Polite Suggestions to Journalists to Diversify their News Diets
Suggesting specific resources for mainstream journalists on the topic of Ukraine
PERSONAL NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS… Apologies that Monday’s issue of CSNews is delayed. in the meantime, I give you this…
This letter is a slightly anonymized version of a letter sitting my OUTBOX for almost a week. It is being shared here for anyone who wants to borrow ideas and information - in order to share with any journalists who are coming at the conflict in Ukraine from a one-sided perspective. My delay in sending it off is my desire to gather email addresses for more journalists who similarly work from ONE perspective only. Apparently journalists receive many many news pitches each day. Maybe they are simply not receiving enough from those of us who have given up on them!! Maybe we need to bombard them daily/weekly/monthly with additional stories from outside of the mainstream bubble till the silence cracks! IF CSNews can help, so be it… feel free to borrow (copy/paste) sections within an issue and simply share those if sharing entire issues is too cumbersome.
Dear [MAINSTREAM JOURNALIST]
Looking at the page of your recent articles for [PLATFORM], [URL] I learn a few things.
Firstly, that your background includes writing about [TOPICS, IF LISTED].
As a reader of a little Substack newspaper that is trying to shine the light on mainstream media censorship, I am running across all sorts of interesting information sources information on topics related to technology and world events that I thought I would share with you. This is because none of us wants to be shown as providing misinformation and there is a danger that by repeating commonly circulating interpretations on events, IF those interpretations are based on only half of the relevant data, they can be patently false.
False information put into news stories consumed by public policy makers can lead to poor decisions, which in turn, can lead to harm and death -- certainly not something any journalist wants to be responsible for.
For stories on technology and censorship, if you have not yet encountered RECLAIM THE NET, I highly recommend looking at https://reclaimthenet.org. The folks there are trying to keep tabs on all the latest developments, especially when governments or corporations work at increasing citizen surveillance while decreasing freedom of expression.
[OR SIMILAR PARAGRAPH, depending on topics of interest to the journalist being written to]
Each issue of Canadian Shareable News profiles Canadians with integrity whose freedoms of speech and opinion have been severely curtailed, who often face legal charges or other repercussions for diligently working to reduce harms to Canadians by sharing information that some would want censored. In fact, censorship in some form or other is addressed in nearly every issue of Canadian Shareable News, while the stories being profiled are virtually absent from mainstream media news reporting.
Moving on to your coverage of international conflicts - certain statements you make severely contradict evidence provided OUTSIDE of the corporate and government backed mainstream media bubble. I share this in the spirit of collegiality to give you the opportunity to broaden your scope -- information to keep in mind for future articles.
On [DATE] you wrote about how the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk is a “morale boost”, that “buoyed hopes”. [FILL IN WITH TOPIC WRITTEN ABOUT - if UKRAINE RELATED, consider adopting the text that follows]
This raising of people's hopes stands in stark contrast to coverage I have heard of the same event, based on facts on the ground as interpreted by independent, retired, non-partisan intelligence analysts. Information they provides necessarily leads to headlines along the lines of "The Invasion of Russia by NATO backed Ukraine sets the stage for potential World War III". How possibly could anyone report on the same event in such a vastly different way?
Your article does NOT mention details like
the year long planning that went into this advance involving NATO trainers, planners, etc. most likely from Britain, along with German equipment
the symbolism for Russia of having German equipment specifically in KURSK which we refer to in Issue 23.
the understanding that just like the US could not tolerate Soviet weapons in Cuba, within minutes of the Capitol, so neither could Russia stand having missiles in Ukraine, within minutes of Moscow.
statements made by US military voices about "fighting to the last Ukrainian", the number of lives and pieces of equipment lost in this KURSK offensive (also in Issue 23)
How many "red lines" NATO-backed Ukraine has already crossed and why for Russia the advance into its own territory is more than just an inconvenience.
the role the CIA played in Ukraine, in the years leading up to Russia's "invasion"/"special military operation" in February 2022.
the role the Minsk Accord was supposed to play in stopping Ukrainian aggression on its own citizens, those of Russian ethnicity living in Ukraine's eastern provinces - and how signatories of the Accord admitted later they had no intention of upholding their legally agreed to obligations
the make up of Ukraine's army, the role the neo-Nazi Azov batallion played in forcing Zelensky to let them have increasing influence. 79 years ago, after WWII, we thought we saw the defeat of Nazism and Fascism, yet now, both are alive and well. This despite decades of peace groups demonstrating with slogans like "Never Again Fascism" "No more War" "Nazis Out" etc. Now astute analysts write about how the tide as turned, but mainstream journalists appear not to notice, or not to be able to bring up the topic. Have you read any reports of how "Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a speech calling the fascist militiamen “heroes” and encouraging them to attack targets within the undisputed territory of the Russian Federation"? https://www.globalresearch.ca/selected-articles-decline-west-g7-war-summit/5859839 If not, why not?
