A Giant of Journalism Gets Half its Budget From the U.S. Government

A Giant of Journalism Gets Half its Budget From the U.S. Government

How Sullivan first caught the attention of the U.S. foreign policy officialdom is itself a window into the purpose of the organization. It begins with a coup in the Philippines. State Department official Michael Henning had previously been stationed there. In 2001, the non-profit outlet the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) exposed corruption by then-President Joseph Estrada, a nationalist with a standoffish relationship to the U.S. The exposé led to an impeachment inquiry, which fell short. But it also produced major street protests, leading to his ouster in a coup [EDSA 2]. The journalist’s pen was not just mightier than the sword, but less embarrassing to wield on a global stage in an era where overtly U.S.-backed military coups had gone out of fashion (if not entirely out of the toolkit). Henning was a major booster of PCIJ—which has been the beneficiary of grants from the National Endowment for Democracy—relaying its effectiveness to his colleagues.

The article refers to the Arab Spring and the Yugoslav Wars, but not how the U.S. was involved.

Related:

Front Organizations Behind Hit Piece on Igor Lopatonok:

Wikipedia

Grants from Luminate Group AKA Omidyar Network

Source
Source

A ‘myriad’ of front organizations had “Media Unlocked” banned from TikTok (PCIJ)

PH’s PressONE is funded by several US front organizations

Update to Notes on Ukrainian Government Exposed Surveilling News Outlet (GIJN)

Latin American Center for Journalistic Research (CLIP)

Front Organizations

Breakup of Yugoslavia (Yugoslav Wars)

U.S. Wars and Hostile Actions (WW2 – 2014) (Arab Spring)

Smashing the Iran Myth (Hasbara)

In the early morning of December 31, 2023, the commercial freighter Maersk Hangzhou came under attack by Houthi fighters from Yemen who were attempting to board it. US Navy helicopters responding to its distress calls were fired upon by the small Houthi boats, according to the US Central Command, and “returned fire in self-defence,” sinking three of the four boats and killing their crews

Smashing the Iran Myth: From Houthi to Hezbollah

Previously:

The Maidan Massacre, Censorship & Ukraine: Interview with Ivan Katchanovski

Genocide Joe and Porky Poroshenko.

By Natylie Baldwin, Consortium News, 10/20/23

Canadian-Ukrainian professor Ivan Katchanovski’s investigation of the Maidan massacre in Kiev in February 2014 found an organized mass killing of both protesters and the police, with the goal of delegitimizing the Yanukovych government and its forces and seizing power in Ukraine, as he wrote for Consortium News in an in-depth article in 2019. (On Wednesday three policemenwere sentenced for the massacre, one was acquitted and one was released for time served. The official investigation ignored Katchanovski’s academic research.)

The Maidan Massacre, Censorship & Ukraine: My Interview with Ivan Katchanovski

RAIR Research

Screenshot.

Unmasked anti-Muslim troll Amy Mekelburg connected to Chris Gaubatz

Information published on social media and reviewed by Hatewatch show that RAIR’s president is Chris Gaubatz, a well-known anti-Muslim figure previously affiliated with the hate group Understanding the Threat. …

Though not the most outspoken anti-Muslim figure, Gaubatz has presented Islam as a violent religion and subscribes to a variety of anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. In 2016, he joined up with former FBI agent turned anti-Muslim conspiracist John Guandolo. Up until April of this year, Gaubatz served as vice-president of Guandolo’s consulting firm Understanding the Threat (UTT). During that time, Guandolo and Gaubatz traveled the country providing training seminars about the “jihadi threat” to law enforcement and civilians. …

Trump’s Loudest Anti-Muslim Twitter Troll Is A Shady Vegan Married To An (Ousted) WWE Exec

Siino, meanwhile, moved to Los Angeles to launch a doomed internet media startup called WeMash with Quincy Jones III, son of the famous music producer. …

Mekelburg had also been trying to make inroads into what Ibrahim Hooper calls “the cottage-industry of Islam haters,” which is run by bigots such as Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, David Horowitz, Brigitte Gabriel and Frank Gaffney — several of whom have close ties to the Republican establishment and the Trump administration. Their efforts can be remunerative, thanks to generous funding from conservative and libertarian foundations such as the Donors Capital Fund.

Mekelburg’s best connection to this world was through Anni Cyrus, who produces The Glazov Gang, an Islamophobic talk show that can be found on YouTube. Host Jamie Glazov is the editor of one of Horowitz’s anti-Muslim publications. Mekelburg asked for Cyrus’ help in launching her own anti-Muslim organization. Cyrus, who did not respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment, greeted Mekelburg’s overture with enthusiasm. …

Mekelburg named her organization Resistance Against Islamic Radicals (RAIR). She created a website, set up a Facebook page and a Twitter handle, and recruited Cortez to design artwork from behind bars, according to Galasso. RAIR’s mission would be “to stop the Jihadi infiltration in our American communities.” Mekelburg didn’t mention herself anywhere on the organization’s website. Under an “accomplices” section, however, she posted the names, photos and contact information for people and groups she believed were collaborating with jihadi terrorists. That could mean anyone with a connection to Islam.

Connections:

Read More »