Censorship At The UN

Jun 21, 2014

Censorship At The UN

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Censorship At The UN

On Wednesday June 18th, while thousands of people around the world, including the author, were viewing the UN webcast of the press conference held by Syria, in which election observers reported on the recent elections, the signal was cut and the webcast ended, about 5 minutes into Bashar Al-Jaafari's introduction.

   I, like many, assumed it was a problem with my computer, and tried to re-start watching it. Later I saw posting from other people in different places confirming that the UN webcast had been cut off at the source.

  A video of the full press conference later came up on Youtube, but questions still remain over whether or not this was a technical error or if someone at the UN webcast service deliberately turned off the webcast. 

   This would not be the first time heen cut off from the UN webcast while speaking. Other leaders and speakers find themselves cut off in much the same way from time to time, though it never happens to US allies, and happens to no one as consistently as the representative from Syria.

According to Inner City Press, insiders claim this is a policy, and it comes as a direct order from Michele DuBach, Acting Deputy Director Of News And Media Operations. 

Michele DuBach was at one time the Director of Operations at a US government funded right wing propaganda network known as 'Radio Liberty', formerly 'Radio Free Europe', a cold-war era anti-communist network that continued to broadcast it's pro-capitalist, pro-US message after the USSR had fallen mainly due to lobbying pressure. 

   It appears he still believes his job is to make the US look good. 

    The world would be better served if the UN webservice had a director who understood that his function was to facillitate, not to edit. 

Resources: 

Free Media Online, May 19, 2009, Radio Free Europe

http://freemediaonline.org/freemediaonlineblog/2009/05/19/radio-free-europeradio-liberty-has-lost-its-uniqueness-warns-former-director-of-radio-libertys-russian-service/

Global Research, June 20, 2014, Syria's Press Conference The UN Doesn't Want You To See
http://www.globalresearch.ca/syrias-press-conference-the-united-nations-doesnt-want-you-to-see/5387795

Press TV, June, 21, 2014, Syrian Ambassador Decries UN Mistreatment
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/06/21/367962/syrian-ambassador-decries-un-mistreatment/

Syria Mission To The UN

 http://www.un.int/syria/