Jump to content

CounterPunch: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Undid revision 1087627601 by 110.9.111.29 (talk) trash source
GreenC bot (talk | contribs)
Bots
2,448,828 edits
(30 intermediate revisions by 14 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|Bi-monthly left-wing magazine based Petrolia, California}}
{{short description|Bi-monthly left-wing magazine based in Petrolia, California}}
{{About|the newsletter|other uses|Counterpunch (disambiguation){{!}}Counterpunch}}{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}{{Infobox magazine
{{About|the newsletter|the radio program, 'CounterSpin'|Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting|other uses|Counterpunch (disambiguation){{!}}Counterpunch}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox magazine
| title = CounterPunch
| title = CounterPunch
| image_file = CounterPunch logo.png
| image_file = CounterPunch logo.png
Line 26: Line 28:
| based = [[Petrolia, California|Petrolia]], [[California]], United States
| based = [[Petrolia, California|Petrolia]], [[California]], United States
| language = English
| language = English
| website = {{URL|https://www.counterpunch.org|Official website}}
| website = {{URL|https://www.counterpunch.org}}
| issn = 1086-2323
| issn = 1086-2323
}}
}}
'''''CounterPunch''''' is an online magazine. Content includes a free section published five days a week as well as a subscriber-only area called CounterPunch+, where original articles are published weekly.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.counterpunch.org/faqs/|title=FAQs|work=CounterPunch.org|access-date=July 31, 2017}}</ref> ''CounterPunch'' is based in the [[United States]] and covers politics in a manner its editors describe as "[[muckraking]] with a radical attitude".<ref>{{cite web
'''''CounterPunch''''' is a [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]]<ref name="nytleftwing">{{cite news |last=Blumenthal |first=Ralph |date=May 12, 2006 |title=Army Acts to Curb Abuses of Injured Recruits |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/us/12training.html?pagewanted=2 |url-status=live |access-date=January 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121030525/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/us/12training.html?pagewanted=2 |archive-date=November 21, 2020}}</ref><ref name="The Devil You Know">{{Cite magazine |last=Foer |first=Franklin |date=2002-04-15 |title=The Devil You Know |magazine=The New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/60975/the-devil-you-know |access-date=2022-01-08 |issn=0028-6583}}</ref> online magazine. Content includes a free section published five days a week as well as a subscriber-only area called CounterPunch+, where original articles are published weekly.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.counterpunch.org/faqs/|title=FAQs|work=CounterPunch.org|access-date=July 31, 2017|archive-date=July 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722084010/https://www.counterpunch.org/faqs/|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''CounterPunch'' is based in the [[United States]] and covers politics in a manner its editors describe as "[[muckraking]] with a radical attitude".<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.counterpunch.org/aboutus.html
| url = http://www.counterpunch.org/aboutus.html
| title = We've got all the right enemies
| title = We've got all the right enemies
| first= Alexander|last= Cockburn|author2= Jeffrey St. Clair
| access-date = October 1, 2010
| access-date = October 1, 2010
| publisher = CounterPunch
| publisher = CounterPunch
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425054019/http://www.counterpunch.org/aboutus.html
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425054019/http://www.counterpunch.org/aboutus.html
|archive-date=April 25, 2011
|archive-date=April 25, 2011
}}</ref>
}}</ref> It has been described as [[left-wing politics|left-wing]].<ref name="nytleftwing">{{cite news|author=Blumenthal|first=Ralph|date=May 12, 2006|title=Army Acts to Curb Abuses of Injured Recruits|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/us/12training.html?pagewanted=2|url-status=live|access-date=January 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121030525/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/us/12training.html?pagewanted=2|archive-date=November 21, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Foer|first=Franklin|date=2002-04-15|title=The Devil You Know|work=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/60975/the-devil-you-know|access-date=2022-01-08|issn=0028-6583}}</ref>

