EPO People Power - Part XXVII - Science- and Principles-First Journalism About Issues That Matter
Also see: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII | Part XIII | Part Part XIV | Part XV | Part XVI | Part XVII | Part XVIII | Part XIX | Part XX | Part XXI | Part XXII | Part XXIII | Part XXIV | Part XXV | Part XXVI
Journalism is more or less the act of writing something down (journaling but an "ism"), maybe disseminating it later for broader exposure and absorption for some purpose, e.g. assuming that it illuminates some important facts that the broader public ought to know. Journalism is something anyone can do, but some can do it better than others, based on skills, experience, and connections (e.g. high-level role in some established media with high circulation). Some people have degrees in journalism; that's meant to give them practices to follow so as to ensure concision, accuracy, and fairness.
Journalism is not merely repeating what seemingly "important" people say; analysis is needed, including the ability to fact-check and reject some statements, dismissing them as false or even malicious.
When it comes to the EPO, Europe's second-largest institution, we still see far too much churnalism. Journalism and churnalism aren't the same thing, and they barely overlap (one could argue that churnalism actively works against journalism, it does not complement it in any way or fashion). But EPO cokeheads paid the media to do churnalism while sending legal threats to actual journalists.
"With all respect," one reader recently told me, "I think until now, even if you might not see it that way, you are still playing the game much too nicely. As maybe the only expert in the press on this field, it is your job to find collaborators instead of being a lone warrior and together drag as much into light of this story as possible. This is a once in a lifetime chance, helped by an inexplicable blunder of a top level manager, that needs to be properly exploited to become a scoop that can bring real change."
Well, I did contact many journalists; I spoke to some on the phone - some who candidly admitted people above them would obstruct their work. They alluded to SLAPPs from EUIPO (Alicante and EU) and EPO (where a Mafia from Alicante runs the show). It was both disturbing and saddening, as it mostly reminded me of the Russia/Moscow news clippings I add to Daily Links every day. Have we gotten as bad as the Kremlin regime? For what it's worth, the EPO also did that in 2015. I spoke (in person) to people who got bollocking for doing their job!
To be clear, I don't think I'm too soft on the EPO. Maybe some EPO insiders feel that way, but being more combative would be perceived as strident and biased. Now, being "biased" per se isn't a problem, nor is it a the goal (bothside-ism is a trap!), but being unbiased/biased in the face of injustice or climate change, for example, is OK. Let the science show the way.
For that matter, some EPO insiders also accuse SUEPO (the union) of being too soft. We've heard that countless times over the years. Some people think SUEPO is relatively toothless. some feel strongly about it.
In 2024 my wife and I got sued by Americans (we sued them back [1, 2, 3]). Under sworn oath, when interrogated by me, one of them candidly and implicitly admitted he does not agree with the First Amendment and he also admitted he had assaulted British media (from the US!) by LARPing through several webhosts, even my ISP! So I know the price of standing up for my wife, who got bullied online. We'll have plenty of stories to tell about this in the future.
Speaking of Americans who love attacking the media worldwide (the Monroe or Donroe Doctrine extends behind the Americas now), the US has almost eliminated investigative journalism by now, having already squashed Wikileaks' scientific journalism (a term used if not coined by Wikileaks; they insist on using hard, reliable, authentic proof, even if leaked).
"That's an ideological decision," an associate said about the attack on investigative journalism in the US. "As a direct result of the funding being eliminated, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has decided to shut down and dissolve. That funding cancellation is having the desired result of an absolutely devastating blow to the freedom of press in the US. It also crushes rural areas disproportionally as they are already mostly news deserts. Now KSA and Kremlin will have even more control over public opinion in the US and especially the rural US."
"Too many of the articles about Whiskey Pete [Pete Hegseth] vs the nation via Sen Kelly are poor stenography," the associate added. This is the latest on this:
Forget about freedom of speech or freedom of the press in the US. Both are dead or in a deathbed.
"Stenography is pervasive in many areas and topics," the associate said, "it seems to on the way to becoming the norm."
Even worse: journalism became so shallow that nowadays it can be replaced by bots (slop, chatbots) and many people won't even notice!
Anyway, we intend to fully explore the facts around the EPO, we'll still try to get the media interested (but not keep our hopes high). Even without the mainstream media caring and writing about the scandals, if we stick to our publication schedule we reckon António Campinos can be ousted by year's end. We also anticipate efforts to curtail our publication. █