Hard-Left group paid journalists for favorable coverage of Iran nuke dealMay 21, 2016 5:43 pm By Robert Spencer
https://www.jihadwatch.org/?p=91477?p=91477The implications of this revelation from Mideast analyst Omni Ceren are huge. It is unlikely that this is the first time wealthy Leftist organizations have paid off “journalists.” Perhaps this is a clue as to why the mainstream media marches in unbroken lockstep in opposing resistance to jihad terror and smearing foes of terror as “bigots” and “Islamophobes.” I expect there is a payroll for that somewhere that has yet to be revealed.
On May 5 the NYT published its profile of Ben Rhodes, in which Rhodes bragged about creating an “echo chamber” with the Ploughshares Fund to sell the Iran deal on the basis of false pretenses [a]. A few hours ago the AP published a deep dive into Ploughshares showing that the group is funding a range of lobbies, policy shops, and journalists and media outlets, all of which are bouncing Iran messaging back and forth between each other
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Aspects of the Ploughshares network had already been reported out. In Feb 2012 the WFB reported on Ploughshares funding NPR [c]. In March 2015 the WSJ reported “the Ploughshares coalition includes a former Iranian government spokesman, the liberal Jewish organization J Street and a group of former American diplomats who have held private talks with Iranian government officials… [and] the Arms Control Association” [d]. In July 2015 the WFB printed details of a Ploughshares conference call that brought together White House officials with over 100 participants, in which groups were told to prepare for a “real war” that would involve “blitzing the hell out of the Hill,” pressuring Congressional Democrats, and leaning on Jewish groups [e][f]. In August 2015 Commentary published 1,500 words and a couple dozen links naming names in the network [g].
What hadn’t been widely discussed – until today’s AP story – was that Ploughshares has been directly funding journalists and media outlets in the context of the politicized Iran deal fight. In case you’re running down this angle, here are some documents published by Ploughshares Fund describing the group’s efforts in its own words.
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