Skip to Content

'Money for nothing and content for free'. Study on news funding, NRW. Photo credit: Mika Baumeister
Marseille

Inquisition, cyberstalking and cancel culture in journalism during a pandemic

And the mainstream media has been hooked on "fact-checking" which acts as a fig leaf for the current crisis in journalism.

Published: July 23, 2021, 12:15 pm

    Read more

    It was in Munich, in 1971, that the journalists’ unions from the six countries then constituting the European common market (Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) adopted the “Declaration of the duties and rights of journalists” at the initiative of a French journalist, Paul Parisot (1917-2007).

    The latter, elected president of the Syndicat des Journalistes Français in 1964, became one of the main architects of the creation of the National Union of Journalists’ unions in 1966 and finally the Munich Declaration five years later. Rereading this founding text 50 years later, highlights the depredations of journalism.

    In its preamble, the Munich Declaration begins by affirming that “the right to information, to free expression and to criticism is one of the fundamental freedoms of every human being”, that this “right of the public to know the facts and opinions” determines “all the duties and rights of journalists” and that all this “takes precedence over any other responsibility, in particular towards their employers and the public authorities”.

    Parisot himself notably led a fight against the growing influence of the politician and press boss Robert Hersant (1920-1996), whose media companies are now largely owned by the Dassault group.

    This Munich Declaration sets out the 10 duties that “every journalist worthy of the name” must respect, including:

    Defend the freedom of information, commentary and criticism
    Not to use unfair methods to obtain information
    To oblige to respect the private life of the people
    Rectify any published information which proves to be inaccurate
    Refrain from plagiarism, slander, defamation, unfounded accusations as well as receiving any advantage as a result of the publication or deletion of information
    Never confuse the profession of journalist with that of advertiser or propagandist; not to accept any instructions, direct or indirect, from advertisers
    Accept editorial instructions only from those responsible for the editorial staff

    The least that can be said is that many of these virtuous principles have been totally forgotten during the “health crisis” over the past year and a half, and that the two great prejudices of the founders of modern journalism (awareness of government propaganda and the influence of “money powers“) have all but disappeared.

    It is not for nothing that the most prestigious of the prizes coveted by any self-respecting journalist was the Albert Londres Prize, named after the man who, in the 1920s, was one of the very first to reveal the reality of the Bolshevik regime, French convicts in Guyana and the mentally ill in metropolitan asylums.

    Today, print journalism is practiced almost exclusively in an office by shameless sycophants with a computer, an internet connection and a mobile phone. Worse still, as the media treatment of the health crisis shows, is that the “reputed” press has indulged in an unprecedented advertising campaign for Big Pharma, its lackeys in government, as well exhibited gross neglect in particular in the coverage of scientific controversies related to vaccine injuries, child vaccination campaigns and the case for lockdowns.

    Contemporary journalism is in deep crisis and one of the reasons is the upheaval of its traditional economic model. The arrival of the Internet saw advertising revenues collapse. This situation, which places journalists in a relationship of double dependence on the billionaires who own the titles and the state that helps them operate – the GAFA ecosystem (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple) – has been the downfall of the profession.

    In France, the agency AFP is the main source of information for all French media. Thanks to funding from Facebook, AFP has developed a service called “AFP Factual”, which represents more than 30 journalists worldwide, with more than 200 articles published per month.

    The great controversy that surrounded the IHU in Marseille and its director Didier Raoult illustrates the point. No one bothered to ask this accomplished epidemiologist about what should be done to best manage the epidemic. Instead they attacked his personality, his funding sources and his success in treating seriously ill patients.

    The media treatment of the IHU in Marseille revealed that almost all of the journalists who spoke about it had either never set foot there, or had only seen the director’s office. And this is not trivial, because Raoult runs a public institution bringing together a hospital and several research centers where hundreds of people work and study. Not knowing anything about it can obviously only contribute to misrepresenting his viewpoint or fueling the most ridiculous fantasies.

    The very rare Parisian journalists who took the trouble to see what was really going on have moreover written a very different story. But it is well-known in France that Raoult had contradicted a global biopharmaceutical company, Sanofi’s discourse. And so-called “fact checking” is no more than a sham of journalism amounting to lecturing the public rather than criticizing power.

    So-called “scientific” journalists relayed the idea that Raoult’s drug of choice, hydroxychloroquine, was a dangerous or even deadly drug, which in fact constitutes one of the biggest lies observed during this crisis. The same unfair treatment by the “scientific” press was seen with Ivermectin at the beginning of 2021, even when it is probably the most effective drug of all. Doctor Gérard Maudrux has shown this by closely examining the way in which these mainstream journalists treated the case of India.