From 1993 to 2020, CounterPunch published a [[newsletter]], and a [[magazine]].<ref name="counterpunch/about">{{cite web |title=About |url=https://www.counterpunch.org/about/ |website=CounterPunch.org |access-date=11 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010030138/https://www.counterpunch.org/about/ |archive-date=10 October 2023}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
''CounterPunch'' began as a newsletter, established in 1994 by the [[Washington, D.C.]]-based investigative reporter [[Ken Silverstein]].<ref>"Counterpunch is the brainchild of Ken Silverstein, a former AP reporter in Rio de Janeiro." ''[[Lies of Our Times]]'', vols 4–5 (1993), p. 26.</ref>
⚫
''CounterPunch'' began as a newsletter, established in 1994 by the [[Washington, D.C.]]-based investigative reporter [[Ken Silverstein]].<ref>"Counterpunch is the brainchild of Ken Silverstein, a former AP reporter in Rio de Janeiro." ''[[Lies of Our Times]]'', vols 4-5 (1993), p. 26.</ref> He was soon joined by [[Alexander Cockburn]] and then [[Jeffrey St. Clair]], who became the publication's editors in 1996 when Silverstein left.<ref>Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair, ''Five Days that Shook the World: Seattle and Beyond'' (London and New York: Verso, 2000), p. 151; Alexander Cockburn, Ken Silverstein, ''Washington Babylon'' (London and New York: Verso, 1996), p. 302.</ref><ref>Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair, ''End Times: The Death of the Fourth Estate'' (Petrolia, California, and Oakland, California: CounterPunch and AK Press, 2007), pp. 2, 44.</ref> In 2007, Cockburn and St. Clair wrote that in founding ''CounterPunch'' they had "wanted it to be the best muckraking newsletter in the country", and cited as inspiration such pamphleteers as [[Edward Abbey]], [[Peter Maurin]], and [[Ammon Hennacy]], as well as the socialist/populist newspaper ''[[Appeal to Reason (newspaper)|Appeal to Reason]]'' (1895–1922).<ref>Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair (2007), ''End times: the death of the fourth estate'', CounterPunch and AK Press, p383</ref> When Alexander Cockburn died in 2012 at the age of 71, environmental journalist [[Joshua Frank]] became managing editor and Jeffrey St. Clair became editor-in-chief of ''CounterPunch''.<ref>Nichols, John, [http://www.thenation.com/blog/168996/alexander-cockburn-and-radical-power-word "Alexander Cockburn and the Radical Power of the Word"], ''thenation.com'', July 21, 2012, accessed July 22, 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.theinvestigativefund.org/blog/1645/an_award-winning_year/ An Award-Winning Year, The Investigative Fund] retrieved July 24, 2016</ref>


