Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "The Grayzone" in English language version.
The Grayzone is known for its critical coverage of US foreign policy and anti-war views, but has been accused of spreading misinformation and Chinese and Russian government propaganda, including debunked claims about the conflict in Ukraine and whitewashed accounts of Beijing's repression of ethnic minority Muslims in far-western Xinjiang.
Journalist Jeremy Loffredo works for the U.S.-based news site Grayzone, which is aligned with the far left, engages in conspiracy theories and has ties with Iran and Russia.
Reed is not the only Grayzone author to have worked for Russian outlets. Grayzone contributor and London journalist Mohamed Elmaazi wrote full-time for Sputnik between 2019 and 2021, he says on his LinkedIn profile. Regular Grayzone freelancer Jeremy Loffredo was full-time at RT in the same years, according to his LinkedIn. Neither responded to requests for comment.
It also corroborates other reports, most recently by the Association for Rape Crisis Centers in Israel as well as by the New York Times, Washington Post, Human Rights Watch, BBC, and others, regarding allegations of rape and ongoing sexual abuse of the hostages held in Gaza...More recently, articles in both the Grayzone and Mondoweiss analyze Patten's report and claim, in the words of the latter, that she actually provided "no evidence of systematic rape." The Grayzone also published a transcript of a discussion between Max Blumenthal and Chris Hedges in which they agree that Israel created a "shock-and-awe campaign of misinformation" in order to create "political space for its brutal assault on Gaza."
journalists have seized upon the documents released by 'Alex' as evidence that the OPCW falsified its report on Douma in order to frame the Syrian government for the attack and justify missile strikes launched by the US, UK and France against the government of Bashar al-Assad. Peter Hitchens at the Mail on Sunday, and Aaron Mate at The Grayzone have both written extensively on the matter.
Finally, the Grayzone and MintPress News pursue another form of leftist engagement with the fake news phenomenon – condemning the mainstream media for fake news, while amplifying the propaganda of autocratic foreign governments.
The Grayzone has followed a similar path on Syria, challenging reports of atrocities by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. ...Based on a desire for a multipolar world, in which global military, cultural and economic power is distributed among multiple nation states and Western influence greatly diminished, they have been quick to argue on behalf of authoritarian regimes such as China and Syria.
And its turn to the far-right, with its founder embracing and appearing with politicians and influencers in the movement, is exemplary of a burgeoning movement of leftists turning to the right.
The Grayzone, a publication known for misleading reporting in the service of authoritarian states...
These grassroots communities are particularly evident on Twitter, where they coalesce around individual personalities like right-wing activist Andy Ngo, and around platforms with uncritical pro-Kremlin and pro-Assad editorial lines, like The Grayzone and MintPress News. These personalities and associated outlets act as both producers of counterfactual theories, as well as hubs around which individuals with similar beliefs rally. The damage that these ecosystems and the theories that they spawn can inflict on digital evidence is not based on the quality of the dis/misinformation that they produce but rather on the quantity.
Finally, the Grayzone and MintPress News pursue another form of leftist engagement with the fake news phenomenon – condemning the mainstream media for fake news, while amplifying the propaganda of autocratic foreign governments.
We also observed the presence of low-credibility news accounts disseminating narratives that are anti-Ukraine, antisemitic, anti-West, anti-NATO, and promoting pro-Russia and pro-China propaganda narratives in English language (for instance, the Grayzone News and its bloggers).
Digging into Zenz's anti-LGBT and anti-abortion history and labelling him a far-right researcher, the Grayzone itself did not go unchecked. Coda, a New York-based news platform, dismisses Blumenthal as a far-left supporter of the Syrian regime (Thompson, 2020). However, while Blumenthal's political view on Syria might say something about his potential bias on the Uyghur issue, Thompson does not respond to the evidence the Grayzone presented that challenges Zenz's research.
Xinhua's interview of de Zayas prominently features references to reporting by The Grayzone, an influential news website well known for misleading reporting, sympathetic coverage of authoritarian regimes, and conspiracy theories regarding Venezuela, Syria, Ukraine, and Xinjiang.71 Specifically, The Grayzone published articles that characterize US policies to address unfree labour within camp-to-factory pipelines72 in the XUAR as fundamentally 'anti-China' and that actually hurt communities targeted by Chinese counterinsurgency since they 'cost Uyghur workers their jobs'.
