te Pai Park rally
    A “Free Gaza now” placard at today’s Te Pai Park rally in West Auckland. Image: Asia Pacific Report

    The statement said evidence gathered from victims, eyewitnesses, and international law provisions indicated that Israeli military and political leaders were directly responsible for ordering and carrying out attacks on hospitals, aid convoys, and civilian infrastructure.

    Citing specific incidents, the Prosecutor’s Office referred to the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab by Israeli soldiers, the bombing of al-Ahli Arab Hospital that killed more than 500 people, and the strike on the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, among other atrocities.

    Additional war crimes
    The office said that the investigation determined Israel’s blockade of Gaza had “deliberately prevented humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians,” constituting an additional war crime under international law.

    The suspects, including Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi, and Navy Commander David Saar Salama, were accused of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity.”

    As the individuals are not currently in Türkiye, the Prosecutor’s Office requested the court to issue international arrest warrants (red notices) for their detention and extradition.

    The investigation is being carried out with the cooperation of the Istanbul Police Department and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), and it remains ongoing.

    The statement concluded that Türkiye’s legal actions are based on its obligations under international humanitarian law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, affirming the country’s commitment to accountability for war crimes and justice for the victims in Gaza.

    Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

    Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave and Türkiye has joined South Africa and other countries in bringing the allegations.

    In Tel Aviv, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel “firmly rejects, with contempt” the charges, calling them “the latest PR stunt by the tyrant [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan”.

    A fragile ceasefire has been in force in the devastated Palestinian territory since October 10 as part of US President Donald Trump’s regional peace plan.

    The Islamist militant group Hamas welcomed Türkiye’s announcement, calling it a “commendable measure [confirming] the sincere positions of the Turkish people and their leaders, who are committed to the values of justice, humanity and fraternity that bind them to our oppressed Palestinian people”.

    The Te Pai Park pro-Palestinian rally in West Auckland today
    The Te Pai Park pro-Palestinian rally in West Auckland today. Image: Asia Pacific Report

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Things Are Shitty Because We Are Ruled By People Who Want Things To Be Shitty

    Which sounds more likely: (A) that things are bad because the population keeps organically voting for policies which just so happen to hurt ordinary people while benefitting the rich and powerful, or (B) that things are bad because the rich and powerful want things this way?

    Does it seem more likely to you that (A) the democratic process consistently leaves people unable to advance basic human interests because the population always organically splits itself into an exact 50–50 deadlock that leaves everyone unable to get anything done long term, and that this deadlock always just so happens to land on a status quo that serves the interests of the rich and powerful, or (B) that the rich and the powerful artificially created this status quo via manipulation?

    You don’t need to know anything at all about politics or parapolitics to see that (B) is the most likely explanation for why things keep getting worse for everyone besides the rich and powerful. Your own basic reasoning and understanding of human behavior will tell you that there’s no way democracy is working as advertised if things keep getting worse and worse for ordinary voters while billionaires and empire managers keep getting everything they want.

    Things are shitty because we are ruled by people who want things to be shitty. Once you awaken to this undeniable reality, you will inevitably find yourself growing more and more radicalized.

    Our rulers want nonstop war and genocide. Our rulers want obscene levels of inequality. Our rulers want the public to be poor and struggling. Our rulers want people to be getting dumber, sicker, and more miserable. Our rulers want the unrestricted industry that’s killing Earth’s biosphere. Our rulers want us to have vapid, unedifying mainstream culture. This dystopia looks more or less exactly how they want it to look.

    Our rulers want war, militarism, and genocide to be the norm because military force is one of the critical ways by which they dominate the planet, control resources and trade routes, and prevent foreign states from trying different systems and establishing a different world order. Waging and preparing to wage war has the added bonus of also being extremely profitable.

    The plutocrats want inequality to continue because it’s what allows them to live as modern-day monarchs. When money is power and power is relative, you’re going to see the people with the money making sure they have as much as possible while everyone else has as little as possible, because if everyone is king, then nobody is. They want the public to have just enough spending money to keep the wheels of capitalism turning, without having enough money to do things like fund political campaigns or buy up media influence. The poorer everyone else is, the more powerful they are.

    Our rulers want us to be stupid, misinformed, distracted, sick, struggling, and suffering, because if we all had enough time, information, and mental acuity to form an understanding of what’s going on in our world, things would get mighty guillotiney real quick. They have a vested existential interest in keeping us all in a mental fog of propaganda, diversion, ignorance, illiteracy, and psychological dysfunction.

