Confronting The Guardian Newspaper SMEARS!

Dear Readers,

Below is a copy of the e-mail sent today to The Guardian Newspaper in relation to their article at the weekend.

“A newspaper’s primary office is the gathering of news. At the peril of its soul it must see that the supply is not tainted.”

Dear Sirs,

Firstly I would like to draw attention to the aforementioned quote within The Guardians editorial code. I was approached via e-mail by your colleague Josh Halliday with the following:

Hi there,

I’m getting in touch as I keep seeing Unity News Network stories pop up on various social media accounts that I follow. I looked it up and thought it sounded interesting so wondered if David Clews would be around to chat for a piece.

I’m particularly interested in how it’s funded, how many staff you employ, how you choose what stories to cover and how you get your content out there. I saw you’ve got 39,000 followers on Facebook, which is pretty impressive in under a year.

I’m available on xxxxxxxx or based in Manchester (but in London tomorrow) if meeting in person is easier.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Josh Halliday

Guardian News & Media

In the spirit of openness and mutual respect I then engaged in a series of correspondence with Mr Halliday that resulted in his visiting my home where I spoke with him at length for two hours concerning the work we do at Unity News Network and also my aims and ambition for our organisation. Mr Halliday stated clearly and throughout that he was interested in the growth of alternative media and its power to reach new people.

It is with a sense of incredulity that I have seen the piece he has added his name to and what I feel is blatant inaccuracies bordering on lies about our organisation and its aims.

The first paragraph boldly states the following assertion:

“From here, a fast-growing viral news site pumps out a daily stream of clickbait and conspiracy theory in support of the party’s hardline agenda.”

Firstly I am not nor ever have been a member of UKIP. Whilst our Editor-In-Chief is the Youth UKIP Chairman in Scotland we have a strict discipline and ethos that we do not merely want to be seen as a mouthpiece for UKIP.

As I explained to Josh we have undertaken extensive surveys and analysis of our readership which indicates some level of support for their policies I also intimated there was support for both Labour and Conservative policies amongst our readership as well.

Secondly the term ‘clickbait’ is used to reference our articles. This was written without providing any examples of this. If Mr Halliday and Mr Walker had done their research properly they would be aware that social media companies downgrade and do not promote clickbait and even within Facebook there is a section that shows whether or not this applies to any articles. As of this time we have not had one single strike and our headlines do not come under what would be regarded as ‘clickbait’.h

The article also alludes to Conspiacy Theory. I explicitly intimated to Josh that we do not create or promote conspiracy theories because I don’t believe in them! Likewise the sentence concludes ‘in support of the party’s hardline agenda’ again I would like to see any evidence you have within any of our articles or our videos that we support UKIP or what you consider to be their ‘hardline’ agenda. As I say there is much I agree with in UKIP and much I also disagree with and in our videos have gone on record as saying that.

“Along with Brexit-themed memes such as one showing the US financier George Soros as a puppet-master controlling the French president, Emmanuel Macron. Such images of Soros, who is Jewish, are widely criticised as antisemitic in tone. “

This statement was extremely upsetting and hurtful to me. As a lifelong supporter of the state of Israel and a strident voice against anti-semitism the inference here is that our tone is anti-semitic. Mr Halliday specifically asked me about this image and I responded with the fact we are totally against all forms of racism or anti- semitism and that this image was alluding to the fact that Mr Soros is widely seen as using his money and influence over politics which I determine to be a threat to democracy.

The rest of the article is then linked to the views of Gerard Batten, UKIP and Tommy Robinson. I have never met or spoken with Gerard Batten or Tommy Robinson in my life. As a non party movement and individual I do not classify myself or Unity News as a supporter or mouthpiece for either Gerard Batten or Tommy Robinson. I specifically intimated that when Tommy Robinson was arrested we took an editorial line that this was wrong and this view was shared by many people. His initial sentencing has also been legally declared as void and full of mistakes.

I explained in detail that many of our readers back UKIP and Mr Robinson but increasingly we are taking as unbiased a tone and trying not to be a propaganda outlet. In terms of our business model we know first hand that being hyper partisan would actually result in short term hits with increased revenue but in fact we actually have big plans for what we are looking to achieve so are adopting a more nuanced approach.

In conclusion my complaints are as follows:

1- The journalist in question gained my trust and openness through what I would term as deceit. I felt that we struck up a positive relationship and I alluded to future collaboration and mutual respect but the manner in which this article has been written has destroyed any trust.

Whilst I am critical of the mainstream media I intimated on numerous occasions to Mr Halliday that I did in fact have respect for the Guardian as a newspaper and a source of left leaning news. This experience has left me feeling that this is in fact not the case and that this piece of work is not an example of impartial journalism but in fact political activism which goes against your own editorial code of conduct.

2- After meeting with Mr Halliday and our previous discussions I was left in in doubt that the article was to be about the growth of alternative and populist news sites. At no time was I under the impression that the main thrust of my comments would be used in an article attacking UKIP and Tommy Robinson.

3- The article states that we produce clickbait and conspiracy theories. This is simply not true and social media companies agree with us on this and a simple search of our site or social media would prove the same.

4- We are not supportive or linked with any political party and pride ourselves on editorial Independence. We have had no meetings or discussions with any political parties about our output and not only do I take extreme offence at this it is simply untrue.

i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures. ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and – where appropriate – an apology published.
In cases involving the Commission, prominence should be agreed with the PCC in advance. iii) The Press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.

I draw attention to the above text from your own editorial code of practice and I do not feel on this occasion that this has been adhered to. As an aside I acknowledged to Mr Halliday that whilst what we do is not to everyone’s taste the direction we are taking Unity News down is a space we feel once occupied by both the Daily Mail and Daily Express

I very much look forward to hearing from you and reiterate I have no personal animus toward either The Guardian or Mr Halliday but more a sense of disappointment. Likewise this may give a bit of insight as to why many people have lost faith in once respected institutions.

Kind Regards,

David Clews

Unity News Network

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