Saturday, December 31, 2016

High Integrity Journalists and other Sources of Information


Disclaimer: 

No author or journalist or site is ever going to be right or in-integrity 100% of the time, or even have an opinion or take on things you, or I, or others all agree upon.  Sometimes a source has excellent insight on some topics, while being foolish on others.

We are past the point where we can rely on mainstream news outlets or the integrity of well known journalists to be honest or to operate with a great respect for the institution of journalism and news.  Most simply have capitulated to the almighty dollar, or to pleasing a certain segment of their readers.

So it falls on us, each of us individually, to have to claw through this muck and find what is likely true and honest, and what is unlikely to be; and to share with one another what we can reliably trust and warn of what we cannot.

To that end, I am going to curate this post and update it as new information comes to me, and you and others offer constructive feedback on these or other worthy sources.

Please keep in mind that this is relative!  And things change over time, and with regards to the specific topic at hand.  Note: Since I posted this more than a year ago, Matt Taibbi joined the MSM chiore and wrote in favor of russiagate lies, but then about a year later returned to integrity and renounced russiagate as censorship and nonsense.  Jeffrey St. Clair has written similarly neoliberal schmaltz, Amy Goodman has revealed herself and Democracy Now! to be a gatekeeper against the truth of Syria, and a cheerleader for neo-McCarthyism and Russia-gate pablum.

Individuals with significant integrity:

Aaron Maté - Journalist, formerly of the BAR (q.v. below), fantastic voice of reason and insight into anti-racism, USA politics, geopolitical ethics, etc.

Abby Martin - Host of The Empire Files - "cuts through the false Left/Right paradigm set by the establishment & reports the hard facts."

Arundhati Roy - Author - Amazing human being - Social commentary & common sense.

Ben Norton - Independent Journalist and tweeter - Often tweets insightful things about the ongoing shenanigans of USA political theater.

Bill Moyers - Long history of deep reporting on corruption and society.  Gets significant funding from neoliberal groups now, so beware. https://billmoyers.com/

Caitlin Johnstone - Rogue Journalist - 100% citizen funded Australian wordsmith who is fearless and has a deliciously uncompromising way with calling bullshit.  Prolific.

Diana Johnstone - European politics and Western foreign policy. Honest, brave, uncompromising journalist in an often misogynist world.  https://www.unz.com/author/diana-johnstone/

Chris Hedges - Long history of reporting on American hegemony and its death-cult.  Has been inculcated into the trans-cult of late, but is good on other topics. https://www.truthdig.com/author/chris_hedges/

Dahr Jamail - Journalist - Middle east reporting and Global Warming.

Dr. Cornel West - Public figure who often speaks truth and common sense in a corrupt and foolish world. http://www.cornelwest.com/

Eva Bartlett - Independent Middle East Correspondent. Speaks truth about Syria.   https://twitter.com/evakbartlett

Edward Curtin - Independent Journalist - Existentialist, brilliant. http://edwardcurtin.com/

Glen Ford - Black Agenda Report executive editor - fantastic voice of anti-racism and common sense.

Greg Palast - Anti corruption, anti-american-hegemony, etc.

Guy McPherson - Ecologist - Global warming.

Henry Giroux - Social criticism "Critical Education for a Global Democracy"

Howard Zinn - Long history of exposing the fraud of propaganda that is taught in place of the actual history of the USA.

Hiroyuki Hamada - Artist, author, social and political awareness advocate and truth-teller.

John Pilger - Journalist "It is not enough for journalists to see themselves as mere messengers without understanding the hidden agendas..."

Keith Harmon Snow  - Independent Journalist - specializes in honesty about Africa, both indigenous and foreign manipulations, war crimes, genocide, psy-ops, business dealings, etc.

Margaret Kimberley - Journalist for Truthout, Black Agenda Report, ... - anti-American hypocrisy and propaganda, social commentary.

Mat Blumenthal - Independent Journalist - exposing the Venezuelan coup for what it is.