Silverstein was soon joined by [[Alexander Cockburn]] (b. 1941—d. 2012) and then [[Jeffrey St. Clair]], who became the publication's editors in 1996 when Silverstein left.<ref>Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair, ''Five Days that Shook the World: Seattle and Beyond'' (London and New York: Verso, 2000), p. 151; Alexander Cockburn, Ken Silverstein, ''Washington Babylon'' (London and New York: Verso, 1996), p. 302.</ref><ref>Cockburn, Alexander, and Jeffrey St. Clair, ''End Times: The Death of the Fourth Estate'' (Petrolia, California, and Oakland, California: CounterPunch and AK Press, 2007), pp. 2, 44.</ref>
⚫
During the 2016 presidential election, ''CounterPunch'' published a piece attributed to Alice Donovan,<ref name="GoAskAlice"/> who purported to be a freelance writer but US intelligence officials alleged to be a pseudonymous employee of the Russian government.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kremlin-trolls-burned-across-the-internet-as-washington-debated-options/2017/12/23/e7b9dc92-e403-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html|title=Kremlin trolls burned across the Internet as Washington debated options|last1=Entous|first1=Adam|date=December 25, 2017|work=Washington Post|access-date=December 25, 2017|last2=Nakashima|first2=Ellen|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|last3=Jaffe|first3=Greg}}</ref> Donovan was tracked by the [[FBI]] for nine months, as a suspected fictitious persona created by the [[GRU]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="DiResta 2020">{{cite web | last=DiResta | first=Renée | title=The Supply of Disinformation Will Soon Be Infinite | website=The Atlantic | date=September 20, 2020 | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/future-propaganda-will-be-computer-generated/616400/ | access-date=September 21, 2021}}</ref> In late November 2017, after CounterPunch had published several more pieces by Donovan, ''The Washington Post'' contacted Jeffrey St. Clair about her. The co-editor said that Donovan's pitches did not stand out amongst the pitches that ''CounterPunch'' received daily<ref name=":0" /> and began making inquiries. He asked Donovan to substantiate her identity by sending a photo of her driving license but she did not.<ref name=":0" /> On the same day ''The Washington Post'' article was published on Donovan, St. Clair and Frank published a piece stating that ''CounterPunch'' only ran one article by Alice Donovan during the 2016 election, which was on cyber-breaches of medical databases. Donovan was also exposed by the newsletter as a serial plagiarizer.<ref name="GoAskAlice">{{cite web|url=https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/25/go-ask-alice-the-curious-case-of-alice-donovan-2/|title=Go Ask Alice: the Curious Case of "Alice Donovan"|author=Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank|date=December 25, 2017|publisher=CounterPunch|access-date=January 6, 2018|quote=In sum, we published five stories by Donovan. One was apolitical. Four could be considered critiques of US foreign policy during the Trump administration. None mentioned Hillary Clinton, Vladimir Putin, the 2016 elections, Wikileaks or Julian Assange.}}</ref> CounterPunch removed all of the articles from their site.<ref name="OSullivan 2018">{{cite web | last=O'Sullivan | first=Donie | title=Facebook removes Syrian war page it believes is linked to Russian intel, Twitter keeps it online | website=CNNMoney | date=August 23, 2018 | url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/23/technology/facebook-twitter-syria-media-center/index.html | access-date=September 21, 2021}}</ref> In a January 2018 follow-up article, St. Clair and Frank exposed a network of alleged trolls that operated a site called Inside Syria Media Center, promoting a pro-[[Bashar al-Assad]] and pro-Russian view of the [[Syrian Civil War]]. St. Clair and Frank speculated that the website was connected to the same network of trolls as Alice Donovan, which was later confirmed by the [[Atlantic Council]] and other researchers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/05/ghosts-in-the-propaganda-machine/|title=Ghosts in the Propaganda Machine|author=Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank|date=January 5, 2018|publisher=CounterPunch|access-date=January 6, 2018}}</ref><ref name="DiResta 2020"/><ref name="OSullivan 2018"/>

⚫
In 2007, Cockburn and St. Clair wrote that in founding ''CounterPunch'' they had "wanted it to be the best muckraking newsletter in the country", and cited as inspiration such pamphleteers as [[Edward Abbey]], [[Peter Maurin]], and [[Ammon Hennacy]], as well as the socialist/populist newspaper ''[[Appeal to Reason (newspaper)|Appeal to Reason]]'' (1895–1922).<ref>Cockburn and St. Clair (2007), ''End Times'', p. 383.</ref> When Alexander Cockburn died in 2012 at the age of 71, environmental journalist [[Joshua Frank]] became managing editor and Jeffrey St. Clair became editor-in-chief of ''CounterPunch''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Nichols|first= John|url=http://www.thenation.com/blog/168996/alexander-cockburn-and-radical-power-word |title=Alexander Cockburn and the Radical Power of the Word |website=thenation.com|date= July 21, 2012| access-date= July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://www.theinvestigativefund.org/blog/1645/an_award-winning_year/ An Award-Winning Year, The Investigative Fund]. Retrieved July 24, 2016 {{Webarchive|url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20161130183717/http://www.theinvestigativefund.org/blog/1645/an_award%2Dwinning_year/ |date=November 30, 2016 }}</ref>


