- Canary publishes a letter criticising their Kit Klarenberg article Archived Message
Posted by Ian M
on June 14, 2023, 7:21 pm
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... for delegitimising The Grayzone: ***** Readers respond to Canary article on counter terror cops detaining journalist Kit Klarenberg You did a recent piece on the detention of journalist Kit Klarenberg, who writes for the Grayzone. But I was yet again dismayed at your stance regarding the Grayzone, where you said “whatever you think” of the Grayzone (regarding their journalism). Why do you follow the line of the other outlets regarding the Grayzone in presuming that they’re some kind of conspiracy theory tribe? Would you say “whatever you think of the Telegraph or whatever you think of Julian Assange, or whatever you think of the FT”? The Grayzone are spot on in all they do. So is Jimmy Dore. Take a look at their history and the stories they uncover, and you’ll see that they’re on the right side of history. As is Kit Klarenberg. And Declassified UK. And MediaLens. In saying “whatever you think of the Grayzone” you’re saying that you yourselves are not on board with their brilliance and that actually, you yourselves don’t know history. Aaron Mate uncovered the deception of the chemical weapon attack in Douma and testified at the UN with evidence of an OPCW coverup. Have you done such as this? Please rethink on how you report your fellow journalists who are on the right side of history. Ady Cheale, via email ED: In the context of this article, Ady, we thought it important to present an argument that showed solidarity between journalists regardless of political affiliation as we think it makes for a more compelling argument. You say that “Would you say ‘whatever you think of the Telegraph…'” in the context, we presume, of one of their journalists being detained. Yes, we would say this if what happened to Klarenberg happened to a Telegraph journalist – because solidarity against authoritarian states should be for all journalists, not just the ones whose politics we happen to agree with. That said, it’s no accident that journalists of colour, journalists from the Global South, and indigenous journalists are met with censure, repression, and death when defending their own communities – yet the fate of these same journalists is ignored by many types of media outlets who only seem to meaningfully rally round victims of suppression who are like them (white, privileged, and so on). ***** Dodging the thrust of the argument - 'whatever you think of' is a dog whistle indicating that the person or org in question is not to be trusted. The correspondent should have also pointed out the description of GZ as 'controversial' - a classic msm smear tactic to dismiss without addressing arguments: 'The Grayzone is a controversial US-based media outlet which focuses on US and UK foreign policy, from a non-Western perspective. Some people have accused it of pushing propaganda for authoritarian states like Russia and Syria. However, Grayzone would say it is anti-US imperialism.' - https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2023/06/05/nuj-throws-kit-klarenberg-under-the-bus-after-his-detention-by-cops/ Also the underhand use of 'some people' is again an unnecessary sop - based on complete falsehoods - to GZ's enemies, and further tars them with the brush of 'putin puppet' & 'assadist', highly toxic smears in today's climate. And then the obligatory virtue-signalling paragraph at the end, as if crow-barring this point into the original article wasn't enough on its own. Is he calling the correspondent racist? Passive-aggressive at least, in throwing the accusation at 'many types of media outlets' rather than at them directly. Anyway, I'll still give them kudos for at least mentioning it while so many stayed silent, but they did it in a shitty way that arguably made Klarenberg's situation more tenuous in the long run. "Look: even the lefter-than-left Canary Workers Co-op think Grayzone are beyond the pale. They must be really despicable..." etc. jeers, I |
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