    Our rulers want companies to be free to destroy our planet’s ecosystem, because offloading the costs of industry onto the environment is the only way to steadily increase profits. So long as they’re free to fill the air with pollutants, fill the oceans with plastic, clear the rainforests, incinerate biodiversity, and poison people’s drinking water at the expense of other people and other organisms, corporations can continue to grow and to maximize value for shareholders.

    An alliance of corporate and state power has emerged to advance these agendas in the service of the few who benefit from them, while the rest of humanity flounders in suffering and toil. They use mass media propaganda, campaign donations, lobbying, and other influence operations to ensure that this remains the case. The more you learn to spot the signs of these dynamics and the more clearly you perceive them, the more urgently you see the need to end this way of being.

    Truth and clarity pave the way to real revolutionary change. That’s why our rulers spend so much energy trying to obfuscate truth and clarity via propaganda, censorship, Silicon Valley algorithm manipulation, mainstream culture, AI, garbage education systems, and other forms of perception management. They’re doing everything they can to stop us from following the strings of our society’s ailments to the hands up above that are pulling them.

    They want us to be stupid, so we need to get smarter.

    They want us to be ignorant, so we need to inform ourselves.

    They want us to be uncaring, so we need to become more compassionate.

    They want us to be compliant, so we need to become disobedient.

    The world is a mess because our rulers want it to be a mess. So we need everything in us to be pushing in the exact opposite direction.

    The post Things Are Shitty Because We Are Ruled By People Who Want Things To Be Shitty first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • How Maverick Carter Rewrote the Rules of Sports Media ft Maverick Carter | Shane Smith Has Questions


    This content originally appeared on VICE News and was authored by VICE News.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Censorship crusade: Israel targets platforms and online archives to ‘rewrite Gaza’

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Robert Inlakesh

    Israelis are determined to erase the evidence of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, through the use of paid and instructed propagandists to reshape the historical record.

    Zionists have also taken over social media platforms. Those who are critical of Israel are being censored or arrested.

    From YouTube to X, Wikipedia, and TikTok, Zionists are capturing all means of communication to erase the evidence of its genocide, reshape the historical record, and censor those critical of it.

    Meanwhile, the Israel Lobby exercises its power through intimidation, paying influencers to endorse it, and arresting dissenters whom they frame as terrorists.

    Last December, Israel announced it was boosting its Foreign Affairs Ministry “hasbara” (propaganda) budget by an extra US$150 million.

    Back in August, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted to reporters that Tel Aviv was losing to “propaganda” war.

    “I think that we’ve not been winning [the propaganda war], to put it mildly … There are vast forces arrayed against us,” he stated at the time, blaming the algorithms for this defeat.

    Dismantling free speech
    Since then, Israel has been working to dismantle free speech and censor everything critical of it, across social media, as part of an all-encompassing crackdown.

    This press conference was no accident; instead, it was part of a much larger scheme that began in July with a targeted campaign aimed at brainwashing right-wing conservatives in the West.

    The propaganda plan was hatched in three parts: One being Netanyahu going on a number of right-wing podcasts; another being a social media censorship campaign, along with the financing of propaganda trips to Israel for right-wing influencers.

    Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance on the Nelk Boys podcast was his first stop in his attempt to revive right-wing support for him personally, yet it received enormous backlash at the time.

    The podcasters were widely condemned for both “normalising” and asking no critical questions of the Prime Minister, who currently has an International Criminal Court (ICC) war crimes warrant out for his arrest.

    The Israeli Prime Minister then went on a round of coordinated interviews across the American corporate media, as a range of other right-wing podcasters hosted him. The difference between the corporate media and the podcasters who hosted him was that the podcasters were even less critical and actively worked to bolster his image.

    These disingenuous podcast hosts even attempted to frame themselves as defying cancel culture, being edgy and going against the mainstream, despite the fact that they were simply doing a worse job than that of the corporate media, battling nothing more than their own followings.

    Erica Mindel – censorship Tsar
    Meanwhile, in the background, TikTok hired Erica Mindel, an ex-Israeli soldier and ex-ADL employee who openly bragged of her loyalty to Israel, as its new “Hate Speech” censorship Tsar.

