Een geslaagde poging de kwaliteit van NRC nieuws weer wat op te krikken door enkele pertinente vragen te stellen aan de overigens zeer respectvolle hoofdredakteur Peter Vandermeersch in de openbare bibliotheek in Amsterdam.
Rob Torito
CONFRONTING NRC CHIEF EDITOR 'LIVE' ABOUT SYRIA, WHITE HELMETS and MH17
CONFRONTING NRC CHIEF EDITOR 'LIVE' ABOUT SYRIA, WHITE HELMETS and MH17
October 2nd, after a well visited lecture of NRC's chief editor, Peter Vandermeersch, about the future of journalism, there was time for Questions and Answers, since that's what the chief editor has been expressing various times already: to want to have a conversation with the readers.
I asked him, why his paper first reported on the government's "possible, never meant, accidental support of terrorists in Syria" after the government itself published a report on it being a possibility, and a TV program showed a documentary about that, two days later, while I, and many others on internet knew this already for years, because of alternative media having documented it well enough.
Vandermeersch said "We apparently simply missed it. I applaud the journalists of Nieuwsuur (TV) and Trouw (newspaper) who investigated it. Well done, by them", therewith, however, not addressing the fact that I had mentioned, that this was a reported already years ago by the so despised 'alternative media', with non payed journalists.
Then I reminded him that his newspaper just had claimed that stories about White Helmets being fakers would be the "Nr 1 Fake News", spread via social media.
So I told him the faking by the White Helmets is well documented and to be found online.
I asked Vandermeersch at what day he thinks to find out and tell truth about the White Helmets, them being fakers?
He answered, that the editors indeed checked some online message claiming the White Helmets were cooperating with Al Qaeda, and that they found no proof of that, so that they don't think the White Helmets to be fakers".
So I told him the faking by the White Helmets is well documented and to be found online.
I asked Vandermeersch at what day he thinks to find out and tell truth about the White Helmets, them being fakers?
He answered, that the editors indeed checked some online message claiming the White Helmets were cooperating with Al Qaeda, and that they found no proof of that, so that they don't think the White Helmets to be fakers".
When I gave the microphone to a next person, that guy said: "Now a normal question" ... Yeah, what a level....
After others had their say, I was happy to be given the microphone again. Since Vandermeersch had mentioned, a few times, the importance of being more open to what 'civilians' might contribute to the news, I confronted him with there being an excellent, independent, non partisan reporter, investigating the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine, named Max van der Werff, who's consulted by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) various times for his collected knowledge. That he made video recorded interviews with witnesses, locally in Ukraine, and that in spite of him being respected by the JIT, the fact that he doesn't go along with the official narrative having been reason for NRC journalist to portray him and other critics as Kremlin trolls, after which they must have slapped each other at the shoulder for character assassinations being so much fun. Living in a bubble is what causes that. The bubble the editors created for themselves. The chief editor admitted he didn't know this man and that he'd accept being sent info about this case.
A friend confronted the chief with the fact that the newspaper states, in its manual for its journalists, that NATO is seen as the best option for keeping Europe safe, while he thinks NATO is an extreme danger to our safety. If the friend remembers what the answer to that was, I'll add it here.
After this lecture and the Q&A, all visitors were given a beautifully designed little booklet about the transition this newspaper is going through.
At the same time we (my media critical friends and I) handed out 100 flyers on which I claim
- that the NRC is not doing real journalism and that it therewith took the side of the most powerful, who make illegal wars and commit mass murders.
- that this newspaper doesn't bring the truth because it's not her mission, and that advertisers would withdraw, for not reaching the people they want to sell their products to
- that this newspapers sells as 'news', what other newspapers wrote about what anonymous sources would have said, anything that distracts from the most important news, facts that have long been written about by alternative media and therefor are no longer 'news', and what powerful institutes with a hidden agenda supply and what 'looks like news'.
- that this newspaper doesn't bring the truth because it's not her mission, and that advertisers would withdraw, for not reaching the people they want to sell their products to
- that this newspapers sells as 'news', what other newspapers wrote about what anonymous sources would have said, anything that distracts from the most important news, facts that have long been written about by alternative media and therefor are no longer 'news', and what powerful institutes with a hidden agenda supply and what 'looks like news'.
The flyer mentioned the following media as interesting sources for news and opinions:
Dutch
'Cafe Weltschmerz' on Youtube
deanderekrant.nl
kremlintroll.nl
novini.nl
'Cafe Weltschmerz' on Youtube
deanderekrant.nl
kremlintroll.nl
novini.nl
A lady that was accompanying the chief editor started to take the flyer out of the hands of people that had already got one, and said I was not allowed to spread them, but when I loudly protested against that, she let it go. After this short confrontation everybody wanted to have the flyer!
Us, four critics, we gave all visitors the alternative newspaper, De Andere Krant, the second edition being all about money, 
debt) and the frightening power of the banks. And one to the chief editor as well, who seemed to enjoy getting his own copy of the newest edition, when he responded with " Aah, that notorious newspaper!" NRC had written a negative review about the first edition of De Andere Krant, that was all about Russia, Putin, the movie "The Magnitsky Act behind the scenes", articles that would never appear in the mainstream media. NRC's negative review about it said nothing about its content, but just sticked to the well known 'character assassination' of the makers. They apparently couldn't find anything wrong in the articles!
debt) and the frightening power of the banks. And one to the chief editor as well, who seemed to enjoy getting his own copy of the newest edition, when he responded with " Aah, that notorious newspaper!" NRC had written a negative review about the first edition of De Andere Krant, that was all about Russia, Putin, the movie "The Magnitsky Act behind the scenes", articles that would never appear in the mainstream media. NRC's negative review about it said nothing about its content, but just sticked to the well known 'character assassination' of the makers. They apparently couldn't find anything wrong in the articles!
NRC's chief editor Peter Vandermeersch will make a tour, through The Netherlands with this lecture, and visit another 49 locations. This was the first.
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