Obviously when writing an article under time pressure, one is in a rush and does not have the benefit of time to do lots of digging. But since international conflict appears to be more than a passing interest of yours, please consider following some of these sources over a longer period, to get up to speed on what veteran intelligence professionals know and look for when analyzing complex conflicts.
this battle by battle analysis of the facts on the ground: Near daily war reports updated multiple times a day
(an important source against which to fact-check more optimistic sources circulating much more widely)
Dialogue Works - a YouTube channel described in detail here: https://canadianshareablenews.substack.com/p/introducing-dialogue-works This is one of the best entry points into the thoughts and observations of retired military and intelligence analysts because of the straight forward questions being asked of them. Unlike government or even military industrial complex funded think tanks, Dialogue Works is simply a YouTube channel whose host has been reaching out to independent and retired people with hands-on experience in their various fields.
The weekly Zoom calls held each Friday by the International Peace Coalition, an initiative of the Schiller Institute. See summaries of the discussions in past weeks and find sign up information here: https://schillerinstitute.com/international-peace-coalition/. To get an idea of the calibre of those involved, take a look at the first of the publications by Professor Steven Starr listed here https://nuclearfamine.org/about-steven-starr/. For his entire career, he has been researching the global consequences of nuclear weapon use. His contact information is provided. His work stands in stark contrast with the recklessness coming out of many military think tanks whose "experts" advocate for the use of tactical nuclear weapons these days.
Please refer also to our rundown of War and Peace topics presented outside of the mainstream media bubble over 21 weeks: https://canadianshareablenews.substack.com/p/21-weeks-of-war-and-peace-news-not and consider signing up for a free subscription to issues beyond week 21.
Please also make it a habit to keep on top of the work done by investigate journalist par excellence, Whitney Webb. Her work on how defence contractors benefit from a prolonged war with lots of destruction can be found here: https://unlimitedhangout.com/2023/10/investigative-reports/how-peter-thiel-linked-tech-is-fueling-the-ukraine-war/. And earlier, she looked into the role the CIA played in training groups in Ukraine that could later be useful to foment war with Russia - providing much needed context for the statement of intent by Vladimir Putin to de-nazify Ukraine. https://unlimitedhangout.com/2022/03/investigative-reports/ukraine-and-the-new-al-qaeda/. Imagine a conversation between Whitney Webb and one or the other of the sources you included in your piece. If you could record and find a way to broadcast such a conversation, that would be very helpful as your readers try to get an understanding of the facts on the ground that are clearly missing from mainstream reporting.
In your August 14 article, you citied:
"Samuel Bendett, an adviser with the Russia Studies program at CNA, a research and analysis organization in Washington, D.C." Given that the CNA or Center for Naval Analysis is a (US) federally funded research centre
https://www.cna.org/about-us/what-is-cna and given the central role the US government has been playing in this conflict, it would be important to seek more than this man's opinion on this matter. This is why I encourage you to reach out to the people referenced above. When speaking about the practice of "signal jamming" Mr. Bendett said: "We know Ukraine are ahead of Russia, when it comes to developing [these] tactics and techniques,"
For everyone closely following Russian military matters, this is clearly a falsehood and reflects badly on Mr. Bendett's qualifications as a source. Back in 2015 already Russia was working on its abilities to jam electronic signals https://www.globalresearch.ca/ready-for-war-russian-armed-forces-conducts-war-games-across-the-country-thirty-exercises-and-drills-in-2015/5437119 and in 2023, Russian tech capabilities allowed them to effectively jam various munitions and render them unusable. https://www.globalresearch.ca/not-smart-enough-us-smart-bombs-punctured-by-russian-ew-attacks-intel-report-says-jdams-fizzling-out/5816093 Try getting an interview with any of the crewmen of the missile destroyer USS Donald Cook who in 2014 experienced firsthand the Russians' capability in switching off the Aegis guided electronic systems back then. It is strange that Mr. Bendett is either not aware of or not able to report on the the enormous advantage the Russian Federation has as its missile technology and air defence systems are leagues more advanced than any equipment NATO has. (The US has not yet successfully tested hypersonic missiles getting them from site A to site B, while even Iran owns these, not to mention Russia and China. The 2000 Patriot missile is the latest air defence system run in the US.) Here is a tip: when you are given information from one side of a conflict, run relevant search terms through Globalresearch.ca and Substack.com. Prior to the development of the Substack platform, experts who were being censored out of many fields could only publish their work with Canadian based Globalresearch.ca. This site is the old school equivalent of accessing pooled knowledge via ChatGPT and the like. Only once AI searches are FED the kind of information stockpiled in free speech outlets for sidelined analysts, can we rely on them to pull data out for us. Currently they are still too limited, "knowing" only half the data. In contrast, Substack and Globalreserach.ca are places in which high calibre analysts can publish. Outside of those two platforms, when their work happens to contain "inconvenient" data - data that funders of corporate media platforms find could hinder their profit margins, these analysts are shadow banned, or oddly labeled with all the currently popular epithets - conspiracy theorists, providers of misinformation, Shills for Russia/China/Iran/or the current enemy of the day, even racist, anti-semite, and the like.
