Tag: mainstream media

Influence Operation? The EU Paid-Off €600,000 To Friendly Media Outlets Right After European Elections

While the European Union likes to throw out terms like “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “influence campaigns,” the reality is that the EU is pumping millions into influencing public opinion itself. The difference is just that when Brussels does it, it is not supposed to be propaganda.

One European politician, MEP Petr Bystron, has revealed that the EU commission has provided Financial support to the American investigative network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) right after the 2024 EU elections. Major German news outlets like Spiegel, Zeit, and Süddeutsche Zeitung belong to the group, which is the world’s largest network of investigative media.

These outlets are known for their hit pieces on conservative and right-wing parties, often at opportune times. Notably, Spiegel and Süddeutsche Zeitung’s reporting in 2019 on the Ibiza Affair scandal — which involved an undercover video of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) party’s leader — led to the toppling of the Austrian government at the time, which included the FPÖ. Many critics believed that due to the sophistication of the operation, which included an undercover actress, intelligence services may have played a role.

The OCCRP group was founded in 2006 and is most well known for publishing the “Panama Papers” and the “Azerbaijan Laundromat” evasion scandals.

After a massive flow of U.S. money was cut off to key European establishment outlets and NGOs, Brussels is stepping in to fill the gap. Namely, the Trump administration ended the massive levels of funding headed towards foreign organizations, particularly from USAID, which allowed them to pump out pro-EU and left-wing content to wide swathes of the population across Europe.

The OCCRP group has received an extraordinary amount of money from U.S. taxpayers and other U.S. sources. According to French outlet Mediapart, the group received nearly $50 million from U.S. sources, but these funders were not just generous donors. They also could dictate editorial agendas and veto staff appointments.

Two journalists from NDR, a German state media network, questioned just how independent the OCCRP is in a 2024 report.

The two determined that a significant portion of the money was coming from American funds, particularly from USAID. OCCRP was funneling content and material to German media outlets like Spiegel, Zeit, and Süddeutsche Zeitung.

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Liberal journalist laments Charlie Kirk assassin isn’t as sexy as Luigi Mangione: ‘He’ll be less inspirational’

Liberal commentator Krystal Ball cracked that alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson would not build the army of followers Luigi Mangione did because he’s ‘not as good-looking.’

Ball was discussing the reaction to Robinson, 22, on her YouTube show Breaking Points when guest Emily Jashinsky talked about the disturbing trend of killers who gain cult followings.

‘You end up with a Charles Manson cult around someone, a cult following where people are obsessed and get fixated on someone in prison.’

Jashinsky then diverted to Mangione, currently accused of shooting healthcare executive Brian Thompson to death on a New York City street last December.

‘Even Mangione, you see some of this after he said he was innocent which means you could really be misdirecting people in different ways. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen here.’

Ball responded: ‘Well, he’s not as good-looking as Mangione so he’ll be less inspirational to people.’

As Jashinsky held her head in her hands, Ball doubled down: ‘Tell me I’m wrong!’

Conservatives latched on to Ball’s joke, with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani forcefully questioning Jashinsky after the clip went viral.

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Pakistani Men Living in Utah Charged with Lighting Bomb Under FOX Van During Charlie Kirk Assassination Coverage Had ‘Is He Dead Yet?’ Flag Hanging Outside Their House

Two Arab men were arrested for terrorism and weapons of mass destruction charges after allegedly lighting a bomb under a Fox 13 vehicle in Salt Lake City on Friday as the station was covering the assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk.

It is unclear at this point where the van was located when the bomb was placed on the vehicle. We will update this post when we learn more.

Outside the duo’s home was an upside-down American flag and a flag that read: “Is He Dead Yet?”

Adeeb Nasir, 58, and Adil Justice Ahme Nasir, 31, were arrested at their home in Magna, Utah, on Sunday.

It is unclear if the men are in a romantic relationship or blood relatives, but they appeared quite cozy together in a photo posted to social media.

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Media Seeks to Link Nick Fuentes, Groypers to Charlie Kirk Shooter – Evidence Be Damned

The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Reuters on Saturday all tried to link Nick Fuentes and Groypers to the Charlie Kirk shooter on the flimsiest of pretexts — all while the authorities were insisting the alleged gunman was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology.”

The WSJ and NYT argued Fuentes and the Groypers are connected to the accused shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, because there’s a random “Groyper” playlist on Spotify that contains a “version” of the song “Bella Ciao” — lyrics from which were allegedly inscribed on one of Robinson’s bullets.