It also corroborates other reports, most recently by the Association for Rape Crisis Centers in Israel as well as by the New York Times, Washington Post, Human Rights Watch, BBC, and others, regarding allegations of rape and ongoing sexual abuse of the hostages held in Gaza...More recently, articles in both the Grayzone and Mondoweiss analyze Patten's report and claim, in the words of the latter, that she actually provided "no evidence of systematic rape." The Grayzone also published a transcript of a discussion between Max Blumenthal and Chris Hedges in which they agree that Israel created a "shock-and-awe campaign of misinformation" in order to create "political space for its brutal assault on Gaza."
Journalist Jeremy Loffredo works for the U.S.-based news site Grayzone, which is aligned with the far left, engages in conspiracy theories and has ties with Iran and Russia.
Grayzone has been accused of disinformation and strongly pro-Iran, pro-Russia and anti-Israel views
UPDATE: Feb. 24, 2021, 9:34 a.m. EST According to Twitter, this instance is indeed the first time the "hacked materials" warning label has been used.
During the elections themselves...a carnival sideshow of figures descended on the country to be feted by [the] regime... ubiquitous was the U.S. journalist Ben Norton, affiliated with the website The Grayzone, which has made something of a cottage industry of defending dictators and their crimes. A reliable government booster nonetheless forced to admit on state television that there were no lines at polling booths, Norton was lampooned by the Nicaraguan blog Bacanalnica as a "cartoon … who hangs out with the most nefarious governments on the planet."
In a July 7, 2017 article for his self-funded Grayzone Project, Blumenthal and his associate Benjamin Norton likewise cast doubt on the guilt of the only party known to have possessed and used sarin in the Syrian conflict.
These grassroots communities are particularly evident on Twitter, where they coalesce around individual personalities like right-wing activist Andy Ngo, and around platforms with uncritical pro-Kremlin and pro-Assad editorial lines, like The Grayzone and MintPress News. These personalities and associated outlets act as both producers of counterfactual theories, as well as hubs around which individuals with similar beliefs rally. The damage that these ecosystems and the theories that they spawn can inflict on digital evidence is not based on the quality of the dis/misinformation that they produce but rather on the quantity.
In August, the Grayzone Project identified the owner of Canary Mission's domain name as Howard Davis Sterling...An article published by the Grayzone Project revealed how right-wing groups sent employees to an on-campus protest to compensate for a lack of grassroots support for Israel on campus.
Alexander Rubinstein, a reporter with the Russian state-funded broadcaster RT America, was arrested while covering protests on the day of the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Grayzone, a publication known for misleading reporting in the service of authoritarian states...
The Grayzone, a publication known for misleading reporting in the service of authoritarian states...
Digging into Zenz's anti-LGBT and anti-abortion history and labelling him a far-right researcher, the Grayzone itself did not go unchecked. Coda, a New York-based news platform, dismisses Blumenthal as a far-left supporter of the Syrian regime (Thompson, 2020). However, while Blumenthal's political view on Syria might say something about his potential bias on the Uyghur issue, Thompson does not respond to the evidence the Grayzone presented that challenges Zenz's research.
During a recent interview, Blumenthal denied The Grayzone receives any state funding through Russia or China saying, "Well, you can see we get a lot of support on Patreon, and anyone who supports us outside Patreon are like private friends of mine who are basically progressive Americans who support progressive media."
It complicates matters that Loffredo reports for the Grayzone, an outlet that has been accused of carrying Russian and Chinese propaganda. The [US] administration is embroiled in a separate (and constitutionally dubious) fight against alleged propagandists.
Blumenthal, who has authored multiple pieces for Russia Today, a state-owned news agency, and who is a frequent contributor to the outlet, established The Grayzone website just a month following his visit to Moscow. Anya Parampil and Alex Rubinstein, two other executives and journalists associated with The Grayzone, are also regular contributors to Russia Today, led by Margarita Simonyan.
Reed is not the only Grayzone author to have worked for Russian outlets. Grayzone contributor and London journalist Mohamed Elmaazi wrote full-time for Sputnik between 2019 and 2021, he says on his LinkedIn profile. Regular Grayzone freelancer Jeremy Loffredo was full-time at RT in the same years, according to his LinkedIn. Neither responded to requests for comment.
The Grayzone is known for its critical coverage of US foreign policy and anti-war views, but has been accused of spreading misinformation and Chinese and Russian government propaganda, including debunked claims about the conflict in Ukraine and whitewashed accounts of Beijing's repression of ethnic minority Muslims in far-western Xinjiang.