==Reception==
==Reception==
In 2003, ''[[The Observer]]'' described the ''CounterPunch'' website as "one of the most popular political sources in America, with a keen following in Washington".<ref>Christopher Reed (March 2, 2003). [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/02/usa.theobserver "Battle of the bottle divides columnists"]. ''[[The Observer]]''.</ref> Other sources have variously described ''CounterPunch'' as "left-wing",<ref name="nytleftwing"/><ref name="The Devil You Know">{{cite news|title=The Devil You Know|newspaper=New Republic|url=http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/the-devil-you-know}}</ref> "far-left",<ref name="reason.com">{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Moynihan|date=December 7, 2010|title=Olbermann, Assange, and the Holocaust Denier When you want to believe, you'll believe anything.|url=http://reason.com/archives/2010/12/07/olbermann-assange-and-the-holo|newspaper=Reason}}</ref> "extreme",<ref name="The Fringe Fires at Bush on Iraq">{{cite news|title=The Fringe Fires at Bush on Iraq|url=https://articles.latimes.com/2004/mar/11/opinion/oe-boot11|newspaper=LA Times | first=Max|last=Boot|date=March 11, 2004}}</ref> a "political newsletter",<ref name="nytpolitical">{{cite news |title=Royalty checks aren't in the mail - Business - International Herald Tribune |author=Dan Mitchell |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/business/worldbusiness/29iht-music.3317335.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 29, 2006 |access-date=June 14, 2011}}</ref> and a "muckraking newsletter".<ref name="nytmuckraking">{{cite news |title=Who Pays For Mistakes In Making Electricity? |author=MELINDA TUHUS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/22/nyregion/who-pays-for-mistakes-in-making-electricity.html?pagewanted=5 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 22, 1998 |access-date=June 14, 2011}}</ref>
In 2003, ''[[The Observer]]'' described the ''CounterPunch'' website as "one of the most popular political sources in America, with a keen following in Washington".<ref>Reed, Christopher (March 2, 2003). [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/02/usa.theobserver "Battle of the bottle divides columnists"]. ''[[The Observer]]''.</ref> Other sources have variously described ''CounterPunch'' as "left-wing",<ref name="nytleftwing"/><ref name="The Devil You Know" /> "far-left",<ref name="reason.com">{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Moynihan|date=December 7, 2010|title=Olbermann, Assange, and the Holocaust Denier When you want to believe, you'll believe anything.|url=http://reason.com/archives/2010/12/07/olbermann-assange-and-the-holo|newspaper=Reason}}</ref> "extreme",<ref name="The Fringe Fires at Bush on Iraq">{{cite news|title=The Fringe Fires at Bush on Iraq|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-mar-11-oe-boot11-story.html|newspaper=LA Times | first=Max|last=Boot|date=March 11, 2004}}</ref> a "political newsletter",<ref name="nytpolitical">{{cite news |title=Royalty checks aren't in the mail - Business - International Herald Tribune |first=Dan|last= Mitchell |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/business/worldbusiness/29iht-music.3317335.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 29, 2006 |access-date=June 14, 2011}}</ref> and a "muckraking newsletter".<ref name="nytmuckraking">{{cite news |title=Who Pays For Mistakes In Making Electricity? |first=Melinda |last=Tuhus |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/22/nyregion/who-pays-for-mistakes-in-making-electricity.html?pagewanted=5 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 22, 1998 |access-date=June 14, 2011}}</ref>

