Tag: Al Jazeera

U.S. Helps Pro-Ukraine Media Run a Fog Machine of War + Supporting Front Orgs

Ms. Cat

U.S. Helps Pro-Ukraine Media Run a Fog Machine of War

As Congress debates major new funding to support the Ukrainian war effort, U.S. taxpayer dollars are already flowing to outlets such as the New Voice of Ukraine, VoxUkraine, Detector Media, the Institute of Mass Information, the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine and many others. Some of this money has come from the $44.1 billion in civilian-needs foreign aid committed to Ukraine. While the funding is officially billed as an ambitious program to develop high-quality independent news programs; counter malign Russian influence; and modernize Ukraine’s archaic media laws, the new sites in many cases have promoted aggressive messages that stray from traditional journalistic practices to promote the Ukrainian government’s official positions and delegitimize its critics.

Related (front organizations):

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Israel gets closer to prohibiting foreign press

Ms. Cat

Israel has moved a step closer to potentially banning Al Jazeera after accusing one of its reporters, Mohamed Washah, of working for Hamas. The Israeli parliament voted 25-4 to advance the ‘Al Jazeera Law,’ a bill that would allow the temporary outlawing of foreign media outlets designated as harmful to state security by the defense ministry. The legislation, colloquially known as the ‘Al Jazeera Law,’ specifically targets the Qatar-based network.

Israel gets closer to prohibiting foreign press

Prospects shaky for Philippines’ government and communist peace talks

Ms. Cat
CIA World Factbook

Prospects shaky for Philippines’ government and communist peace talks

Manila, Philippines – Fighting continues between the Philippine military and communist rebels despite an agreement to resume peace talks this month in an effort to end the world’s longest-running communist armed rebellion.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr surprised many when, in November, his government announced an agreement with the National Democratic Front (NDF), the rebels’ political wing, to restart peace talks that his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte had ended shortly after taking office.

Considering that the Millennium Challenge Corporation just gave the Philippines a grant, I doubt that they’ll see any positive economic reforms. MCC’s support for “democratic reform” is akin to the “democracy promotion” advanced by the National Endowment for Democracy. My guess is that it’s to keep the Philippines in line with US foreign policy against China.

Why Are CNN, ABC, and NBC Reporters Embedding With the Israeli Military?

Ms. Cat

Why Are CNN, ABC, and NBC Reporters Embedding With the Israeli Military?

Helen Benedict, author of The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq and a professor at the Columbia Journalism School, noted in an interview that “the original purpose of embedding was to control journalists.” She and Christenson both referenced Phillip Knightley’s classic 1975 book The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker From the Crimea to Vietnam, which describes how the government invented embedded journalism in response to critical coverage of the Vietnam War. In a chapter added in 2004, Knightley wrote that as civilian casualties in Afghanistan passed 5,000, “the Pentagon sought a media strategy that would turn attention back to the military’s role in the war, especially the part played by ordinary American service men and women. This would require getting war correspondents ‘on side.’”

H/T: Council Estate Media

Previously:

Doubt that it’s just CNN: All CNN Gaza Coverage Seen by Bureau Monitored by IDF Before Publication

Israel’s War on American Student Activists

Ms. Cat

For years the Israel on Campus Coalition—a little-known organization with links to Israeli intelligence—has used student informants to spy on pro-Palestinian campus groups.

Israel’s War on American Student Activists (archived)

Looks like those microgrants are for more than just attending pro-Israel protests.

Previously:

Pro-Israel Group Paid Students $250 Each to Attend ‘March for Israel’ Event in DC
Days After Saying ‘Every Jewish Person is a Zionist,’ ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt Says Anti-Zionist Jews are a ‘Hate Group’
ADL Director sounds alarm over lack of support for Israel among ‘Gen Z’

ADL Director sounds alarm over lack of support for Israel among ‘Gen Z’

Ms. Cat

Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Ms. Cat’s Chronicles.

ADL Director sounds alarm over lack of support for Israel among ‘Gen Z’

Greenblatt’s action plan to combat what he calls anti-Jewish “disinformation” has taken many forms but, so far, appears to focus primarily on the suppression of free speech on social media. In a joint press call on Nov 8th, Greenblatt joined several US politicians to gameplan a way to “combat terrorists and disinformation” on “China-owned” TikTok. During the call, U.S. Representatives Josh Gottheimer, and Don Bacon formally announced the “Stopping Terrorists Online Presence and Holding Accountable Tech Entities Act,” known as the STOP HATE Act.

The legislation seeks to impose a fine of $5 million a day for any tech company that fails to adequately “fight disinformation” or refuses to submit lists of terms of service violations made by users. It also hopes to force TikTok to register as a foreign agent and clamp down on Al Jazeera for its reporting of humanitarian issues in Gaza.

…

In March, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for police documents revealed that Florida-based law enforcement was taking direction and colluding with the ADL on how to curb First Amendment-protected activities. The communications between the department’s police chief and Florida ADL Director, Yael Hirschfeld, appeared to scold police brass for releasing prominent influencer Jon “Handsome Truth” Minadeo.

Previously:

Florida GOP Declares War On The First Amendment to ‘Combat Anti-Semitism’