    This week, Israel, one of the most vaccinated countries, announced that the efficacy of Pfizer vaccine was down to only 39 percent protection against a Covid infection in the last month. The manufacturers however repeatedly claimed that it was over 90 percent for their product. Despite this, a French advisor to the government this week declared: “It will be supremacy for the vaccinated and a life of shit for the unvaccinated.”

    Those who pose as “journalists” in the mainstream press also know that shouting “conspiracy”, “populism” or “extreme right” nourish the Manichean categories on which the financial and political powers rely today.

    Consider donating to support our work

    Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.

    Keep ​your language polite​. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in​,​ for example​, ​Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.

    If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violation​s​ of​ any​ law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.

    If your comments are subject to preview ​by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.

    We reserve the right to del​ete​ comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.

    Europe
    Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, is one of the Catholic bishops who signed the letter, which was read out in churches throughout Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland over the Easter weekend. Photo: The Catholic Church

    Care prompts bishops to criticize transgender ideology

    The Catholic bishops of the Scandinavian countries presented an open five-page letter criticizing transgender ideology on March 21, just before Easter. The document primarily expresses care and advice and was read aloud in Catholic churches in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, is one of the signatories of the document.

    FREEZING IN THEIR HOMES is the new grim reality for many Brits and Northern Europeans. Margaret is 92 years old and has just come in from the winter cold, but no warmth awaits her at home. She fears her own home more than the icy streets. Next to her are four thick blankets, and on the shelf above the fireplace, which she can no longer afford to buy wood for, is a meter showing the daily cost of electricity (inset). It shows £1.03, about 13 SEK. When it reaches £3, about 38 SEK, she is forced to turn off the little heat she has to afford it. Still image: ITW News

    Brits Forced to Live in Darkness and Cold

    Food prices are rising at a furious pace, fastest in Scotland in almost half a century. At the same time, energy prices are at record highs. People are forced to choose between freezing or going hungry, and a majority of Scots are forced to live in cold and darkness to cope with bills. Old generations' tricks for saving and keeping warm are returning. Nevertheless, it is feared that 10,000 Brits will die of cold homes this winter. We present the Swedish Public Health Agency's guidelines on indoor temperature. Governments in Europe are introducing rationing and monitoring of food purchases. Net-zero emissions are a lie that, in practice, de-industrializes the West and dramatically lowers our standard of living.

    Thousands of Flemish farmers block roads in Brussels against nitrogen policy

    BrusselsMore than 2500 farmers from Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region gathered at Brussels' central Arts-Loi street and blocked roads with tractors toward Brussels to protest the regional government's plan to limit nitrogen emissions.

    Orban: EU energy sanctions costing citizens billions

    BudapestHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that some western states could soon send troops to Ukraine. He also criticized the fact that the EU sanctions against Russia had cost Hungarian taxpayers tens of billions of euros.

    Italy: New leader of the Social Democrats is one of Soros’ ‘preferred politicians’

    RomeDuring the election campaign, Elly Schlein presented herself as the standard-bearer of the poorest. However, her background and previous work raise doubts about her honesty.

    UK greenhouses shut down due to high energy costs

    LondonIn Great Britain, a particularly depressing facet of the crisis is now showing its first contours - and thus anticipating what is likely to happen in other European countries in the near future: because of the exploding energy prices, agriculture is being strangled and fresh produce has to be rationed.

    Lisbon opens borders to all Portuguese speakers

    LisbonNot only the German and Italian governments keep opening new paths for immigration. Portugal, too, has opened a Pandora's box and is paving the way for possibly millions of non-European immigrants to the EU – something which is not mentioned by the mainstream media.

    Illegal immigration to Italy has reached its highest level ever

    RomeIn Italy, despite the overwhelming right-wing electoral success in September, there is still nothing to be seen of the promised asylum turnaround – on the contrary. Giorgia Meloni has been in office for five months, but the arrivals of migrants in Italy have doubled compared to the previous year.

    Dismantling diplomacy with ‘feminist foreign policy’

    BudapestGerman Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) wants to counter German security issues abroad with feminist politics. Gender training, LGBTQ events and quotas are now part of their new guidelines, which are intended to bring about "cultural change". The German ambassador to Hungary, Julia Gross, provided an embarrassing example.

    Germans demand investigation of Nord Stream sabotage

    BerlinAfter the sensational revelations by US investigative reporter Seymour Hersh about the perpetrators of the Nord Stream attacks on September 26, 2022, the German government has remained silent. It does not want to comment on Hersh's research results, according to which the pipelines were blown up by Americans and Norwegians.

    Go to archive