Wonder why The Guardian is not covering the Defend Media Freedom conference at all Archived Message Posted by margo on July 12, 2019, 3:37 pm You'd think this proud UK initiative focusing on journalism and all things international media would be right up The Guardian's alley? "Defend Media Freedom" has the kind of noble ring you'd think The Guardian would want to promote? Dozens of different speeches and discussions from journalists from around the world, Hunt and Freeland present, a photogenic art wall put together by delegates, massively generous UK money donations to foreign news outfits, all in the heart of London... and yet ... crickets from The Fraudian. Why? I don't have the answer. But I can reflect on a couple of random things I have noticed, fwiw, which make this conference a bit of a tricky, contradictory and revealing minefield for anyone to report: -- Two days ago, Amal Clooney was appointed head of legal team to defend Philippines journalist Maria Ressa as she battles criminal charges. Philippines PM Duterte has labelled Ressa's media outfit "a fake news outlet". All well and good, but Ressa herself then naively admitted at the Defend Media Freedom conference that she received $4.5 million from Pierre Omidyar (First Look Media Billionaire and owner/censor of the Snowden Leaks) . Ressa calls Omidyar's money an "investment come donation", insisting her 'news' outlet is not foreign owned. Given the sceptical tweets at her Twitter account, some in her own country are not buying that one. -- Reporters Without Borders head Christophe Deloire has mentioned Julian Assange's name, saying it should be mentioned at the conference -- well-known Latin American journalist Carmen Aristgui has interviewed Jeremy Hunt and asked him outright why Assange prosecution is not a central topic at this conference. Hunt's reply has been dubbed into Spanish so I unfortunately couldn't understand it: Russia Today Spanish Edition has run the interview -- As The Canary now reports, Amal Clooney's speech not only mentioned Assange's name - she also included a paragraph asking the state to ensure that "judges" (sly reference to Judge Emma Arbuthnot on Assange case?) uphold media freedoms, too. - The Defend Media Freedoms Conference has a strange retro air: similar to the WW2 "Special Operations Executive" media division - where Brits trained, co-ordinated and set the message for the ops of partisan media groups in occupied countries across the globe. And yet, not everyone is on message or towing the line, so the event is slightly messy at the edges... and thus difficult to report on -- Delegates were given colouring pens and asked to contribute to a giant wall mural for the Defend Media Freedom event venue. One delegate added a "Free Assange" comment into a large speech bubble - rendering that attractive mural a no-no for a Guardian photograph. In some Message Thread: Wonder why The Guardian is not covering the Defend Media Freedom conference at all - margo July 12, 2019, 3:37 pm Short piece in OffG - Raskolnikov July 12, 2019, 4:20 pm The Committee to Protect Journalists - Raskolnikov July 12, 2019, 4:28 pm Re: The Committee to Protect Journalists - margo July 12, 2019, 5:05 pm in other news - margo July 12, 2019, 4:24 pm Anyone else get the feeling that the 'elite' and their pol/hack wh0res are - Rhisiart Gwilym July 12, 2019, 6:21 pm Re: Anyone else get the feeling that the 'elite' and their pol/hack wh0res are - margo July 13, 2019, 7:31 am I should offer you a bullion-bet, M! :) It would have to be on a decade timescale though. I reckon - Rhisiart Gwilym July 13, 2019, 9:13 am   Searching