Answering the Tow Center's Attempt to Stifle Conservative Journalism
A public answer to a fake news outlet funded by George Soros.
We got the below inquiry from something called the Tow Center for Digital Journalism. The name rang a bell—turns out it's another George Soros-funded entity that exists largely to protect Democrat narratives. We wrote about them in August 2024.
They are attacking us because we are effective. Look at the journalism on our pages. Effective, well-researched news the corrupt liberal media refuses to cover. And Tow Center is one of the groups that exists to attack conservative outlets like ours because we are breaking their censorship of legitimate news.
Keep that in mind next time you read one of these leftist "watchdog" news sites that attempt to claim credibility to judge others' work.
We are including their inquiry and our responses to their questions. I think it is quite obvious what game they are playing. Enjoy.
Hayden,
I'm a journalist working with the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. We will soon be publishing a story on Restoration News in Columbia Journalism Review. As RN's founder and most prolific contributor, you have played an outsize role in shaping the publication. I would be very grateful for the opportunity to speak with you so that I can include your perspective in my story.
Below are a few of the questions I would like to ask you. Please let me know if you have time to speak with me in the coming days, or if you would prefer to respond by email.
- Are Restoration News staff and/or contributors bound by any ethical guidelines or by a staff or editorial handbook? If so, what tenets do you consider most important? Would you be willing to share any such guide or handbook with me so that we can discuss it further?
You mean like the Society of Professional Journalists (SPC) Code of Ethics? It is the most meaningless document ever produced. Every single day, legacy media outlets violate point-after-point in the code. Here's one: "Gather, update and correct information throughout the life of a news story." How did the media abide by that one during the Russian Collusion Hoax or COVID-19 reporting? We don't answer to some empty code. We answer to God, who instructs us via Scripture to tell the truth, expose injustice, and don't bear false witness.
- Can you explain the relationship between Restoration of America, Metric Media, and Brian Timpone?
We are puzzled by this question. Is Brian Timpone the guy you and other liberal media outlets repeatedly associate with the pejorative, "pink slime?" We are confused because in another email to our staff you said: "In traditional journalism, subjects are generally presented neutrally, allowing readers to make up their own minds. Why do you use words like this to describe the people you're writing about?" Since "traditional journalists" like you present subjects neutrally, maybe Brian Timpone isn't the person you are asking about. Can you clarify?
- We are reporting that RN [Restoration News] represents a new kind of right-wing media that is openly funded by prolific political donors, with a distribution network that reaches prominent politicians and the courts. Do you agree with this characterization and if so, can you talk about how and why you developed this vision and strategy? If you disagree with the characterization, please explain why.
Hmmmm, a new kind of media openly funded by prolific political donors, with a distribution network that reaches prominent politicians and the courts. Maybe you ought to write your story about the Tow Center, which receives millions of dollars from the Left's top foundations, including the Ford Foundation and billionaire mega-donor George Soros' Open Society Foundation. Please provide any evidence that you have held any of your donors accountable so we can confirm you are a real journalist instead of a left-wing operative.
- How does the funding Restoration News receives from Restoration of America and Richard Uihlein affect what your site chooses to report on? Do you consider your newsroom to be editorially independent of these entities? If so, who at RN [Restoration News] is responsible for day-to-day editorial decisions and operations?
Same answer as above. The difference between Restoration News and leftist websites like the Tow Center is that Restoration News simply reports on the legitimate stories the Left refuses to cover. Thus, what we are doing is legitimate journalism. You seem to exist simply to attack the real outlets that dare report on the news you purposely ignore because it would harm your benefactors in the Democrat Party. For example, has your publication done any reporting on the Russian Collusion Hoax and how the previous two Democrat presidents spied on and attempted to frame the incoming duly elected president starting in 2016? That has never happened in U.S. history, which should qualify it as "newsworthy." Yet crickets on the story from the Tow Center and "vaunted" Columbia Journalism Review.
- How do you choose your contributors and researchers? Do you consider previous journalistic experience or training important or necessary? What other kinds of experience do you think are particularly important for your contributors and staff?
We choose people who are smart, resourceful, non-Leftist ideologues who can think on their feet and are not happy with an existence attacking journalists who do real journalism, instead of actually doing journalism themselves.
- Our reporting covers two Restoration News writers in particular: Victoria Manning and C.K. Bouferrache. Did either of them have any journalism experience or training before contributing stories to RN? In the case of Manning, our reporting has found that she often didn't disclose that she was a member of the Virginia Beach School Board while writing about schools in the district. Do you view that as a conflict of interest? Why or why not? With regard to Bouferrache, are you aware that she has posted publicly about disguising her identity while reporting on protests? What is RN's policy on this, if any, and how do you balance such disguises with the need for reporters to be transparent with their sources and others they are covering?
Victoria Manning has made a huge difference in her excellent reporting—much more so than evidenced by any of the stories posted under your byline. Mrs. Manning, a mother who made no secret of her affiliation with the Virginia Beach School Board, caught a Virginia school official destroying public records, resulting in criminal charges. She also blew the whistle on schools in North Carolina ignoring a Parental Bill of Rights law. As a result, many of the schools came into compliance. She also reported on First Amendment violations by a North Carolina school that resulted in an apology and legal settlement. She has been at the forefront of parental rights reporting on the Eastern Seaboard. She has held public officials accountable and exposed wrongdoing. Just like a real journalist. Please take notice.
- Our analysis of Manning and Bouferrache's work shows that in many cases, photos of story subjects were pulled from social media or other public internet sites and used without permission or credit. In many cases, story subjects are not quoted, and there is no evidence that the writers gave them a chance to comment. In several cases where we were able to reach story subjects, they said they had not been contacted or even told about the existence of RN's forthcoming stories before publication. What is your policy on contacting story subjects for comment prior to publication, if any? If you do not think it is necessary to give people mentioned by name in your stories a chance to respond to allegations or simply to state their account of the facts, can you explain why not?
I'm sorry, our patience is wearing out with your dopey questions. On what planet do you have credibility to question the journalism of others? The American public has rightly figured out that Leftist "journalism" is fraudulent and not worthy of respect. Overwhelmingly, they don't trust you. Your profession is shrinking into oblivion. What remains is simply a front to promote the Democrat Party and its narratives and attack any institution or individual that is a threat to those narratives. You are attacking us because we are effective at promoting the truth—the truth you purposely ignore. So go ahead and write your feeble little hit piece and maybe your patron George Soros will pat you on the head and give your group another stipend. But please take "journalism" out of your group's title because that's not what you are doing.
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