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NOT SURPRISED: A THREAD (cc: the entire media industry but esp the enablers @nytimes )
RCMP arrests ‘Abu Huzayfah’ for allegedly faking his past with ISIS | http://Globalnews.ca https://globalnews.ca/news/7350363/rcmp-arrests-abu-huzayfah-for-faking-past/
RCMP arrests ‘Abu Huzayfah’ for allegedly faking his past with ISIS | http://Globalnews.ca https://globalnews.ca/news/7350363/rcmp-arrests-abu-huzayfah-for-faking-past/
because i belong to an industry that is remarkably not self-reflective, i often have to assign my students in int'l reporting & cross cultural journalism criticisms from other disciplines -ie literature, film, art et al -- that also take on representations of other peoples
after an entire semester in intro to int'l reporting, after which we break down US nationalism & how it hands Americans a ready made language (made by the CIA in collusion w/US universities/think tanks etc ever since post WW2 era) w/which to rationalize US policy abroad and
how that acts on US foreign corespondents as Americans first & then second, as journalists and how our industry then perpetuates the racist narratives that both enable apocalyptic US policy abroad (while often also winning awards , praise, and editor enabled immunity)
THEN, i finally assign Edward Said & other cultural critics. This puts me in the minority, I know.Others assign the kind of aforementioned prize winning work that tells how what happens in Palestine, Iraq, Syria et al is abt Islam. Centuries old theology has determined today
They tell you you have to understand Ali, the Koran and a gazillion other things to understand why Palestinians can't love being occupied; why Iraqis can't build a viable state after the world's only superpower decimates it; why French men hate a racist "satirical" magazine etc
Said instead tells my students what one needs to gain knowledge abt others is common sense and critical assessment which is available to anyone, he says. But apparently not to NYT editors & reporters so blinded by racist narratives that they ignore what was obv to many
this industry is so unable to be self-reflective that the reporter behind the Caliphate & several stories from the last several years where she has recounted w/breathless aroused prose that Arabic was spoken, that Muslim verses were invoked, that traditional clothing was worn etc
says w/apparently no self awareness in response to the arrest: "“His social media alone in an American setting would likely be enough for a material support of terrorism charge,” Rukmini Callimachi wrote."
LET ME SPELL THIS OUT FOR YOU:
LET ME SPELL THIS OUT FOR YOU:
the utter embrace of Islamophobia paired with utter eschewing of COMMON SENSE that allows the material support law is also what allows for the sort of "journalism" that has been peddled here. MEANWHILE
we have actual white supremacists running for office, or occupying the WH, suppressing findings from their own agencies abt that kind of domestic terrorism
i hate that i have to spend so much time responding to work that has been PATENTLY problematic from its start. & i'm talking about when it first got on my radar over 5 yrs ago.Singularly obsessed people unable to be self aware or even remotely critically minded are one thing.BUT
an entire paper/masthead repeatedly standing behind them, enabling them.... not gonna age well. FIN
Well, @ErikWemple takes a stab and questions not only the journalism but the weak response that the podcast presented doubts https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/28/subject-nyt-caliphate-podcast-series-charged-with-perpetrating-hoax/
“When Abu Huzayfah explains some wrinkles in his story, the host jumps in to declare that they track with her reporting.”
Something to note - many Arabic speaking and in fact Arab (or Arab origin) journalists/academics/experts (many of them women too) have been ringing alarm bells for years. Their concerns were not treated as having much weight. To be considered
New from @ErikWemple -but yet again not answering (or perhaps not asking) why this was all enabled to begin with- despite misgivings by other NYT journalists if nothing else (like ofc they ignore the Arabs questioning) https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/30/rukmini-callimachis-reporting-troubles/
Also not asked or mentioned - how much money $$$ did the Caliphate (ie an exercise in Islamophobic and sensationalized journalism) make for the paper?
Again,many warning signs were flashing red.Many criticisms were expressed.A lot of them by Arabic speaking or Arab journos/academics/experts.NYT dismissed them.Reporter responded like a bully, trying to delegitimize many — NB w/protection from on high https://trib.al/OYV52Dh
The reason to ask for accountability from on high is bc in a time when POTUS/Putin et al are trying to delegitimize the media,the industry doesn’t need to be self inflicting wounds.Folks want to tear down other great NYT reporting from Trump taxes to 1619 Project.Why assist?
This is a bit more thorough. And damning- Editors were aware of all the concerns. https://www.thedailybeast.com/james-foleys-family-blasts-star-ny-times-reporter-rukmini-callimachis-lies
Looks like everyone is getting in on this now. https://newrepublic.com/article/159561/rukmini-callimachi-fooled-fake-terrorist?utm_content=buffer0824f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
https://newrepublic.com/article/159561/rukmini-callimachi-fooled-fake-terrorist?utm_content=buffer0824f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Key point
Wow this by @sahelblog is brutal and the kind of media criticism we needed years ago on this work and the genre https://sahelblog.wordpress.com/2020/10/02/rukmini-callimachis-broken-clock-moment-in-timbuktu/
Sadly many foreign correspondents use the work and insights of accomplished local journalists and then call them “my fixer”- that’s an industry problem. Gross
Yes the slandering of the beautiful Arabic language...
Yes these kinds of relationships are what Said was talking about almost FORTY (40!!) years ago in “Covering Islam”
Word.
Wow. Thx for confirming what many been saying.A reporter who pathologizes religion, who seems to think U can inherit an ISIS gene is incapable of reporting this in any way that actually provides meaningful knowledge.The salacious might make for good podcasts but little else
And let me add that the pushback would come in part from a discussion in #Canada that was poisoned by her very reporting which has been proven to be based on a hoax. 
Another by @ErikWemple https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/09/new-york-times-has-its-hands-full-with-review-caliphate/
Amen. While the journalism will ultimately unravel bc of the sourcing issues (hoaxes and falsities) the ethics of harassing victims and families should be equally discussed https://twitter.com/se_parkinson/status/1311762858661883905
ok so this is a bit meta, well on a lot of levels, but @benyt has weighed in on Caliphate-gate, w/a quote from me. also, wow, did he work hard on this. #Syria #Iraq https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/11/business/media/new-york-times-rukmini-callimachi-caliphate.html?referringSource=articleShare
He had a lot of ground to cover but this is why problem is bigger than journalists/journalism.The simplistic ANDinaccurate pathologizing of culture&religion doesn’t just misdirect/quash journalists’ (&editors’)common sense, but also that of listeners.W/o that hostility, contd
...W/o that hostility, normal alarm bells would have been going off...
Shoumali said he came away from the experience alarmed by her methods.“With Rukmini, it felt like the story was pre-reported in her head and she was looking for someone to tell her what she already believed, what she thought would be a great story,”
thanks @KaramShoumali for speaking up
