Dear CCI Readers,
More suspicion is being raised about the caliber of our U.S. mainstream media. This time it’s Newsweek, considered one of the best of our news magazines over many decades. It started reporting in 1933 and has continued up to today. Natylie Baldwin reports on Tareq Haddad, an accomplished British journalist who resigned at Newsweek last week, due to being blocked from accurate reporting on the Syrian war.
I believe in 2020 we will be seeing more pushback by the public and journalists as more Internet news sources are revealing truths not being covered in the mainstream media. This combined with the fact that few Americans trust our media may be forcing a much needed honesty in our daily news. Let’s hope so.
Meanwhile best wishes to you now that the Holiday Season is just around the corner!
Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Newsweek Journalist Resigns and Exposes Editors’ Blocking of Accurate Syria Reporting; More Docs Leaked Confirming 2 OPCW Whistleblowers’ Accounts of Douma Report
December 16, 2019
By Natylie Baldwin
This past weekend saw two more major blows to the years-long establishment narrative of the Syrian war in general and the chemical weapons attacks allegations against the Assad government in particular.
First, Tareq Haddad, an accomplished British journalist who began working for Newsweek earlier this year, resigned last week, telling his Twitter followers that he had done so as the result of his editors attempting to block him from accurate reporting on the Syria war and the OPCW whistleblowers. He also said that in the coming days he would be sharing a write-up on what had happened, despite threats of legal action by Newsweek:
Yesterday I resigned from Newsweek after my attempts to publish newsworthy revelations about the leaked OPCW letter were refused for no valid reason.
I have collected evidence of how they suppressed the story in addition to evidence from another case where info inconvenient to US govt was removed, though it was factually correct.
I plan on publishing these details in full shortly. However, after asking my editors for comment, as is journalistic practice, I received an email reminding me of confidentiality clauses in my contract. I.e. I was threatened with legal action.
I am seeking legal advice on how to proceed and whether I may be entitled to some type of whistleblower protection due to possibly fraudulent behaviour. At very least, I will publish the evidence I have without divulging the confidential information.