    A move that appeared to have gone relatively unnoticed, but began to shape what was deemed acceptable discourse on the platform.

    As this was in the works, the Israeli foreign ministry had already funded trips for 16 right-wing influencers to travel to Israel on closely coordinated propaganda trips. Their goal was to bring 550 such influencers on fully financed tours by the end of the year, which later included figures like Tommy Robinson and even former rapper Azealia Banks.

    Upon visiting the White House in October, Benjamin Netanyahu attended a meeting with right-wing influencers and openly discussed ideas to capture social media platforms.

    At this point, the agenda to kill content critical of Israel was already underway, as the TikTok app that the Israel Lobby sought to ban just a year prior fell into the hands of pro-Israel billionaires.

    The world’s second-richest man and top donor to the Israeli military, Larry Ellison, is a key figure in this picture, as his company, Oracle, is poised to take over TikTok. The move was recently praised by The Times of Israel as “raising hopes for tougher anti-Semitism rules”.

    Meanwhile, Ellison was busy buying up CBS News and installing the completely inexperienced, vehemently pro-Israel journalist, Bari Weiss, as the channel’s top executive.

    Inexperienced for role
    Weiss, whose claim to fame was being a temporary opinion piece writer at The New York Times before leaving and attempting to carve out a career as a right-wing commentator and, later, news outlet owner, is clearly inexperienced for taking on her current role.

    Ellison just so happens to be a major stakeholder in Elon Musk’s Tesla and X.

    In early October, YouTube also decided to quietly delete at least 700 videos from the platform that documented Israeli human rights violations, along with the accounts of three prominent Palestinian human rights groups: Al-Haq, Al-Mezan Center, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

    The Intercept published an article explaining the move as a “capitulation” to President Donald Trump’s recent sanctions, enacted to shield Israel from accountability for its copiously documented war crimes.

    Then there is Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales, who came out against the website’s page covering the Gaza Genocide, asserting that it “needs immediate attention”.

    “At present, the lead and overall presentation state, in Wikipedia’s voice, that Israel is committing genocide, although that claim is highly contested,” Wales stated, claiming it violates the platform’s “neutral” point of view.

    At present, every major human rights organisation, including Israel’s own B’Tselem, all the top legal organisations relevant to the issue, the United Nations, and the most representative body of genocide scholars, all agree that Israel is committing genocide.

    ICJ’s “plausible genocide’
    In fact, the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s ruling on the matter considers it a plausible genocide. The only ones disputing this fact are the Israelis themselves, ideologically committed and/or paid Zionist propagandists, in addition to Israeli allies who are also implicated in the crime of all crimes.

    Objective truth is, however, not relevant to any of these bad-faith actors. This is because Israel and its powerful lobbying arms are actively pursuing a total crackdown on criticism of Israeli war crimes.

    On X (Twitter), a new censorship warning has been placed over all images and videos from Gaza that show Israeli war crimes, also.

    What is currently happening is a widespread attempt to wipe content from the internet, erase the truth, ban, deport, and arrest those critical of Israel. All this as the Israel Lobby brings social media and corporate media under its direct control, using the excuse of “anti-Semitism” and “terrorism” to do so.

    Israel’s censorship crackdown, which the Trump administration is working alongside to complete, is by far the worst iteration of cancel culture yet.

    The ongoing crackdown on academic freedom, for example, in order to silence criticism of Israel, is by far the most severe in US history.

    Meanwhile, the ADL has just set up a “Mamdani monitor” to track the democratically elected incoming New York City mayor.

    Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specialising on Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle and it is republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Mainstream media tried to scare Mamdani voters with socialism—It didn’t work!


    This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by The Real News Network.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Making a stand against the global assault on press freedom

    COMMENTARY: By Kasun Ubayasiri

    We are gathered here to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

    The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) National Media Section usually campaigns for journalists’ rights and industrial agency in Australia — but today, we join hands with the IFJ — International Federation of Journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters sans frontières — Reporters Without Borders, to make a stand against the global assault on press freedom.

    The past few years have been particularly hostile for journalists around the world.

    From the press briefing rooms in the White House to the streets of Gaza, journalists have been in the crosshairs.

    Shortly after assuming office in January 2017, US President Donald Trump accused the press of being an “enemy of the American people”. He has doubled down in his second term.