==Controversies==
===The “Alice Donovan affair”===
⚫
During the 2016 presidential election, ''CounterPunch'' published a piece attributed to Alice Donovan,<ref name="GoAskAlice"/> who purported to be a freelance writer but US intelligence officials alleged to be a pseudonymous employee of the Russian government.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kremlin-trolls-burned-across-the-internet-as-washington-debated-options/2017/12/23/e7b9dc92-e403-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html|title=Kremlin trolls burned across the Internet as Washington debated options|last1=Entous|first1=Adam|date=December 25, 2017|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=December 25, 2017|last2=Nakashima|first2=Ellen|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|last3=Jaffe|first3=Greg}}</ref> Donovan was tracked by the [[FBI]] for nine months, as a suspected fictitious persona created by the [[GRU (Russian Federation)|GRU]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="DiResta 2020">{{cite web | last=DiResta | first=Renée | title=The Supply of Disinformation Will Soon Be Infinite | website=The Atlantic | date=September 20, 2020 | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/future-propaganda-will-be-computer-generated/616400/ | access-date=September 21, 2021}}</ref> In late November 2017, after ''CounterPunch'' had published several more pieces by Donovan, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' contacted Jeffrey St. Clair about her. The co-editor said that Donovan's pitches did not stand out among the pitches that ''CounterPunch'' received daily<ref name=":0" /> and began making inquiries. St. Clair asked Donovan to substantiate her identity by sending a photo of her driver’s license but she did not.<ref name=":0" />

On the same day ''The Washington Post'' article about Donovan was published, St. Clair and Frank published a piece stating that ''CounterPunch'' only ran one article by Alice Donovan during the 2016 election, which was on cyber-breaches of medical databases. Donovan was also exposed by the newsletter as a serial plagiarizer.<ref name="GoAskAlice">{{cite web|url=https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/25/go-ask-alice-the-curious-case-of-alice-donovan-2/|title=Go Ask Alice: the Curious Case of 'Alice Donovan'|first=Jeffrey |last=St. Clair |author2= Joshua Frank|date=December 25, 2017|publisher=CounterPunch|access-date=January 6, 2018|quote=In sum, we published five stories by Donovan. One was apolitical. Four could be considered critiques of US foreign policy during the Trump administration. None mentioned Hillary Clinton, Vladimir Putin, the 2016 elections, Wikileaks or Julian Assange.}}</ref> ''CounterPunch'' removed all of the articles from their site.<ref name="OSullivan 2018">{{cite web | last=O'Sullivan | first=Donie | title=Facebook removes Syrian war page it believes is linked to Russian intel, Twitter keeps it online | website=CNNMoney | date=August 23, 2018 | url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/23/technology/facebook-twitter-syria-media-center/index.html | access-date=September 21, 2021}}</ref>

In a January 2018 follow-up article, St. Clair and Frank exposed a network of alleged trolls that operated a site called Inside Syria Media Center, promoting a pro-[[Bashar al-Assad]] and pro-Russian view of the [[Syrian Civil War]]. St. Clair and Frank speculated that the website was connected to the same network of trolls as Alice Donovan, which was later confirmed by the [[Atlantic Council]] and other researchers.<ref name="DiResta 2020"/><ref name="OSullivan 2018"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/05/ghosts-in-the-propaganda-machine/|title=Ghosts in the Propaganda Machine|first=Jeffrey |last=St. Clair |author2= Joshua Frank|date=January 5, 2018|publisher=CounterPunch|access-date=January 6, 2018}}</ref>