The Grayzone has followed a similar path on Syria, challenging reports of atrocities by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. ...Based on a desire for a multipolar world, in which global military, cultural and economic power is distributed among multiple nation states and Western influence greatly diminished, they have been quick to argue on behalf of authoritarian regimes such as China and Syria.
The Grayzone, a publication known for misleading reporting in the service of authoritarian states...
These grassroots communities are particularly evident on Twitter, where they coalesce around individual personalities like right-wing activist Andy Ngo, and around platforms with uncritical pro-Kremlin and pro-Assad editorial lines, like The Grayzone and MintPress News. These personalities and associated outlets act as both producers of counterfactual theories, as well as hubs around which individuals with similar beliefs rally. The damage that these ecosystems and the theories that they spawn can inflict on digital evidence is not based on the quality of the dis/misinformation that they produce but rather on the quantity.
Finally, the Grayzone and MintPress News pursue another form of leftist engagement with the fake news phenomenon – condemning the mainstream media for fake news, while amplifying the propaganda of autocratic foreign governments.
And its turn to the far-right, with its founder embracing and appearing with politicians and influencers in the movement, is exemplary of a burgeoning movement of leftists turning to the right.
UPDATE: Feb. 24, 2021, 9:34 a.m. EST According to Twitter, this instance is indeed the first time the "hacked materials" warning label has been used.
During the elections themselves...a carnival sideshow of figures descended on the country to be feted by [the] regime... ubiquitous was the U.S. journalist Ben Norton, affiliated with the website The Grayzone, which has made something of a cottage industry of defending dictators and their crimes. A reliable government booster nonetheless forced to admit on state television that there were no lines at polling booths, Norton was lampooned by the Nicaraguan blog Bacanalnica as a "cartoon … who hangs out with the most nefarious governments on the planet."
journalists have seized upon the documents released by 'Alex' as evidence that the OPCW falsified its report on Douma in order to frame the Syrian government for the attack and justify missile strikes launched by the US, UK and France against the government of Bashar al-Assad. Peter Hitchens at the Mail on Sunday, and Aaron Mate at The Grayzone have both written extensively on the matter.
During a recent interview, Blumenthal denied The Grayzone receives any state funding through Russia or China saying, "Well, you can see we get a lot of support on Patreon, and anyone who supports us outside Patreon are like private friends of mine who are basically progressive Americans who support progressive media."
In a July 7, 2017 article for his self-funded Grayzone Project, Blumenthal and his associate Benjamin Norton likewise cast doubt on the guilt of the only party known to have possessed and used sarin in the Syrian conflict.
Blumenthal, who has authored multiple pieces for Russia Today, a state-owned news agency, and who is a frequent contributor to the outlet, established The Grayzone website just a month following his visit to Moscow. Anya Parampil and Alex Rubinstein, two other executives and journalists associated with The Grayzone, are also regular contributors to Russia Today, led by Margarita Simonyan.
In August, the Grayzone Project identified the owner of Canary Mission's domain name as Howard Davis Sterling...An article published by the Grayzone Project revealed how right-wing groups sent employees to an on-campus protest to compensate for a lack of grassroots support for Israel on campus.
Grayzone has been accused of disinformation and strongly pro-Iran, pro-Russia and anti-Israel views
Alexander Rubinstein, a reporter with the Russian state-funded broadcaster RT America, was arrested while covering protests on the day of the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
These grassroots communities are particularly evident on Twitter, where they coalesce around individual personalities like right-wing activist Andy Ngo, and around platforms with uncritical pro-Kremlin and pro-Assad editorial lines, like The Grayzone and MintPress News. These personalities and associated outlets act as both producers of counterfactual theories, as well as hubs around which individuals with similar beliefs rally. The damage that these ecosystems and the theories that they spawn can inflict on digital evidence is not based on the quality of the dis/misinformation that they produce but rather on the quantity.
We also observed the presence of low-credibility news accounts disseminating narratives that are anti-Ukraine, antisemitic, anti-West, anti-NATO, and promoting pro-Russia and pro-China propaganda narratives in English language (for instance, the Grayzone News and its bloggers).
Xinhua's interview of de Zayas prominently features references to reporting by The Grayzone, an influential news website well known for misleading reporting, sympathetic coverage of authoritarian regimes, and conspiracy theories regarding Venezuela, Syria, Ukraine, and Xinjiang.71 Specifically, The Grayzone published articles that characterize US policies to address unfree labour within camp-to-factory pipelines72 in the XUAR as fundamentally 'anti-China' and that actually hurt communities targeted by Chinese counterinsurgency since they 'cost Uyghur workers their jobs'.
