The Guardian

Capitalism’s In-House Critic: Hedges’ Monbiot Interview

October 19, 2024 Jonathan Cook, Consortium News. Educate! Capitalism, Media, Ruling Class, The Guardian

Chris Hedges hosts a very interesting discussion with Guardian columnist George Monbiot on his new book about capitalism and its modern incarnation, neoliberalism. Monbiot rightly sees capitalism as a supremely “coercive, destructive and exploitative mode of economic organisation.” Neoliberalism, observes Monbiot, emerged as capitalism’s response to its biggest challenge: democracy. After centuries of struggle, Western publics managed to win the vote. The capitalist ruling class faced a major problem. The public sought to use its newfound political power to secure other rights, such as labour protections. Workers organised into trade unions to demand a bigger share of the value of the commodities they created. These new voters also wanted a better quality of life, including weekends off and proper housing, and an environment free of industrial pollutants that were (and still are) contaminating the air they breathed, the food they ate, and the water they drank.

The Silence On Imran Khan

August 10, 2023 Craig Murray, Consortium News. Educate! coup, Imran Khan, Lawfare, Media, Pakistan, Prison, The Guardian

Given the large population in the U.K. of Pakistani origin, the lack of serious media coverage of the overthrow and incarceration of Imran Khan, and the mass imprisonment of his supporters, is truly extraordinary. Imran Khan was last week sentenced to three years in prison — and a five-year ban from politics — for alleged embezzlement of official gifts. This follows his removal as prime minister in a C.I.A.-engineered coup, and a vicious campaign of violence and imprisonment against Khan and his supporters. It is currently illegal in Pakistan to publish or broadcast about Khan or the thousands of new political prisoners incarcerated in appalling conditions.

NATO-Backed Network Of Syria Dirty War Propagandists Identified

August 2, 2022 Aaron Mate. Educate! Journalism, Media, NATO, Syria, The Guardian

On June 10th, The Guardian's Mark Townsend published an article headlined "Russia-backed network of Syria conspiracy theorists identified." ("Russia-backed" has since been removed). The article is based on what Townsend calls a "new analysis" that "reveals" a "network more than two dozen conspiracy theorists, frequently backed by a coordinated Russian campaign." This network, Townsend claims, is "focused on the denial or distortion of facts about the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons and on attacking the findings of the world’s foremost chemical weapons watchdog," the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). According to Townsend, I am named "as the most prolific spreader of disinformation" among the nefarious bunch.

The Guardian Campaign Against Corbyn

July 14, 2019 By Scott Tucker, Popular Resistance Educate! Israel, Jeremy Corbyn, The Guardian

If criticism against state Zionism is sufficient to prove antisemitism, then many Jewish critics of the Israeli government are therefore antisemites. This is indeed the definition of antisemitism being used in a long-running smear campaign against the left-wing of the UK Labour Party and against Jeremy Corbyn. Any respect I once had for The Guardian really took a hit over the course of this campaign, and the articles below by Jessica Elgot and Peter Walker have nothing of substance to say at all. Louise Withers Green is quoted in the headline below: “In 30 years I’ll be very proud of myself.” Because she is so modest about her heroism now.

British McCarthyism: Conservatives, Blairites, And ‘Center’ Journalists

July 14, 2019 By Scott Tucker, Popular Resistance Educate! Jeremy Corbyn, Media, The Guardian

The anti-Corbyn coalition includes the Conservatives, the Blairite right-wing of Labour, and a crew of careerist journalists who are guardians of the “center.” Thus the collaboration of journalists at BBC and The Guardian. There is documentary proof (including videotaped conversations) of close links between Israeli embassy members and campaigners on the right-wing of Labour against “systematic antisemitism” among left-wing members of the Labour Party. Then the smear campaign is “objectively” reported as news. This includes dismissing Jewish socialists and anti-imperialists as deluded antisemites. Criticism of state Zionism is offered as proof of antisemitism. Case closed.

Is The Guardian Newspaper Scourge Of The Left It Once Championed?

July 29, 2018 Staff of Russia Today Educate! Jeremy Corbyn, Nicaragua, Noam Chomsky, The Guardian, Venezuela

An open letter has slammed the Guardian for “wildly inaccurate coverage of Nicaragua.” It's the latest condemnation of a newspaper which positions itself as a champion of the left but is increasingly accused of attacking it. The letter, signed by some 28 activists, accused the paper of disproportionately reporting on the country’s embattled left-wing government, headed up by Daniel Ortega. The circulation of the Guardian, along with almost all British newspapers, has dramatically fallen in recent years. Critics suggest its reputation as a champion of the left has fallen with it.

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