By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, March 22 -- How the UN and its Censorship Alliance work is on display today.
This round started four days ago, when the UN entered Inner City Press' office and, without notice or consent, searched papers and took photograph.
The UN also allowed Pamela Falk of CBS, the president of the UN Correspondents Association (as noted increasingly known as the UN's Censorship Alliance), to take photographs.
Today, three photographs of the office assigned to Inner City Press but rarely used, as UNCA “leaders” have posted insulting flyers and graffiti on the door, appeared in an article in BuzzFeed.
As if primed for (anonymous) action, UNCA “leaders” quickly commented on the BuzzFeed story.
For example, one of the nom-de-web commenters is“Mundo111,” in this case snarking that “it's hardly surprising that VOA and others don't want the guy around. [He] keeps talking about his reporting from NY on the Sri Lanka war against the Tamil Tigers.”
Actually, it was for that Sri Lanka reporting that UNCA tried to throw out Inner City Press. But more to the point, here is what a Freedom of Information Act response from Voice of America says:
"The Mundo111 reference is about a piece in the Guardian UK picked up from Heritage's [REDACTED] about the situation. Someone from UNCA, I honestly don't know who, posted our letter to members on the Guardian comment section.”
So Margaret Besheer of VOA, then an UNCA Executive Committee member, admitted that Mundo111 was “someone from UNCA.” And now Mundo111 is again jumping in, as a first comment to BuzzFeed, defending Voice of America now “want[ing Inner City Press] around.”
We could say more -- Inner City Press has broken more stories at the UN so far this year then stenographer Margaret Besheer has in her whole time at the UN -- but the point is: these anonymous commenters are, admitted and as exposed by FOIA, “someone from UNCA.” This is the UN's Censorship Alliance. Watch this site.