It is obvious that Mr. Bendett is excited about drones, as is this other person you cited:
For Ukraine, relying on technologies like drones has been a way for it to punch above its weight in its fight with Russia."We have everything to win the war against the Russian Federation. Everything to replace a person in the trench, at sea, in the air and underwater," said Ivan Havryliuk, a deputy defence minister, in remarks reported by ABC News earlier this year.
But your article cannot simply end with the unrealistic, one-sided hopeful messaging coming from one of the members of the Ukrainian government - especially when it leaves misleading impressions in the minds of readers. Does Ukraine REALLY HAVE EVERYTHING TO WIN THE WAR AGAINST THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION? If so why haven't they won yet? Why are they asking for $$$ from their NATO backers?
You have sadly not reported on so many aspects of the conflict that would dampen the enthusiasm of your article. Like how little military production is going on in Ukraine or in all of NATO, given the current state of deindustrialization in most Western countries.. You have made no mention of how as soon as donations of large equipment from Canada, US, Britain, or Europe have been brought into Ukraine to be used against Russia, they are often quickly destroyed by Russia, sometimes even before actually being deployed. N nor have you mentioned the horrendous Ukranian casualty counts. Can you really be buoyed by the Kursk attacks, given that at minimum one in three participants have already died and the rest are quicky being encircled. Barring surrender, the remainder will face a certain death.
Be aware that by ONLY citing pro-Ukrainian voices who will naturally provide only ONE view of the matter, something is missing. The various ethics codes governing the profession of journalism require a multiplicity of viewpoints. https://canadianshareablenews.substack.com/p/are-our-canadian-media-living-up Meanwhile, guidance documents being given foreign press correspondents try to persuade journalists like you that providing a balanced approach to news and opinion is a bad thing. Your colleagues in the business are being told that "both-sideism" or "false balance" are approaches that should be avoided. https://foreignpress.org/journalism-resources/bothsidesism-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-mean By whom? With what authority? For whose benefit? At what cost to humanity?
Hopefully, by diversifying your range of sources to include voices on both sides of political conflicts or controversial debates, you can do your part to prevent politicians from putting human lives at risk. However, it takes integrity and courage to do that. Just imagine, if our Canadian politicians who have so eagerly put Canadian trainers in harm's way by deploying them to Ukraine, had been given a chance to visualize the huge size discrepancy between Ukraine and Russia as seen in CSN Issue 23; if they were made aware of the enormous gap in production of military hardware between what Russia vs. the West produce in a month and the resulting VAST STOCKPILES of artillery and all manner of battlefield hardware on the Russian side; if anyone had pointed them to the CIA factbook data on the relative sizes of the two countries' armed forces at the start of this conflict (Issue 23); and if informed journalists had regularly delved into the back history, from the Maidan Coup onward, accurately documenting Ukrainian atrocities perpetuated on the Russian minority areas, and accurately reporting the interest in Western corporations in the rich resources of the region, as seen in CSNews Issue 13; if you had previously cited Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and the International Peace Coalition so often that these names and the collective knowledge held by the individuals involved had became well known in the population, then Canadian lawmakers could have made better choices, and Ukrainian (and Canadian) lives could have been saved.
By having you engage in the disinformation tactic of information omission (i.e. omitting the whole OTHER SIDE of the Ukraine/Russia story) you have helped to develop certain false interpretations in your readers' minds and if our decision makers rely only on reporting like yours, this can have deadly consequences.
You can do better moving forward.
Thank you