    We have seen newsroom after newsroom fall foul of White House press secretaries; we saw bans on CNN, The New York Times, the LA Times and Politico back in 2017, and now, the Associated Press for simply refusing to fall in line with the so-called renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.

    Three weeks ago, the world watched Pentagon journalists exit en masse, after rejecting Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s latest edict.

    Another White House rule
    Just last week, we saw the declaration of another White House rule — this time, restricting credentialed journalists from freely accessing the Press Secretary’s offices in the West Wing.

    These attacks on US soil are complemented by an equally invidious assault on media outlets on a global scale.

    Funding freezes and mass sackings have all but silenced Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Middle East Broadcasting Networks and Radio Free Asia — the latter of which employed several of our colleagues here in Queensland and the Pacific.

    We have seen Trump’s verbal attack on the ABC’s John Lyons, and how that presidential tantrum led to the ABC being excluded from the Trump–Starmer press conference in the UK.

    Apparently, they simply didn’t have space for the national broadcaster of the third AUKUS partner — and all this with barely a whimper from the Australian government.

    But then, why would our Prime Minister leap to journalism’s defence when he sees fit to exclude Pacific journalists from his Pacific Island Forum press conference — in, you guessed it, the Pacific.

    This enmity towards journalism, has been a hallmark of the Trump presidency.

    Blatant ignorance, hubris
    His blatant ignorance, hubris, and perfidy — indulged by US allies — has emboldened other predators and enemies of the press around the world.

    As at December 2024, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) listed 376 journalists as being imprisoned in various countries around the world — it was the highest number three years running, since the record started in 1992.

    China topped the list with 52 imprisoned journalists, with Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory a close second with 48.

    Myanmar had 35, Belarus 33, Russia 30 and the list continues.

    Among this group are 15 journalists arrested in Eritrea more than two decades ago, between 2000 and 2002, who continue to be held without charge.

    And it gets worse.

    The same CPJ database records 2023, 24 and 25 as the worst years for the deaths of journalists and media workers — worse than the years at the height of the US and allied invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the war against the Islamic State.

    Killed journalists
    The war in Gaza accounts for a significant number of these deaths.

    A staggering 185 journalists and media workers have been killed directly because of their work in the past 25 months — on a small strip of land just 2.3 per cent the size of Greater Brisbane.

    I urge you to read the ICRC case study on the legal protection of journalists in combat zones. It clearly explains how Protocol 1 of the Geneva Convention protects journalists, even when they engage in producing “propaganda” for the conflicting parties.

    Since our vigil 12 months ago, the CPJ has recorded the deaths of 122 journalists and media workers around the world. These are deaths the CPJ has confirmed as being directly linked to their work — such as those killed while reporting in combat zones or on dangerous assignments.

    Of those, 33 were confirmed murders — meaning those journalists were deliberately targeted.

    A staggering 61 of those 122 were killed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory — in Israel’s war on Gaza. Another 31 were killed in a single day during targeted Israeli airstrikes on two newspapers in Sana’a in Yemen. And three more were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a compound housing journalists in Lebanon — meaning Israeli defence forces were responsible for 78 percent of last year’s killings.

    We talk of Israel’s attack on journalists because it is unprecedented, but Israel is by no means the only perpetrator of such crimes — there was the Mozambique journalist murdered during a live broadcast; a video journalist tortured and killed in Saudi Arabia; and a print journalist tortured and killed in Bangladesh.

    Today we read the names of 122 fallen comrades and remember them one by one.

    Dr Kasun Ubayasiri is co-vice president of the MEAA National Media Section. He gave this address at the annual vigil in Brisbane Meanjin last Sunday, on International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. Republished with the author’s permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • The history of Bla(c)k Burlesque

    This post was originally published on IndigenousX.

  • Global South Cooperation Needed To Counter Hegemonic Disinformation

    Systematic disinformation is employed by the hegemonic powers to destabilise, divide, and weaken independent peoples and nations. It serves to disempower entire populations, justify suffocating sieges, proxy wars, invasions, and occupations, and to disqualify resistance.

    The problem: hegemonic propaganda is broad, deep, and well integrated.

    The Anglo-American enemy has lost its advantages in technology, industry and commerce, but maintains them in finance and propaganda.

    The dollar/SWIFT dictatorship still rules, and media, communicational, and ideological Anglo-American hegemony remains firmly in place, through well-developed networks.