Bella Ciao is an old Italian song of unclear origins that became associated with anti-fascists over the years. The song is regularly featured in TikTok videos and has well over 1 billion views on YouTube.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox personally told the WSJ in an exclusive statement, “It’s very clear to us and to the investigators that this was a person who was deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology.”

Nonetheless, in the next sentence they try to link the shooting to Fuentes.

You could likely pick any public figure out of a hat and find one of their fans has a playlist containing the song, but they only attempted to link Fuentes and the Groypers to the shooting.

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Watch This MSNBC ‘Misinformation’ Reporter Bend Over Backwards to Obscure Charlie Kirk Assassin’s Motives

MSNBC ‘misinformation’ reporter Brandy Zadrozny recently tied herself in knots on television, trying to excuse away the motives for Charlie Kirk’s assassin. The media coverage over the last few days has been awful in general, but this moment deserves some sort of award for blatant dishonesty.

Zadrozny insists that the messages scrawled on the bullets can’t be understood as a symbol of the shooter’s motive, even going so far as to suggest that the shooter might have put those messages there to assign blame to the left.

This is a perfect example of why even NBC no longer wants anything to do with MSNBC, which will soon be rebranded as an independent entity called MSNOW.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

MSNBC Misinformation Reporter Suggests Kirk Assassin May Have Engraved ‘Hey Fascist’ on Bullet To ‘Set Up’ the Left

MSNBC reporter Brandy Zadrozny suggested Friday that Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s assassination, could have been “trying to set up another ideological enemy for the shooting” by leaving anti-fascist references on the ammunition he used in Wednesday’s shooting.

Authorities revealed at a press conference Friday morning that a shell casing found with the rifle used to assassinate Kirk was engraved with a message that read, “Hey fascist! Catch!” Scrawled on another shell casing were the lyrics from a prominent Italian anti-fascist folk song…

Still, Zadrozny, an award-winning misinformation and internet extremism reporter, said it’s “impossible” to decipher why the alleged assassin decided to end Kirk’s life before offering up a number of theories.

“It’s really hard to tell when you look at what he put on these shell casings, allegedly,” Zadrozny said on MSNBC shortly after Cox announced Robinson’s arrest at a press conference Friday morning. “It’s hard to decipher if he really means them, if he’s trolling, if he’s making fun, if he is trying to set up another ideological enemy for the shooting.”

“It’s just impossible to say,” Zadrozny said.

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NPR’s Luse: Kirk ‘Said Some Extremely Bigoted Things’ and That’s Why Some on Left Downplay His Death

On Friday’s edition of NPR’s “It’s Been a Minute,” host Brittany Luse stated that Charlie Kirk “said some extremely bigoted things. Because of that, I have seen and heard some folks who are saying something like, this type of violence shouldn’t happen, but I’m not mad that it did happen to this person, meaning Charlie Kirk.”

Luse said, [relevant exchange begins around 12:55] “[L]ooking to the left, Charlie Kirk was undeniably a polarizing figure for his, at times, extreme conservative views. He said some extremely bigoted things. Because of that, I have seen and heard some folks who are saying something like, this type of violence shouldn’t happen, but I’m not mad that it did happen to this person, meaning Charlie Kirk. What would you say to someone who takes that kind of stance in this politically-charged moment?”

Guardian Reporter Abené Clayton responded, “I think that’s a tough one, you know what I mean? Because it’s like, even that comes with its own dangers. You know what I’m saying? I’m a black woman. To me, the things he was saying [were] like, no, this just does not work for me, this is racist, this is trifling. And I also think there’s a little bit of pressure from other folks on the left to see Democratic lawmakers say, like, this person was horrible, this is bad, yes, but also look at what he said. I think that’s what people want, but that’s not super advisable if we’re trying to create an environment of, like, peace, safety, and justice for everyone.”

At the beginning of the show, Luse stated, “America is divided on how to respond to this moment. I have seen some people on the right calling for revenge. I’ve seen some people on the left indifferent or even cheering that this right-wing pundit, who frequently spouted bigoted views, was killed. I’ve also seen people of all political backgrounds fearing for what the shooting and the reaction to it mean for this country’s future.”

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Maher: ‘Racist’ for Dems to Be Soft on Crime to Cater to Black Voters

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher said that it is racist for Democrats to think that they need to adopt soft-on-crime policies in order to cater to black voters, and “It’s kind of saying we think the black people are the criminals.”

The Atlantic Staff Writer Tim Alberta stated, “Traditionally, Bill, Democrats representing urban areas had taken these sort of soft-on-crime policies, in part because they were afraid of alienating a core constituency, black voters. What’s interesting is that, even as polling has shown, clearly, that more and more black voters have advocated for tougher policing policies, many of these same Democratic politicians have remained very reluctant to get tougher on crime. Why? Because they’re afraid of alienating a different demographic, white liberals in the suburbs.”

