By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 31 --
At the UN, big
media have
created an
anonymous
Twitter
account to
impersonate
and target Inner City Press, and the new
press freedom
group it
helped launch
last month,
the Free UN Coalition for Access.
So far, the
fake Twitter
account has
accused Inner
City Press of
being funded
by terrorists
and of being
"non-media"
which should
be thrown out
of the UN. See
analysis of 12
tweets, below.
This
counterfeit
account has
followed many
countries'
Missions to
the UN --
apparently to
make them view
Inner City
Press in a
different
light, or to
get automatic
follow-backs.
Those
"following"
the anonymous
Twitter
account
include Reuters reporter and bureau chief
Louis
Charbonneau,
who in 2012
filed a stealth
complaint with
the UN against
Inner City
Press, and
expressed
support for Voice
of America's
June 20, 2012
request to the
UN to"review"
Inner City
Press'
accreditation
As reflected
by documents
obtained under
the Freedom of
Information
Act, not only
Reuters but
also Tim
Witcher of
Agence France
Presse
supported the
campaign of
Margaret
Besheer of
Voice of
America to get
Inner City
Press removed
from the UN.
The documents
show that this
was due to
Inner City
Press'
reporting on SriLanka
and conflicts
of interest (covered in The Guardian
in the UK),
and of
France's
domination of
the UN's
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
through Herve
Ladsous, the
fourth
Frenchman in a
row to head
DPKO, see
rough-cut YouTube video here.
On
January 29,
Witcher and
Besheer were
heard by a
FUNCA member
talking about
the campaign.
The new
President of
UNCA, Pamela
Falk of CBS,
has done
nothing to
stop the
campaign.
Rather, UNCA
"leaders" have
torn down
flyers posted
by FUNCA
raising
questions
about UN
accreditation
rules and
journalists'
due process
rights.
This UNCA
group is the
one that
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon meets
with
ostensibly to
learn the
views of the
press corps.
Given these
new lows, can
Ban continue
this practice?
Can this UN
enforced and
enabled
monopoly
continue?
The
UN was asked
by the New
York Civil
Liberties
Union, in
the light of
VOA's
complaint
against Inner
City Press, to
explain its
due process
rules for
journalists.
No public
answer has
ever been
given; FUNCA
asked the UN
official who
got the
complaint,
Stephane
Dujarric, and
he even
refused to
disclose what
he told the
NYCLU: that
is, any UN
rules of due
process for
accrediting
the
journalists
who cover the
UN.
Sometimes it's
hard to keep
track: does UN
Media
Accreditation
and Department
of Public
Information
work for
UNCA's
Executive
Board -- that
is, for
Reuters, AFP
et al. -- or
does UNCA work
for the UN's
Herve Ladsous
and even Ban
Ki-moon?
That's why
they call it
the UN's
Censorship
Alliance.
But it seems
clear, this
time they gone
too far.
Analysis
of Some of the
Tweets from
the Fraudulent
Account
1)
Their first
tweets were on
Saturday,
January 26,
when early in
the day Inner
City Press published
a story about
the Democratic
Republic of
Congo noting
the use of
anonymous
quotes from UN
officials by
Reuters, AFP
and BBC.
5:56 PM
- 26 Jan 13
It's
not fair!
Reliable
accurate media
got invited to
UN briefing on
DR #Congo
& I
didn't. #WTF
&
#whynotme.
Gonna #FUNCA
them up big
time!!
2)
After a series
of other
tweets, on the
morning of
Tuesday
January 29
they showed
their true
colors, coming
to the defense
of Herve
Ladsous, the
fourth
Frenchman in a
row to head UN
Peacekeeping
(just as AFP's
Witcher did in
September 2011)
and accusing
ICP and FUNCA
of hating the
French:
10:52 AM
- 29 Jan 13
I
only rant
about drones
when French
are behind em.
If Assad or
Kim Jong-un
uses em,
that's ok.
#FUNCA agrees!
#Ladsous2013
#ihatefrench
3)
By the
afternoon of
January 29,
they got into
the spurious
allegation
that Inner
City Press is
funded by the
Tamil Tigers
of Sri Lanka,
an issue
attempted to
be raised in
the UNCA
Executive
Committee in
mid 2012 after
ICP wrote
about UNCA
screening a
Sri Lankan
government
denial of war
crimes after
UNCA's them
president had
rented one of
his apartments
to Sri Lanka's
Ambassador to
the UN.
Here's their
first "Tiger"
tweet; the
reference to
Canada comes
from an
allegation in
Sri Lanka hate
media:
1:32 PM
- 29 Jan 13
Put
a Tiger in
your account,
bank in
Canada!
4)
If it were
necessary, the
list of
possible
tweeters
shrank later
on Tuesday,
January 29. At
3 pm the
Security
Council began
meeting; Inner
City Press and
three other
FUNCA members
sat at a table
in front of
the Council,
not visible
from any
television
camera, and
spoke. At 3:46
pm, this
tweet:
3:46 PM
- 29 Jan 13
#FUNCA
members hold
emergency
meeting at
table outside
UNSC. Only
non-media join
in. We vote to
ban
#outrageous
French brie.