Michelle Alexander - Professor - author of "The New Jim Crow" - anti-racism, current affairs.

Morris Berman - Contemporary American Historian - Major critic of Americanism and documentor of the fall of America.

Naomi Klein - Canadian author - Green revolution, socialism, global warming, humanitarian.

Paul Craig Roberts - Blogger - Geopolitics, Economics - gloomy realist.

Pepe Escobar - Brazilian journalist at Asia Times - Geopolitics / economist / analyst.

Rania Khalek - Journalist & Political commentator - Israel-Palestine conflict.

Richard D. Wolf - Professor of Economics - Post capitalist economist / analyst.

Robert Fisk - Writer & journalist - Geopolitics & middle east correspondent for The Independent, based in Beirut.

Robert Parry - Journalist - Consortium News.

Stephen F. Cohen - Professor emeritus of Russian Studies and Politics at NYU - US-Russian Cold War and geopolitical analysis.

Seymour Hersh - Investigative journalist, old school, politics and international affairs.  Broke the My Lai Massacre story from the Vietnam war.

Shaun King - Writer & anti-racist - Senior justice writer for the New York Daily News, and a political commentator for The Young Turks.  Be warned that the young turks is mostly neoliberal garbage.  In fact, Shaun has become more and more of a neoliberalist and cannot be trusted on politics.  His outrage at racism is on-point and, in my opinion, insightful.

Stephen Kinzer - Former Central America correspondent for NY Times - anti CIA, anti American hegemony, etc.

Ta-Nehisi Coates - Author - Anti-racism, contemporary racism, injustice, black American experience, etc.

Teodrose Firke - Independent Journalist - American politics and culture, especially focusing on the lie of two-party politics in America and our need to overcome racism and prejudice and work together as we-the-people against the 1%.  He now has his own website and publishes other independent voices there: https://ghionjournal.com/

The Saker - Blogger - Anti-American-Hegemony, Geopolitics.

Thierry Meyssan - Political consultant, President-founder of the Réseau Voltaire (Voltaire Network) - Geopolitics.

Vanessa Beeley - Journalist - Middle east independent correspondent and truth teller.

William Blum - Author, Blogger - US Geopolitics (https://williamblum.org/).

William Engdahl - Author - US Geopolitics.

YahNé Ndgo - Founder and Chief Visionary Officer at Deep Blu Womyn Company - Feminist & anti-racism, youth advocate.

Fairly Trustworthy Sites:

21st Century Wire - Where Vanessa Beeley, Patrick Henningsen, etc. publish real stuff on Syria, and Middle East generally.
Black Agenda Report (BAR) - anti-racism, black consciousness, and a great deal of common sense can be found here.
Common Dreams - Progressive issues, political commentary, etc.
Consortium News - American news, politics, etc.
Counterpunch - Ostensibly progressive but known to be strident and foolish.  Read with caution.
Free Thought Project - Often has excellent articles, but can be quite sensationalistic, and somewhat clickbaity.
Greanville Post - Anti-Imperialist news & commentary.
Guns and Butter - Investigates the relationships among capitalism, militarism and politics.
Land Destroyer Report - Geopolitics
Mint Press News - Progressive issues, political commentary, etc.
Moon of Alabama - Geopolitical analysis and political commentary.
Naked Capitalism - Critical look at capitalisms constant genocide and ecocide.
New Eastern Outlook (NEO) - Fantastic resource for geopolitics and international perspectives.
Radio War Nerd - A podcast by John Dolan, history and real politics.
RT - Formerly "Russia Today" - an international news channel available on internet.
The Duran - Independent reporting.
The Ghion Journal - Independent journalism founded by Teodrose Fikre.  Covers racism, US politics, Zionism, etc.
The Gray Zone - Independent web site with a plethora of top-notch independent journalists covering a wide range of geopolitical stories, including the plight of Palestinians and the current ongoing coup attempt against Maduro and the sovereignty of the Venezuela people.
Truthout - Progressive issues, political commentary, etc.
Wikileaks - 100% real source emails and other secret documents to expose criminality and chicanery in our governments.
Zero Hedge - No-nonsense political insight and criticism.

