National Geographic TV

hmmn, no node for magazine/society?

fotog busted on veggie libel

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MMA

Scientist searching for a coronavirus cure exposes right-wing “disinformation campaign” that led to Trump cutting his funding

60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley: “There never was a $3.7 million U.S. grant to the Wuhan lab”

:{Published 05/11/20

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fox-Trump feedback loop has been a dangerous factor undermining the United States’ response to the crisis. Now, as CBS News’ *60 Minutes* documented on Sunday night, right-wing media misinformation about the coronavirus’s origins — the idea that it originated in an infectious disease research laboratory in Wuhan, China — has even resulted in the Trump administration shutting down funding for actual pandemic research.

CBS anchor Scott Pelley spotlighted infectious disease researcher Dr. Peter Daszak, head of the New York-based nonprofit medical organization EcoHealth Alliance, which just recently lost a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As CBS noted, Daszak's “work is helping in the search for a COVID-19 cure.”

The broadcast traced the chain of events back to when Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said during an April 14 appearance on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight: “The NIH gives this $3.7 million grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. They then advertise that they need coronavirus researchers. Following that, coronavirus erupts in Wuhan.”

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From the April 14, 2020, edition of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight

Newsmax correspondent Emerald Robinson then asked President Donald Trump about the supposed grant during a White House briefing on April 17 — attributing this grant to actions by the Obama administration — to which Trump said he would end it “very quickly.”

But these allegations were untrue.

“There never was a $3.7 million U.S. grant to the Wuhan lab,” Pelley explained. The grant was actually to EcoHealth, of which about $100,000 per year went toward working with the Wuhan facility — and even that could only take place after careful review by the NIH.

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From the May 10, 2020, edition of CBS News’ 60 Minutes

PELLEY: His funding from the NIH, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, was killed, two weeks ago, by a political disinformation campaign targeting China's Wuhan Institute.

...

PELLEY: On April 14, Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz claimed China's Wuhan Institute had, quote, "birthed a monster." Gaetz is a vigorous defender of the president. He's been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegedly threatening a witness against Mr. Trump and he led a protest to delay impeachment testimony.

...

PELLEY: There never was a $3.7 million U.S. grant to the Wuhan lab. But, the falsehood spread like a virus, in the White House, and without verification, in the briefing room.

The specific claim that $3.7 million was sent to the Wuhan lab has been spread by a variety of sources, such as when the U.K.-based Daily Mail on April 11 mentioned “documents” it obtained that it said showed scientists in Wuhan had “experimented on bats as part of a project funded by the US National Institutes of Health”; the article featured comments from Gaetz regarding the Wuhan Institute.

And on April 26, Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani tweeted:

IFrame Content

PolitiFact rated the claim as “False,” noting, “The grant was made in 2014, and the amount that went to the lab was a bit under $600,000. The grant restriction did not apply to identifying naturally occurring viruses.”

In an interview on a New York talk radio show on April 26, Giuliani opened a new rhetorical front to pin the blame on another target: Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and a target of right-wing ire since the crisis began. Outlets such as The Washington Times, RedState, and Gateway Pundit all picked up on Giuliani’s false allegations attempting to tie Fauci to this supposed large grant of money to the lab.

Fauci has repeatedly dismissed the right-wing media’s conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19, and in an article published last week in National Geographic, he reaffirmed not only that the virus was not manipulated artificially in a lab, but also dismissed the secondary conspiracy theory that it could have been discovered occurring naturally but then leaked from the facility in the course of other research work:

“If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what's out there now, [the scientific evidence] is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated … Everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that [this virus] evolved in nature and then jumped species,” Fauci says. Based on the scientific evidence, he also doesn’t entertain an alternate theory‐that someone found the coronavirus in the wild, brought it to a lab, and then it accidentally escaped.

Fox News has played a key role in spreading these right-wing media conspiracy theories and other coronavirus misinformation throughout the pandemic.

Earlier in the crisis, Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) actively pushed the conspiracy theory that the coronavirus was released from the Wuhan research facility. They and other voices on Fox News repeatedly cited a study from the respected medical journal The Lancet to allege that the virus did not come from the city’s wet market — and therefore it must have come from a laboratory — even as The Lancet itself has disavowed the very notion that right-wing media are trying to spin.