    The post Global South Cooperation Needed To Counter Hegemonic Disinformation appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Global South Cooperation Needed To Counter Hegemonic Disinformation

    Systematic disinformation is employed by the hegemonic powers to destabilise, divide, and weaken independent peoples and nations. It serves to disempower entire populations, justify suffocating sieges, proxy wars, invasions, and occupations, and to disqualify resistance.

    The problem: hegemonic propaganda is broad, deep, and well integrated.

    The Anglo-American enemy has lost its advantages in technology, industry and commerce, but maintains them in finance and propaganda.

    The dollar/SWIFT dictatorship still rules, and media, communicational, and ideological Anglo-American hegemony remains firmly in place, through well-developed networks.

    The post Global South Cooperation Needed To Counter Hegemonic Disinformation appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • RSF expresses ‘regret’ over new Israeli Supreme Court delay on Gaza media access

    Pacific Media Watch

    The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it “regrets” the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to grant the Tel Aviv government 30 days to respond to a petition to allow journalists access to the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire.

    RSF said in a statement it believes the blockade on access — in place for more than two years — remains illegal, unjustifiable and contrary to the public’s fundamental right to news and information, and should be lifted at once.

    During a hearing before the Supreme Court on October 23 — in which RSF participated as an interested party having contributed an amicus brief in the petition by the Jerusalem-based Foreign Press Association (FPA) — the Israeli government acknowledged that the ceasefire constituted a significant change in circumstances justifying a review of its policy on journalists’ access.

    The court ordered the Israeli government to present a clear position on its blockade in light of the new circumstances but granted it another 30 days to do this, despite the urgency of the situation and although the Israeli government had already benefited from six postponements since the start of these proceedings.

    “If the blockade preventing journalists from entering Gaza was already illegal and seriously violated the fundamental right to information of the Palestinian, Israeli, and international public, it is now totally unjustifiable,” said RSF director-general Thibaut Bruttin.

    “RSF deplores the Supreme Court’s decision to give the Israeli government 30 days to reach this obvious conclusion, and calls on the Israeli government to open Gaza’s borders to journalists immediately and without conditions.”

    Israel has closed off Gaza and denied external journalists’ independent access to the besieged territory since 7 October 2023.

    To counter this ban, RSF has joined the FPA’s petition for the Gaza Strip’s borders to be opened to independent entry by journalists, and filed an amicus brief with the Israeli Supreme Court on October 15 that was designed to help the judges understand the FPA’s position.

    Who killed Shireen?
    Meanwhile, an investigation into Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s assassination reveals new evidence and cover-ups by Israeli and US governments.

    This major investigative documentary examines the facts surrounding the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Akleh, as she was reporting in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, in May 2022.


    Palestine: Who killed Shireen?         Video: Al Jazeera

    It sets out to discover who killed her — and after months of painstaking research, succeeds in identifying the Israeli sniper who pulled the trigger.

    Eleven Al Jazeera journalists have been killed by the Israeli military among at least 248 Gaza media workers slain by the IDF, reports Anadolu Ajansı,

    A UN spokesman on Friday marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists yesterday with a reminder of the dangers faced by journalists worldwide — particularly in the Gaza Strip.

    “Nearly nine out of 10 journalists killings remain unresolved. Gaza has been the deadliest place for journalists in any conflict,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman to the UN secretary-general, told reporters.

    Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “independent, impartial” investigations into the killings of journalists, emphasising that “impunity is an assault on press freedom and a threat to democracy itself,” Dujarric said.

    “When journalists are silenced, we all lose our voice,” he said.

    Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • RSF expresses ‘regret’ over new Israeli Supreme Court delay on Gaza media access

    Pacific Media Watch

    The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it “regrets” the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to grant the Tel Aviv government 30 days to respond to a petition to allow journalists access to the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire.

    RSF said in a statement it believes the blockade on access — in place for more than two years — remains illegal, unjustifiable and contrary to the public’s fundamental right to news and information, and should be lifted at once.

    During a hearing before the Supreme Court on October 23 — in which RSF participated as an interested party having contributed an amicus brief in the petition by the Jerusalem-based Foreign Press Association (FPA) — the Israeli government acknowledged that the ceasefire constituted a significant change in circumstances justifying a review of its policy on journalists’ access.