Special Mention:

Jimmy Dore Comedic Video Blogger on US Progressive Issues
The Sane Progressive - Video Blogger on US Progressive Politics
H. A. Goodman - Video Blogger on US Progressive Politics
Brain Spank - Satirical Blog on US Insanity
Guns and Butter - Pod Cast on Geopolitics, Interviews, Pediphelia, Domestic Politics, all 100%
Lee Camp - Comedian and host of "Redacted Tonight" - a humorous look at the news and world events.

Mixed:

Amy Goodman - Once a stalwart of progressive honest journalism, has become a liar for US aggression and wars in Syria, as well as a gatekeeper regarding global wars of American Hegemony.
Glenn Greenwald - "It's complicated". Arguably manipulated Snowden for his own purposes (receiving quite a few accolades for his efforts from the establishment), and recently has gone on with Amy Goodman to claim that the latest accusation of chemical attacks by Assad against his own folks on the eve of his victory have some merit (essentially repeating statist propaganda that has been twice debunked in previous incidents).
Jeffrey St Clair - Likes to bash on women and Caitlin Johnstone in particular.  A bit of a chauvinist and a fool.
Jeremy Scahill - Gaslights about Syria.
Matt Taibbi - Went full neoliberal apologist earlier in 2017 with russiagate, but has since (early 2018) done a 180 and is now decrying the chilling effects of russiagate hysteria and anti-journalism that "fake news" and other government censorship initiatives are engendering (nice to have him back, for as long as it lasts - he's quite a good writer).

Democracy Now - Along with all of NPR and PBS has become neoliberal and untrustworthy but was once upon a time an excellent source, and for non-war-related and non-politics related things, might still be.
NPR & PBS - State funded neoliberal propaganda outlets.  For fluff pieces may still show the occasional moment of journalistic integrity.
The Guardian - Brit publication that sometimes gets it right.
The Hill - US domestic political reporting with somewhat neoliberal leanings.
The Intercept - British publication with neoliberal leanings, but also has good commentary and reporting.  Better than The Hill, and broader scope.
Truthdig  - Political commentary but with sloppy neoliberalisms amongst more factual or honest reporting.  Often quite sensationalistic.

Specific Books or Publications or Documentaries or etc.:

Howard Zinn - A People's History Of The United States
Elizabeth Kolbert - The Sixth Extinction
Stephen Kinzer - Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq
David Talbot - The Devil's Chessboard, Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government

Other Lists:


14 comments:

  1. Okay, more folks I've thought of since our first go-round -
    Dahr Jamail who writes for Truthout on climate change - excellent synthesis of many scientific sources for a much more comprehensive understanding of climate change

    Abby Martin / Empire Files - excellent reporting on many subjects, including Palestine

    Glen Ford / Black Agenda Report - News, information and analysis from the black left

    Margaret Kimberly - Freedom Writer column on Black Agenda Report

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  2. Doggone it, left John Pilger off again! Yikes! He's wonderful and definitely goes on the Very High Integrity Authors list!

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  3. Thanks Jazz! I added your suggestions :D

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  4. Very intuitive list, (amazed at the consensus of opinion). If I may I would add Richard Wolff, Danny Sheehan and John Perkins to your Authors list.

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    1. Definitely into learning more about Richard Wolff - seems great. Sheehan & Perkins - I'll take a look!
      Thanks!

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  5. Brian Becker and John Kiriakou: Loud and Clear radio show on Sputniknews.com.

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  6. For your list of significant books:
    "The Devil's Chessboard
    Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government"
    by David Talbot

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  7. RT journalist Caleb Maupin is also a good one, and although he isn't a journalist, rather a comedian, Lee Camp deserves a special mention.. still, excellent list!

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  8. Aaron and Melissa Dykes, Truthstream Media, excellent documentaries, short and long.

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