More recently, Fox Business host Lou Dobbs said, “I personally believe it's entirely possible that they engineered the Wuhan virus.” And just last week, Fox host Tucker Carlson claimed that a multinational intelligence dossier “confirms much of what we've suspected” about the virus coming from the Wuhan facility. Intelligence professionals have refuted the fringe theory and the claim that the dossier even supported the idea amid this latest push from Fox and other Murdoch media outlets, such as The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Australia.

Other right-wing media voices from outside Fox News have also pushed this theory:

The Washington Times ran an article in late January, titled “Coronavirus may have originated in lab linked to China's biowarfare program.” That article now contains a disclaimer at the top: *“Editor’s note (March 25, 2020): Since this story ran, scientists outside of China have had a chance to study the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They concluded it does not show signs of having been manufactured or purposefully manipulated in a lab, though the exact origin remains murky and experts debate whether it may have leaked from a Chinese lab that was studying it.”

Steve Bannon, Trump’s former Chief White House Strategist, has spread the idea and given interviews to one of his financial benefactors, Chinese billionaire-in-exile Guo Wengui. At one point, however, Bannon interviewed an actual virologist who told him that idea was “a load of crap.”

Right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who Trump recently awarded the Medal of Freedom, declared in February: “It probably is a ChiCom laboratory experiment that is in the process of being weaponized. All superpower nations weaponize bioweapons. They experiment with them.”

Sebastian Gorka, far-right political commentator and former deputy assistant to Trump, agreed on the April 27 edition of his radio show that “one of the most likely scenarios” is that China deliberately released the virus to the rest of the world in order to take down other countries’ economies.

Sinclair Broadcasting host Eric Bolling, who was in regular communications with the White House about the pandemic back in March, has repeatedly asked about this theory in interviews with White House officials and members of Congress. In one example, he told the U.S. assistant secretary for health: “This virus feels to me that it was more engineered than simply someone eating a bat in China in a wet market and it jumping from animal to human.”

One America News Network, a far-wing outlet repeatedly promoted by Trump himself, has been tying in the idea about the Wuhan lab together with other conspiracy theories about billionaire philanthropists Bill Gates and George Soros, the “deep state,” and population control.

Alburnus Maior * EARTHWORKS * Friends of the Earth

Greenpeace in Romania * MiningWatch Canada

80 organizations across Europe and North America sign statement in support of Rosia Montana community, in advance of film screening at National Geographic

January 23: Eighty organizations across Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Canada, and the United States released a statement today highlighting the local, national, and international opposition to the Rosia Montana cyanide open pit gold mine project in Romania, refuting accusations of "exaggerations and misleading claims" in a recent film entitled "Mine Your Own Business." The film was financed byGabriel Resources, the Toronto-based mining companythat wants to build the Rosia Montana mine.

Contrary to the film's portrayal, local opposition to the project is strong and organized. The statement urges the public to read a message sent by Eugen David, president of Alburnus Maior, a local association based in Rosia Montana which represents families that oppose the mine and refuse to sell their lands to Gabriel Resources. Eugen David was not interviewed by the makers of "Mine of Your Own Business" despite them being well aware of the association's existence.

If constructed, Rosia Montana would be Europe's largest gold mine and transform the Rosia Montana valley into four open-pit mines, and the neighboring Corna valley into a tailings dam to hold the mine's toxic waste. Both valleys are densely inhabited, and the project would require 2,000 people to move out of their homes and also lead to the destruction of churches, cemeteries, farm lands, and unique cultural and archaeological treasures in the area.

"Mine Your Own Business doesn't talk about any of this but instead is a propaganda film paid for by Gabriel Resources which wants to make a lot of money from all this destruction," wrote Eugen David in his message from Rosia Montana. "If anything, this film is reminiscent of times that are long over and does not portray the situation as it is at Rosia Montana."

Within Romania, Rosia Montana has become an issue of national significance, with over 96 percent of Romanians opposing the project. The widespread opinion is that the political decision-making about the project is riddled with corruption. The European Parliament has also cautioned against the environmental threat the Rosia Montana project poses not just to Romania but to the whole region, and Romania's neighbor Hungary, whose eastern rivers face the risk of pollution stemming from the mine, has pointed to serious flaws in the project's environmental impact assessment and officially asked for the environmental permit not to be granted.

