Media Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

Fascist Journalists Attack The Poor: Laura Loomer & The Project Veritas Cycle

A broken, abandoned doll with blonde hair covered in dirt with a broken face in the ruins of Bosnia.

Laura Loomer: A candid photo. (Pixabay, public domain)

November 17, 2018

Fascist Journalists Attack The Poor: Laura Loomer & The Project Veritas Cycle

Posted in Creative Commons, and Journalism

It’s happened again. Fascist wannabe journalists attacked the most vulnerable, and as a result poor people will probably die.

Laura Loomer, a talking asshole fringed in blonde hair, is the latest to engage in a punch-down “sting operation” that’s targeted to hurt people with the most to lose.

In an investigative report that’s the talk of nazi rallies everywhere, Loomer went undercover in a refugee camp to expose the “shocking” fact that camp workers help refugees apply for aid in a way that minimizes.trauma and maximizes the likelihood that they’ll get help. Previously best known for spreading Islamophobic conspiracies about her Uber drivers, she’s now trying to graduate to the next level of far right pundit.

scott crow On The Media In An Age Of Antifascist Conflict

A journalist films on a video camera while a row of riot cops advances on and sprays pepper spray at a crowd of protesters. (Pixabay / Stocksnap, public domain)

January 1, 2018

Kit

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scott crow On The Media In An Age Of Antifascist Conflict

Posted in Creative Commons, and Journalism

I sat down with anarchist organizer and author scott crow last month at my house in Austin when he delivered some copies of his book, “Emergency Hearts, Molotov Dreams: a scott crow reader” to use in my Gonzo Giveaway.

While our paths cross frequently in the Austin activist community, I don’t get a chance to formally interview him often. “Emergency Hearts” features another, a three-part interview I originally published when I edited for Firedoglake (now known as Shadowproof).

2017 was a historic year in so many ways, many of them disturbing ones, and I wanted his perspective on what often seems like the collapse of democracy as we’ve known it.

Relax, Parents: There’s No CBD Candy In Your Kid’s Trick Or Treat Bag

A rainbow assortment of hard candies sits against a wooden surface. (Pixabay / Daria-Yakovleva, public domain)

October 28, 2017

Kit

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Relax, Parents: There’s No CBD Candy In Your Kid’s Trick Or Treat Bag

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

This Halloween season, some members of the media seem intent on playing a cruel trick on CBD oil users and parents.

Even after decades of education and growing awareness about the benefits and safety of hemp and cannabis, law enforcement is as eager as ever to spread fear and misinformation and, in some cases, journalists are just as eager to repeat those lies to the public. While we like to keep things positive here at Ministry of Hemp, and usually prefer to focus on the countless benefits of this miracle crop, sometimes we have to take time to debunk untruths as well.

That’s why we want to reassure parents that CBD won’t be poisoning their kids this Halloween: we don’t believe anyone is putting CBD edibles in your kid’s treat bag.

January 13, 2017

Kit

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Let’s Party Like it’s 1984: The Ministry of Truth in 2017

Posted in Act Out!, Creative Commons, Journalism, and Video

War is peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is strength. And we’ve always been at war with Russia. So, while you were celebrating the holidays Barack Obama quietly approved a multimillion-dollar anti-propaganda project that feels a lot like the Ministry of Truth from George Orwell’s “1984” — with a more covert and far more boring name. Included as part of this year’s National Defense Appropriations Act, aka NDAA, and inspired by the new “Red Scare,” it’s called the Global Engagement Center and it’s this week’s Fucked Fact.

As you may recall from Orwell’s novel, the Ministry of Truth controlled all the media — from journalism to entertainment, ensuring it all conformed to the government’s agenda. America’s new Global Engagement Center is ALSO designed to control the media narrative — at a time when alternative media outlets and journalists known to question the US Empire are being slammed for acting as Russian spies.

Signed into law on December 23rd, the creation of the Global Engagement Center is part of the “Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act,” originally introduced as a separate bill in March by Republican Senator Rob Portman, and Democrat Chris Murphy. Luckily for Portman and Murphy, their pet bill made it into the NDAA and into law just before Santa came to town.

The Real Threat Is ‘Telling The Truth’: Abby Martin Responds To Accusations Of Influencing Election 2016

A Russia Today (RT) news van covering protests in Moscow. December 10, 2011. (Wikimedia Commons / FeelSunny, CC SA)

January 12, 2017

Kit

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The Real Threat Is ‘Telling The Truth’: Abby Martin Responds To Accusations Of Influencing Election 2016

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

On Monday, journalist Abby Martin dismissed accusations that she colluded with the Russian government to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

Martin is the latest independent journalist to fall victim to a new “Red Scare” that seeks to shift the blame for the Democratic Party’s political problems onto Russia.

On Friday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence published a declassified version of “Background to ‘Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections’: The Analytic Process and Cyber Incident Attribution,” a report which purports to document Russia’s alleged interference in the election.

Despite the report’s technical-sounding title, a sizable portion of the document is concerned not with cyber attacks, but with unfavorable coverage of the U.S. government and American politics broadcast on RT, the Russian state-owned news network that has been a target of repeated U.S. government threats. The report specifically highlights Martin’s show, “Breaking the Set,” which ran on RT from September of 2012 until February of 2015, and another RT program called “Truthseeker” for being “overwhelmingly focused on criticism of US and Western governments as well as the promotion of radical discontent.”

In Monday’s interview, Martin appeared alongside Anya Parampil, a host at RT America who worked as a producer on “Breaking the Set.” Martin defended the accuracy and importance of her work as a journalist, suggesting RT was actually targeted for critical investigative journalism that cast Washington in an unfavorable light. Martin continued:

After Criticism, Washington Post Disavows ‘Russian Propaganda’ Blacklist Of Indie Media

December 10, 2016

Kit

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After Criticism, Washington Post Disavows ‘Russian Propaganda’ Blacklist Of Indie Media

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Amid a wave of widespread criticism and legal threats, the Washington Post has added a lengthy editor’s note to an article which alleged that a host of independent media websites were spreading Russian propaganda.

The article, written by Craig Timberg and published on Nov. 24, relied largely on information compiled byPropOrNot, an anonymous group that claims to be comprised of media analysts and researchers. At the time the Post story was published, the group’s homepage featured a list of 200 websites, including MintPress News and many other well-established independent media outlets, which the organization alleges are either deliberately or inadvertently spreading Russian propaganda.

Among other criticisms levied against the group, PropOrNot’s research depends on overly broad criteria. According to its own stated methodology, criticism of the ”US, Obama, Hillary Clinton, the EU, Angela Merkel, NATO, Ukraine, Jewish people, US allies, the ‘mainstream media,’ and democrats, the center-right or center-left, and moderates of all stripes,” would be grounds for inclusion on “The List.”