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In case anyone was wondering why the mainstream media continues to lose credibility, here's a perfect example.
Dave Holman, a Guilford resident and regular "letter to the editor" contributor to the Guilford Courier, attended the "Hands Off" rally in Guilford, Connecticut, on April 5th where State Rep. Moira Rader, a Working Families Party-endorsed democrat, spoke.
He decided to write a "letter to the editor" about the experience, and submitted it to the Managing Editor of Shore Publishing, Laura Robida, as he has done many times before.
Letters to the Editor are always fact checked, but this was the first time one of Holman's letters was rejected for “inaccurate information.”
Holman said the Communist Party USA sponsored the "Hands Off" protests -- an easily verifiable fact considering the party used Action Network to run a form where budding communists could sign on to "take action Sat. April 5th" to join the "Hands Off" protests.
The Connecticut communists even celebrated the April 5th "Hands Off" protests, specifically highlighting the action in New London, Niantic, Waterbury, Torrington, Hartford and New Haven, in the newsletter and on the CT Communist Party website.
Nonetheless, Holman responded to Robida's fact check on April 12th by sharing an article from the CT Centinal, Indivisible To Sponsor May Day Rallies, Lining Up Right Alongside The Commies Again..., as well as one from The Epoch Times.
But on April 14th, Robida determined the Courier would not be publishing his letter.
"The sources you’ve provided—such as The Epoch Times and the Connecticut Centinel—do not meet our standards for reliable, fact-based journalism. These outlets have been widely identified as promoters of misinformation and conspiracy theories, including discredited narratives related to COVID-19, election integrity, and extremist political ideologies," wrote Robida.
The Centinal is proud of our factual coverage on covid, election integrity and extremist political ideologies, especially those espoused by radical democrats, Marxists and Communists.
"As a general policy, we do not accept letters that rely on sources known for spreading disinformation or that lack editorial credibility. In particular, Connecticut Centinel has been flagged by multiple media watchdog organizations for its extreme bias, promotion of conspiracy theories, and questionable factual accuracy. The Epoch Times has also been flagged by numerous media watchdog organizations for promoting pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and propaganda with a history of failed fact checks," wrote Robida. "The use of sources like these undercuts the integrity of our letters page and does a disservice to our readers."
Robida argued that, "stating or implying that an elected official’s presence at a protest promoted by a wide coalition — including the Communist Party USA — somehow implicates them in that party’s ideology, is a rhetorical leap. These kinds of associations are inflammatory by nature and fall short of our standards for constructive civic discourse."
It's worth noting that the Communist Party promoted the "Hands off" protests using language very much similar, if not identical, to that used by others in the "wide coalition" that backed the April 5th action.
Nonetheless, Robida promised to reject any future letter that "relies on or amplifies content" from sources like The Epoch Times and The Connecticut Centinal.
She said, "we welcome diverse opinions and spirited discussion, but they must be grounded in verifiable fact and supported by credible information."
Holman argued that Robida's rejection of factual articles published in The Connecticut Centinal and The Epoch Times "undercut the integrity of the Guilford Courier letters page and does a disservice to your readers."
He further asked for a list of sources he could cite "without fear of rejection in the future, as well as a complete list of sources I should not cite."
Robida responded, again attacking the "journalistic practices" of the Centinal and the Epoch Times, saying, "these outlets have consistently failed fact checks and been flagged by multiple watchdogs for promoting conspiracy theories, unverified claims, and disinformation—regardless of topic."
Unsurprisingly, Robida does not place the fake news NY Times in the same category, and apparently thinks legacy media outlets like the Times have "accountability structures" and are "subject to public scrutiny."
The Connecticut Centinal published Holman's Op Ed on April 14th.
Holman shared the published article with Robida.
She wrote back to him, upset that he had shared her email correspondence with others, calling it "highly inappropriate."
She then reserved the right to decline future submissions that do not meet her standards of promoting "civil, fact-based dialogue among members of our local community."
We at the Connecticut Centinal, however, will continue to provide a platform for factual content that challenges the mainstream narrative.
AND FOR THE RECORD...
CDM, the owner of The Connecticut Centinal, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, CHD v. The Washington Post, which alleges that media giants illegally colluded to suppress competition by getting the world’s largest internet platforms — including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft — to censor online news outlets for publishing “misinformation” that countered the official government narrative on COVID-19-related policies.
It's worth mentioning the The Select Subcommittee On The Coronavirus Pandemic Final Report showed that the contrarians were right about masks, social distancing and more.
What are the requirements for submissions to the Centinal?
You can direct submissions to: [email protected]
The Guilford Courier is notorious for refusing to print opinion letters based on its own tortured ideological biases. Its "fact checking" is just a ruse for refusing to print letters that disagree with its ideological bias. These are, after all, opinion pieces. While factual accuracy is important, the editor, Robida uses a variety of editorial tactics to refuse to publish letters with which she disagrees. My own letter on the rally was denied even though I did not mention the Communist Party
Kendall - we would be delighted to publish your op ed.