    The court ordered the Israeli government to present a clear position on its blockade in light of the new circumstances but granted it another 30 days to do this, despite the urgency of the situation and although the Israeli government had already benefited from six postponements since the start of these proceedings.

    “If the blockade preventing journalists from entering Gaza was already illegal and seriously violated the fundamental right to information of the Palestinian, Israeli, and international public, it is now totally unjustifiable,” said RSF director-general Thibaut Bruttin.

    “RSF deplores the Supreme Court’s decision to give the Israeli government 30 days to reach this obvious conclusion, and calls on the Israeli government to open Gaza’s borders to journalists immediately and without conditions.”

    Israel has closed off Gaza and denied external journalists’ independent access to the besieged territory since 7 October 2023.

    To counter this ban, RSF has joined the FPA’s petition for the Gaza Strip’s borders to be opened to independent entry by journalists, and filed an amicus brief with the Israeli Supreme Court on October 15 that was designed to help the judges understand the FPA’s position.

    Who killed Shireen?
    Meanwhile, an investigation into Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s assassination reveals new evidence and cover-ups by Israeli and US governments.

    This major investigative documentary examines the facts surrounding the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Akleh, as she was reporting in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, in May 2022.


    Palestine: Who killed Shireen?         Video: Al Jazeera

    It sets out to discover who killed her — and after months of painstaking research, succeeds in identifying the Israeli sniper who pulled the trigger.

    Eleven Al Jazeera journalists have been killed by the Israeli military among at least 248 Gaza media workers slain by the IDF, reports Anadolu Ajansı,

    A UN spokesman on Friday marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists yesterday with a reminder of the dangers faced by journalists worldwide — particularly in the Gaza Strip.

    “Nearly nine out of 10 journalists killings remain unresolved. Gaza has been the deadliest place for journalists in any conflict,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman to the UN secretary-general, told reporters.

    Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “independent, impartial” investigations into the killings of journalists, emphasising that “impunity is an assault on press freedom and a threat to democracy itself,” Dujarric said.

    “When journalists are silenced, we all lose our voice,” he said.

    Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ is now in sphere of Israeli influence – we risk being seen as a ‘genocide ally’

    COMMENTARY: By Martyn Bradbury, editor of The Daily Blog

    Why is Aotearoa New Zealand aiding Israel in any way shape or form with a liaison officer?

    NEWS ITEM:
    NZ Defence Force deploys liaison officer to Israel
    The NZ Defence Force has deployed a liaison officer to Israel, to help inform the government on next steps in the Gaza peace deal.

    Defence Minister Judith Collins says the liaison officer will work from a United States-led Civil Military Coordination Centre, initially for six weeks.

    She said it would act as a coordination hub for support to Gaza, monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, and support the implementation of the 20-Point Peace Plan to end the war in Gaza.

    “The deployment will improve New Zealand’s understanding of co-ordination efforts on the ground and enable us to better assess options for any potential future contributions to the centre or other initiatives in support of sustained peace in Gaza,” she said.

    She said this would improve New Zealand’s understanding of efforts on the ground and enable a better assessment of future contributions to the centre, or other initiatives to support peace in Gaza.

    Future deployments would be a decision for the government.

    Add this to our refusal to recognise Palestine.

    Add this to the realisation Rocket Lab has been putting up surveillance satellites for the Israelis with the Gen-3 BlackSky satellites.

    Add to this that the Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister, Sharren Haskel, visited NZ last weekend to thank evangelical Christian freaks who empower them and the Zionesik apologist groups who threaten everyone with anti-semitism for criticising Israel’s genocide and we are now in danger of being seen as an ally for war criminals.

    We are on the side of genocide because this New Zealand government has no morality whatsoever.

    Kiwis have cut their Jacinda off to spite their race to justify the way their post-covid bitterness has been manipulated into agreeing to this.

    For shame New Zealand.

    For shame.

    Editor’s note: Deputy Foreign Minister Haskel met the PNG, Fijian and Samoan prime ministers on her week-long drumming up Pacific support last week, but while she met rightwing Destiny Church leaders, she did not meet any cabinet ministers on her unofficial visit to New Zealand. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • USP student journalist wins Vision Pasifika media award for plastic pollution report

    Pacific Media Watch

    A feature story authored by a student journalist highlighting the harm plastic pollution poses to human health in Fiji — with risks expected to rise significantly if robust action is not taken soon — has won the Online category of the 2024 Vision Pasifika Media Awards — Cleaner Pacific.