[[Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections#June 2016|On 8 June 2016]], "Alice Donovan",<ref name="A-D-kremlin-troll">
⚫
In 2016, ''CounterPunch'' appeared in a [[PropOrNot]] list of websites which it described as Russian propaganda outlets. Writing in the ''[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]'', [[Adrian Chen]] described the list as a mess and ''CounterPunch'' as a "respected left-leaning" publication.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-propaganda-about-russian-propaganda |title=The Propaganda About Russian Propaganda |author=Adrian Chen |date=December 1, 2016 |work=The New Yorker |access-date=March 23, 2017}}</ref>
*{{cite magazine |last1=Entous |first1=Adam |title=The Rise and Fall of a Kremlin Troll |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-rise-and-fall-of-a-kremlin-troll |access-date=11 October 2023 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=19 July 2018}}
*{{cite web |last1=Toler |first1=Aric |title=Details on Newly Uncovered GRU Online Personas |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2017/12/26/details-newly-uncovered-gru-online-personas/ |website=bellingcat |access-date=11 October 2023 |date=26 December 2017}}
*{{cite web |title=Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 presidential election |url=https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/download |website=Department of Justice |access-date=11 October 2023 |date=March 7, 2019}}
*{{cite web |title=GRU and the Minions |url=https://public-assets.graphika.com/reports/graphika_report_gru_minions.pdf |website=Graphika |access-date=11 October 2023 |date=September 23, 2020 |quote=The GRU ultimately used the Alice Donovan account to create its DCLeaks Facebook page, according to a U.S. indictment of GRU operators.}}
*{{cite web |last1=Frank |first1=Joshua |title=Alice Donovan, Russiagate and the Rabbit Hole of Sanctimony |url=https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/27/alice-donovan-russiagate-and-the-rabbit-hole-of-sanctimony/ |website=CounterPunch.org |access-date=11 October 2023 |date=27 July 2018}}
*{{cite news |title=How an American who lost his job due to COVID-19 got roped into an apparent Russian plot to meddle in American life |url=https://whdh.com/news/how-an-american-who-lost-his-job-due-to-covid-19-got-roped-into-an-apparent-russian-plot-to-meddle-in-american-life/ |access-date=11 October 2023 |work=WHDH 7 News |agency=CNN |date=4 September 2020 |location=Boston}}
*{{cite news |last1=Poulsen |first1=Kevin |title=Alleged Russian Operatives Spreading Fake News Sneak Back Onto Facebook |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/alleged-russian-operatives-spreading-fake-news-sneak-back-onto-facebook |access-date=11 October 2023 |work=The Daily Beast |date=5 September 2018 |language=en}}
*{{cite news |last1=Entous |first1=Adam |last2=Nakashima |first2=Ellen |last3=Jaffe |first3=Greg |title=Kremlin trolls burned across the Internet as Washington debated options |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kremlin-trolls-burned-across-the-internet-as-washington-debated-options/2017/12/23/e7b9dc92-e403-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html |access-date=11 October 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=9 April 2023}}
*{{cite web |last1=St Clair |first1=Jeffrey |last2=Frank |first2=Joshua |title=Go Ask Alice: the Curious Case of "Alice Donovan" |url=https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/25/go-ask-alice-the-curious-case-of-alice-donovan-2/ |website=CounterPunch.org |access-date=11 October 2023 |date=25 December 2017}}
*{{cite news |last1=Thielman |first1=Sam |title=TL;DR: From Russia, with love |url=https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/tldr-from-russia-with-love.php |date=July 19, 2018 |access-date=11 October 2023 |work=Columbia Journalism Review |language=en}}
</ref> and other Russian-controlled fake American personas began promoting the [[DCLeaks]] website on [[Facebook]].<ref name=FakeAmericaneNYT-20170907>
*{{Cite web |title=The Fake Americans Russia Created to Influence the Election |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/politics/russia-facebook-twitter-election.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907170230/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/politics/russia-facebook-twitter-election.html |archive-date=2017-09-07 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 7, 2017 |access-date=September 20, 2020 |last=Shane |first=Scott |author-link=Scott Shane}}
*{{cite news |last1=Shane |first1=Scott |title=The Fake Americans Russia Created to Influence the Election |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/politics/russia-facebook-twitter-election.html |access-date=11 October 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=7 September 2017}}
</ref><ref name=TimlineHowRussianAgentsNYT20180713>{{cite news|title=Timeline: How Russian agents allegedly hacked the DNC and Clinton's campaign|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/07/13/timeline-how-russian-agents-allegedly-hacked-the-dnc-and-clintons-campaign |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=July 13, 2018|access-date=July 15, 2018|last=Bump|first=Philip}}</ref>


