As
Newsguard’s project advances, it will soon become almost impossible
to avoid this neocon-approved news site’s ranking systems on any
technological device sold in the United States.
by
Whitney Webb
Part
7 - An action plan for the genuine protection of journalism
Though
it is just getting started, Newsguard’s plan to insert its
app into every device and major social-media network is a threat to
any news site that regularly publishes information that rubs any of
Newsguard’s investors, partners or advisors the wrong way.
Given its plan to rank the English-language U.S. news sites that
account for 98 percent of U.S. digital news consumption, Newsguard’s
agenda is of the utmost concern to every independent media page
active in the United States and beyond — given Newsguard’s
promise to take its project global.
By
linking up with former CIA and NSA directors, Silicon Valley Giants,
and massive PR firms working for some of the most controversial
governments and corporations in the world, Newsguard has
betrayed the fact that it is not actually seeking to “restore
trust and accountability” in journalism, but to “restore
trust and accountability” in news outlets that protect the
existing power structure and help shield the corporate-led oligarchy
and military-industrial complex from criticism.
Not only
is it trying to tank the reputations of independent media through its
biased ranking system, Newsguard is also seeking to attack
these alternative voices financially and by slipping its ranking
system by default onto all computers and phones sold in the U.S.
However,
Newsguard and it agenda of guarding the establishment from
criticism can be stopped. By supporting independent media and
unplugging from social media sites committed to censorship, like
Facebook and Twitter, we can strengthen the independent media
community and keep it afloat despite the unprecedented nature of
these attacks on free speech and watchdog journalism.
Beyond
that, a key way to keep Newsguard and those behind it on their
toes is to hold them to account by pointing out their clear conflicts
of interest and hypocrisy and by derailing the narrative they are
carefully crafting that Newsguard is “non-partisan,”
“trustworthy,” and true guardians against the scourge of “fake
news.”
While
this report has sought to be a starting point for such work, anyone
concerned about Newsguard and its connections to the war
machine and corrupt corporations should feel encouraged to point out
the organization’s own conflicts of interests and shady connections
via its Twitter and Facebook pages and the feedback section on
Newsguard’s website.
The best
way to defeat this new tool of the neocons is to put them on notice
and to continue to expose Newsguard as a guardian of empire,
not a guardian of journalism.
***
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