Maher responded, “It’s so racist. It’s kind of saying we think the black people are the criminals. Some are. Not most.”

Daily Wire co-founder and “Ben Shapiro Show” host Ben Shapiro then stated, “Implicitly, the argument that we have to be soft on crime in order to get black votes, like black people want crime.”

Maher then cut in to say, “It’s racist.” Which Shapiro agreed with.

Maher added that incarceration is “certainly part of the solution.” But he doesn’t agree with using the National Guard.

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Matthew Dowd Blames ‘Right Wing Media Mob’ for His MSNBC Firing, Defends His Bizarre Comments

Fired MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd claims it wasn’t his own inappropriate comments about the Charlie Kirk assassination that got him fired but the result of the liberal network caving to a “Right Wing media mob.”

“The Right Wing media mob ginned up, went after me on a plethora of platforms, and MSNBC reacted to that mob,” the analyst wrote on Substack Friday.

Dowd argued that his initial comments that ultimately appeared to blame Kirk and the conservative movement for the shooting came before it was confirmed that Kirk had been shot during his speaking appearance at a campus event in Orem, Utah Wednesday afternoon.

Dowd led off his analysis with one of the more absurd comments made on any network that day.

He told anchor Katy Tur that Kirk may have been killed by a “supporter shooting their gun off in celebration” — as if the college age attendees were acting like a bunch of drunken cowboys in a B Western.

His commentary went downhill from there, as Breitbart News reported.

“But following up with what was just said, he’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech, or sort of aimed at certain groups,” Dowd told the MSNBC audience. “And I always go back to hateful thoughts, lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”

MSNBC fired the analyst before the day’s end, network president Rebecca Kutler issuing an apology that his comments were “inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable.”

Dowd wrote that he’d made nearly “1,000” appearances on the network and “consistently condemned gun violence and political violence of any kind no matter where it came from.”

However, in his Friday treatise, Dowd still appeared clueless about the demeaning nature of his portrayal of the young supporters who attended the event. They were not there to fire guns “in celebration ” but to listen to Kirk take questions from the crowd, including from those with opposing opinions, in his “America Comeback” tour.

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Ilhan Omar, Mehdi Hasan lie about Charlie Kirk’s message favoring ‘civil debate,’ call it ‘rewriting of history’

Left-wing pundit Mehdi Hasan spoke to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) on his podcast, with the two saying that it is a “rewriting of history” to say that Charlie Kirk’s legacy focused on having a “civil debate.” Kirk was literally assassinated as he was debating college students at Utah Valley University.

The two were speaking on a podcast when Omar said, “Charlie was someone who was willing to debate and downplay the death of George Floyd in the hands of Minneapolis Police.”

Hasan interjected, “I think you called him a scumbag,” to which Omar agreed.

“Right, have no regard. Downplay slavery and what black people have gone through in this country by saying Juneteenth should never exist. And I think you know that there are a lot of people who are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate,” Omar added.

Hasan again interjected, and said that the way Kirk was being remembered, for encouraging civil debate, was a “complete rewriting of history.”

Omar agreed and said that it was “effed up” to “completely pretend that you know his words and actions have not been recorded, and in existence for the last decade.”

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Gaza and the death of conscience

There are moments in history that strip away every illusion we carry about ourselves. Gaza is one such moment. For nearly two years, the world has witnessed a genocide live on its screens. We have seen children pulled from rubble, families starving in tents, hospitals turned to dust. We cannot say we did not know. Every image, every cry, every number has reached us in real time. And yet the killing goes on, the silence goes on, life goes on.

The truth is unbearable but undeniable: we have failed Gaza, and in doing so, we have failed ourselves as human beings.

Frantz Fanon once wrote that colonialism is not a machine but a human reality, and when confronted, it responds with naked violence. Gaza is the purest proof of this truth in our own time. Israel’s colonial war does not speak the language of justice or dialogue; it speaks through bombs, siege, and starvation. Genocide today does not come only with the slogans of hatred but with the bureaucratic jargon of “security,” “collateral damage,” “military necessity.” Western governments supply the bombs while speaking of peace. The United Nations counts the dead while doing nothing to stop the dying. Media outlets repeat official lines while children are buried under rubble.

As Talal Asad reminds us, secular modernity has perfected this art: to kill massively while convincing itself it remains moral. To dress violence in legality, to turn blood into statistics, to make atrocity look like policy. Gaza has become the stage where this moral corruption plays out openly.

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