===''PropOrNot'' accusations===
In 2018, after the Alice Donovan affair, author [[Diana Johnstone]] said in a [[Consortium News]] article titled "Antifa or Antiwar: Leftist Exclusionism Against the Quest for Peace" that "[[Russophobia]] finds a variant in the writing of several prominent CounterPunch contributors".<ref>{{cite web |title=Antifa or Antiwar: Leftist Exclusionism Against the Quest for Peace |author=Diana Johnstone |url=https://consortiumnews.com/2018/05/21/antifa-or-antiwar-leftist-exclusionism-against-the-quest-for-peace/ |website=consortiumnews.com|date=May 21, 2018}}</ref>
⚫
In 2016, ''CounterPunch'' appeared in a [[PropOrNot]] list of websites which it described as Russian propaganda outlets. Writing in the ''[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]'', [[Adrian Chen]] described the list as a mess and ''CounterPunch'' as a "respected left-leaning" publication.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-propaganda-about-russian-propaganda |title=The Propaganda About Russian Propaganda |first=Adrian |last=Chen |date=December 1, 2016 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=March 23, 2017}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 03:34, 14 August 2024

This article is about the newsletter. For the radio program, 'CounterSpin', see Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. For other uses, see Counterpunch.

CounterPunch
Editors
Former editorsKen Silverstein
Alexander Cockburn
Staff writers
CategoriesPolitics
First issue1994; 30 years ago (1994)
CountryUnited States
Based inPetrolia, California, United States
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.counterpunch.org
ISSN1086-2323

CounterPunch is a left-wing[1][2] online magazine. Content includes a free section published five days a week as well as a subscriber-only area called CounterPunch+, where original articles are published weekly.[3] CounterPunch is based in the United States and covers politics in a manner its editors describe as "muckraking with a radical attitude".[4]

From 1993 to 2020, CounterPunch published a newsletter, and a magazine.[5]

History

CounterPunch began as a newsletter, established in 1994 by the Washington, D.C.-based investigative reporter Ken Silverstein.[6]

Silverstein was soon joined by Alexander Cockburn (b. 1941—d. 2012) and then Jeffrey St. Clair, who became the publication's editors in 1996 when Silverstein left.[7][8]

In 2007, Cockburn and St. Clair wrote that in founding CounterPunch they had "wanted it to be the best muckraking newsletter in the country", and cited as inspiration such pamphleteers as Edward Abbey, Peter Maurin, and Ammon Hennacy, as well as the socialist/populist newspaper Appeal to Reason (1895–1922).[9] When Alexander Cockburn died in 2012 at the age of 71, environmental journalist Joshua Frank became managing editor and Jeffrey St. Clair became editor-in-chief of CounterPunch.[10][11]

Reception

In 2003, The Observer described the CounterPunch website as "one of the most popular political sources in America, with a keen following in Washington".[12] Other sources have variously described CounterPunch as "left-wing",[1][2] "far-left",[13] "extreme",[14] a "political newsletter",[15] and a "muckraking newsletter".[16]

Controversies

The “Alice Donovan affair”

During the 2016 presidential election, CounterPunch published a piece attributed to Alice Donovan,[17] who purported to be a freelance writer but US intelligence officials alleged to be a pseudonymous employee of the Russian government.[18] Donovan was tracked by the FBI for nine months, as a suspected fictitious persona created by the GRU.[18][19] In late November 2017, after CounterPunch had published several more pieces by Donovan, The Washington Post contacted Jeffrey St. Clair about her. The co-editor said that Donovan's pitches did not stand out among the pitches that CounterPunch received daily[18] and began making inquiries. St. Clair asked Donovan to substantiate her identity by sending a photo of her driver’s license but she did not.[18]

On the same day The Washington Post article about Donovan was published, St. Clair and Frank published a piece stating that CounterPunch only ran one article by Alice Donovan during the 2016 election, which was on cyber-breaches of medical databases. Donovan was also exposed by the newsletter as a serial plagiarizer.[17] CounterPunch removed all of the articles from their site.[20]

In a January 2018 follow-up article, St. Clair and Frank exposed a network of alleged trolls that operated a site called Inside Syria Media Center, promoting a pro-Bashar al-Assad and pro-Russian view of the Syrian Civil War. St. Clair and Frank speculated that the website was connected to the same network of trolls as Alice Donovan, which was later confirmed by the Atlantic Council and other researchers.[19][20][21]