#Ladsous2013
This,
and of course
the content of
the various
tweets, proves
the
accreditation
to the UN of
these UNCA
tweeter(s).
5)
At midnight
they tweeted
against a 6
minute video
Inner City
Press put
on YouTube on
January 27
about the UN
mission in the
Congo's lack
of action on
lacks by the
Congolese army
in Minova and
the
stonewalling
of head UN
Peacekeeper
Ladsous:
12:08 AM
- 30 Jan 13
#FUNCA's
four members
unanimously
agree to
submit
#Ladsous2013
video for
#Oscars best
documentary.
#Hollywood
here we come!!
#outrageous
This
use of the
hashtag title
of the movie
and campaign
is an attempt
to undermine
it, with the
effect of
protecting
Ladsous -- just as
Witcher asked
UNCA to do in
September 2011
- click here
for video of
Reuters'
Charbonneau
and VOA's
Besheer also
going into
hallway with
Ladsous on
November 27,
2012 for
private
spoonfed
briefing.
6)
Past midnight,
they returned
to
insinuations
about Tamil
Tiger funding
in Canada:
12:47 AM
- 30 Jan 13
My
favorite
Canadian
breakfast:
Tony the
Tiger's
Frosted
Flakes. Yumm!
#outrageous
#Ladsous2013
7)
Midday on
January 30,
they returned
to the defense
of Ladsous and
his refusal to
answer
questions:
12:59 PM
- 30 Jan 13
#FUNCA's
4 members find
it #outrageous
that
#Ladsous2013
won't answer
questions from
a 'brilliant'
non-media
activist who's
out to get
him!
8)
These UNCA
tweeter(s)
return again
and again to
the demand,
which Inner
City Press
made in 2011
and 2012, that
exclusive
stories like
the seizure of
cocaine in the
UN mail room,
the naming of
US official
Jeffrey
Feltman to a
UN post, and
the removal of
an individual
from the UN's
Al Qaeda
sanctions
list, should
be credited.
These
demands were
made to AFP,
Bloomberg,
VOA, the Wall
Street
Journal, BBC,
but especially
Reuters and
Charbonneau,
who chafed and
said he has a
policy of not
crediting
Inner City
Press. A
sample tweet:
1:07 PM
- 30 Jan 13
Inner
Shiddy Press
Exclusive must
credit or
#FUNCA will
get you!! -
Today is
Wednesday,
Security
Council wags
tell the
Press.
#scooplet
9)
Back on
January 25,
Inner City
Press somewhat
emphatically
told a UN
Media
Accreditation
and Liaison
Unit staffer
that it was
wrong to
demand that
FUNCA take
down its
flyers when
UNCA is
allowed a
glassed-in
bulletin
board. Inner
City Press
later that day
apologized for
being heated,
as did the
staffer.
(The staffer
nontheless fed
the
information
higher up in
DPI, we're
informed).
But on January
29 the staffer
was told by
AFP's Witcher
and VOA's
Besheer, "we
will protect
you." On
January 30 at
1:53 pm, this
tweet went
out:
1:53 PM
- 30 Jan 13
personal
attacks on
UNCA and Malu
admin staff
are
#outrageous.
Whoever is
behind them
should be
outed
10)
Less than an
hour later,
they alleged
that Inner
City Press
takes money
from UN
Missions,
which is not
true but is
ironic given
the admitted
funding,
including by
countries and
an Italian oil
company ENI,
of UNCA and
its affiliate
the Dag
Hammarskjold
Fund for
Journalism, click here for that:
2:37 PM
- 30 Jan 13
UN
missions that
donate $ to
our "charity"
are
grrrrrrreat!
We at #FUNCA
have no
problem when
strings are
attached ;)
#hoodwink
#outrageous
11)
At 4 pm the
British roots
of at least
one of these
UNCA tweeters
was revealed
by the use of
the word
"lift"
4:02 PM
- 30 Jan 13
Counterfeit
#FUNCA poster
by 1st flr
lift partly
torn down.
#outrageous It
should have
been torn down
completely!
All 4
FUNCsters
#enraged
12)
Past 5 pm on
January 30,
they returned
to the
allegation
about the
(Tamil) Tigers
5:25 PM
- 30 Jan 13
Non-media
activist
lobbyist
charity - 1
staff xx
dollars from a
tiger economy.
Sorry for the
xx, its a
state secret
Again,
sometimes it's
hard to keep
track: does UN
Media
Accreditation
and Department
of Public
Information
work for
UNCA's
Executive
Board -- that
is, for
Reuters, AFP
et al. -- or
does UNCA work
for the UN's
taciturn head
of
Peacekeeping
Herve Ladsous
and even Ban
Ki-moon?That's
why they call
it the UN's
Censorship
Alliance.
Watch
this site.
, 