    Riya Bhagwan, a Fiji national studying journalism at The University of the South Pacific (USP), won the prize with her Wansolwara story, titled Behind the stalled progress in Fiji’s plastic pollution battle, reports the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

    USP student journalists won two out of four categories in the awards.

    Launched during the 7th Pacific Media Summit by Niue’s Prime Minister, Dalton Tagelagi, the awards celebrate excellence in environmental news reporting across the Pacific Island region.

    The theme, Cleaner Pacific, spotlights the urgent need to tackle plastic pollution, one of the triple planetary crises threatening the planet, alongside climate change and biodiversity loss.

    A story titled Managing Solid Waste in Gizo, a tough task, by award-winning Solomon Islands journalist, Moffat Mamu, of the Solomon Star, and also a USP graduate, won the Print category.

    Coverage of the Vatuwaqa Rugby Club’s efforts to keep their community clean, by Fijian journalist Joeli Tikomaimaleya of Fiji TV, picked up the Television category.

    Student award winner
    The Student Journalism Award was won by Niko Ratumaimuri, of USP, for his story in Wansolwara highlighting a call by young Fijians to keep the country plastic free.

    Wansolwara's Niko Ratumaimuri
    Wansolwara’s Niko Ratumaimuri . . . winner of the Student category of the Vision Pasifika Media Awards.

    The 2024 Vision Pasifika Media Awards is a partnership facilitated by SPREP with the Australian government through support for Pacific engagement in the INC on plastic pollution and the Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP), Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC) and the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA).

    SPREP Director-General Sefanaia Nawadra said: “We are drowning under a sea of waste! The Pacific media is critical in ensuring we in the Pacific understand the challenges of waste and pollution and share ways we can work towards its effective management.

    “Many of our waste issues originate from outside our region and our Pacific media must help our countries advocate for global action on waste especially plastic.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • The Real Bill de Blasio Says Mamdani’s “Vision Is Both Necessary and Achievable”

    The real Bill De Blasio is down for Zohran Mamdani and his economic vision for New York City. After an individual impersonating De Blasio successfully duped a journalist with The Times of London into believing the former Democratic mayor was lashing out against the current Democratic nominee’s proposals in an article published Tuesday, the real De Blasio, a consistent ally of Mamdani…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • America Had a Black President. Then Came the Whitelash.

    More To The Story: America in these last 10 years has experienced generational political upheaval, clashes over race and identity, and a battle over the very direction of the country itself. Few writers have charted these wild swings better than staff writer for The New Yorker and Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb. And for Cobb, it all started when he was asked to write about an incident that was just beginning to make national news: the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black 17-year-old in Florida. 

    Cobb recently released Three or More Is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here: 2012–2025, a collection of essays from more than a decade at The New Yorker, that all begin with that moment of national reckoning over Martin’s death. On this week’s More To The Story, Cobb looks back at how the Trayvon Martin incident shaped the coming decade, reexamines the Black Lives Matter movement and President Obama’s legacy in the age of Donald Trump, and shares what he tells his journalism students at a time when the media is under attack.

    Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Copy editor: Daniel King | Digital producer: Artis Curiskis | Deputy executive producer: Taki Telonidis | Executive producer: Brett Myers | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson

    Read: Trump Shuts Down Diversity Programs Across Government (Mother Jones)

    Listen: Being Black in America Almost Killed Me Part 1 (More To The Story)

    Watch: Where’s Black MAGA While Trump Wipes Black History? (Mother Jones)

    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

    This post was originally published on Reveal.

  • Over 150 New York Times Contributors To Boycott Paper Over Gaza Coverage

    More than 150 New York Times contributors have signed a pledge not to write for the US newspaper’s opinion section, citing its “biased coverage” of the Israel-Palestine conflict and war on Gaza.

    “Until The New York Times takes accountability for its biased coverage and commits to truthfully and ethically reporting on the US-Israeli war on Gaza, any putative ‘challenge’ to the newsroom or the editorial board in the form of a first-person essay is, in effect, permission to continue this malpractice,” the signatories to the letter wrote.

    “Only by withholding our labor can we mount an effective challenge to the hegemonic authority that the Times has long used to launder the US and Israel’s lies,” the writers added.

    The post Over 150 New York Times Contributors To Boycott Paper Over Gaza Coverage appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.