On 8 June 2016, "Alice Donovan",[22] and other Russian-controlled fake American personas began promoting the DCLeaks website on Facebook.[23][24]

PropOrNot accusations

In 2016, CounterPunch appeared in a PropOrNot list of websites which it described as Russian propaganda outlets. Writing in the New Yorker, Adrian Chen described the list as a mess and CounterPunch as a "respected left-leaning" publication.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b Blumenthal, Ralph (May 12, 2006). "Army Acts to Curb Abuses of Injured Recruits". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Foer, Franklin (April 15, 2002). "The Devil You Know". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  3. ^ "FAQs". CounterPunch.org. Archived from the original on July 22, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  4. ^ Cockburn, Alexander; Jeffrey St. Clair. "We've got all the right enemies". CounterPunch. Archived from the original on April 25, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  5. ^ "About". CounterPunch.org. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  6. ^ "Counterpunch is the brainchild of Ken Silverstein, a former AP reporter in Rio de Janeiro." Lies of Our Times, vols 4–5 (1993), p. 26.
  7. ^ Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair, Five Days that Shook the World: Seattle and Beyond (London and New York: Verso, 2000), p. 151; Alexander Cockburn, Ken Silverstein, Washington Babylon (London and New York: Verso, 1996), p. 302.
  8. ^ Cockburn, Alexander, and Jeffrey St. Clair, End Times: The Death of the Fourth Estate (Petrolia, California, and Oakland, California: CounterPunch and AK Press, 2007), pp. 2, 44.
  9. ^ Cockburn and St. Clair (2007), End Times, p. 383.
  10. ^ Nichols, John (July 21, 2012). "Alexander Cockburn and the Radical Power of the Word". thenation.com. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  11. ^ An Award-Winning Year, The Investigative Fund. Retrieved July 24, 2016 Archived November 30, 2016, at the Library of Congress Web Archives
  12. ^ Reed, Christopher (March 2, 2003). "Battle of the bottle divides columnists". The Observer.
  13. ^ Moynihan, Michael (December 7, 2010). "Olbermann, Assange, and the Holocaust Denier When you want to believe, you'll believe anything". Reason.
  14. ^ Boot, Max (March 11, 2004). "The Fringe Fires at Bush on Iraq". LA Times.
  15. ^ Mitchell, Dan (October 29, 2006). "Royalty checks aren't in the mail - Business - International Herald Tribune". The New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  16. ^ Tuhus, Melinda (March 22, 1998). "Who Pays For Mistakes In Making Electricity?". The New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  17. ^ a b St. Clair, Jeffrey; Joshua Frank (December 25, 2017). "Go Ask Alice: the Curious Case of 'Alice Donovan'". CounterPunch. Retrieved January 6, 2018. In sum, we published five stories by Donovan. One was apolitical. Four could be considered critiques of US foreign policy during the Trump administration. None mentioned Hillary Clinton, Vladimir Putin, the 2016 elections, Wikileaks or Julian Assange.
  18. ^ a b c d Entous, Adam; Nakashima, Ellen; Jaffe, Greg (December 25, 2017). "Kremlin trolls burned across the Internet as Washington debated options". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
  19. ^ a b DiResta, Renée (September 20, 2020). "The Supply of Disinformation Will Soon Be Infinite". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  20. ^ a b O'Sullivan, Donie (August 23, 2018). "Facebook removes Syrian war page it believes is linked to Russian intel, Twitter keeps it online". CNNMoney. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  21. ^ St. Clair, Jeffrey; Joshua Frank (January 5, 2018). "Ghosts in the Propaganda Machine". CounterPunch. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  22. ^
  23. ^
  24. ^ Bump, Philip (July 13, 2018). "Timeline: How Russian agents allegedly hacked the DNC and Clinton's campaign". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  25. ^ Chen, Adrian (December 1, 2016). "The Propaganda About Russian Propaganda". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CounterPunch&oldid=1240207243"