"It's important for the public to get the facts about the Rosia Montana project," said Radhika Sarin, international campaign coordinator of Earthworks. "Not only are the environmental risks high, but property owners, including churches and local families, such as those of Eugen David, are facing the threat of expropriation. This is a serious human rights issue."

"In order to justify its risky venture, Gabriel Resources touts local employment, but the mine is expected to create a few hundred jobs, and it is unclear if local people will have the necessary qualifications to fill these positions," said Joan Kuyek, national coordinator of MiningWatch Canada.

The upcoming screening of the film on Wednesday at the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC has prompted strong criticism from environmental organizations, particularly in Romania and Hungary, and from Stephanie Roth, a recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize, a prestigious award known popularly as the Nobel prize for the environment. Roth accepted the prize at the National Geographic Society in 2005 for her ongoing work to prevent the destruction of Rosia Montana.

"It is sad and outrageous that such a renowned center of environmental research has agreed to screen this anti-environmental film. It aims to manipulate the public and does not reflect the values of the National Geographic Society," said Roth. "Gabriel Resources has chosen the National Geographic Society to greenwash its spoilt image and brainwash those it needs to impress. In 2005, the National Geographic Channel cancelled Gabriel Resources's television ads after the Romanian public protested. I hope the National Geographic Society will follow by putting values such as integrity and responsibility above money."

See more at: https://www.earthworksaction.org/media/detail/opposition_surges_to_romanian_gold_project_propaganda#.V2smNfkrKM8

murdich

http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/10/08/why-sale-national-geographic-fox-should-focus-everyone-s-minds-value-photojournalism

http://www.alternet.org/media/rupert-murdoch-takes-over-national-geographic-immediately-starts-laying-award-winning-staff

It's as bad as many of us feared. In spite of happy talk like, "Oh, his son will be running it and he's different," "Rupert wouldn't destroy an asset like Nat Geo," etc., the axe fell on Tuesday.

The memo went out, and November 3rd 2015 came to the National Geographic office. This was the day in which Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox took over National Geographic. The management of National Geographic sent out an email telling its staff, all of its staff, all to report to their headquarters, and wait by their phones. This pulled back every person who was in the field, every photographer, every reporter, even those on vacation had to show up on this fateful day.

As these phones rang, one by one National Geographic let go the award-winning staff, and the venerable institution was no more.

The name now belongs to Rupert Murdoch, and he has plans for it. The CEO of National Geographic Society, Greg Knell, tried to claim back in September that “there won’t be an [editorial] turn in a direction that is different from the National Geographic heritage.” Murdoch’s move today only served to prove Knell’s words hollow, with hundreds of talented people now served their pink slips. And with the recognition that Murdoch’s other enterprises do not reflect the standards held by National Geographic, and with Murdoch’s history of changing the editorial direction of purchased properties, today’s move indicates that we can expect a similar shift for National Geographic.

Rupert Murdoch - National Geographic Layoffs [3]

Since the above-quoted article made it sound as if virtually everyone was laid off, I googled and found more:

National Geographic Society sets biggest layoff in its history

The National Geographic Society of Washington will lay off about 180 of its 2,000-member workforce in a cost-cutting move that follows the sale of its famous magazine and other assets to a company controlled by Rupert Murdoch.

The reduction, the largest in the organization’s 127-year history, appears to affect almost every department of the nonprofit organization, including the magazine, which the society has published since just after its founding in 1888. It also will affect people who work for the National Geographic Channel, the most profitable part of the organization. Several people in the channel’s fact-checking department, for example, were terminated on Tuesday, employees said...

In addition to the layoffs and buyouts, National Geographic Society said it wouldfreeze its pension plan for eligible employees, eliminate medical coverage for future retirees and change its contributions to an employee 401(k) plan so that all employees receive the same percentage contribution.

National Geographic Society Sets Biggest Layoff in Its History [4]

Other articles hint that this may just be the beginning of the layoffs. Many tweeters and FB commenters see it as the beginning of the end of Nat Geo. Typical comment: "National Geographic, 1888 - 2015. RIP."