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The Viewco-host Sunny Hostin alleges that ABC News attempted to remove passages from her forthcoming memoir that reflected poorly on the network, journalist Yashar Ali reports. In his newsletter, Ali published excerpts from Hostins book,I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds, in which she claims that the news organization tried to censor her memoir months ahead of its release. I didnt want to believe that racism played a part in their revision requests, she writes, per Ali. We were just dotting some is and crossing some ts, right?

According to Ali, who obtained a copy of Hostins memoir from a source,I Am These Truthscontains a forward alleging that ABC News asked her to delete passages that portrayed the network in a negative light. Deleting those passages didnt feel right to me, writes The View co-host and ABC News legal analyst and correspondent. They were all true, and they were some of the battle scars of my experience.

Hostin reportedly does not reveal what passages she was asked to remove, but writes that the request came in early summer, as Americans took to the streets in the wake of George Floyds death. My television agent and my book agent emailed me to express confusion that a news organization would try to censor a Puerto Rican, African American womans story while they were covering global demonstrations demanding racial equity, she claims.

The authors lawyers pushed back, and ultimately, ABC relented. Then, on Friday, June 12th, I got a text from a reporter, she writes. That reporter was Ali, who published a bombshell HuffPost report about senior ABC News executive Barbara Fedida. The exec allegedly made racist comments about various Black employees, including Hostin (sources told Ali that Fedida called her low-rent) and Robin Roberts.

Hostin addressed Fedidas alleged remarks on The View shortly after Alis story was published, but in her memoir, she goes into great detail about the experience. I was floored. I felt incredibly sad, but I also felt relief, writesThe Viewhost. Many of the experiences Ive had at ABC, including several described in these pages that standards and practices at first asked me to delete well, if the allegations were true, all of the dots were connected.

My suspicions that I was treated worse than my white colleagues the fears that I tried to talk myself out of many times maybe they were true, she continues. Had my employer, my home away from home, devalued, dismissed, and underpaid me because of my race? I had just read emails from them directing me to erase evidence of such treatment from my story. And if Im being honest, I wasnt even angry. I was deeply, profoundly shaken and saddened.

In July, The Walt Disney Company, ABC News parent organization, fired Fedida following an investigation into the allegations. The investigation substantiated that Ms. Fedida did make some of the unacceptable racially insensitive comments attributed to her, said Peter Rice, Chairman of Walt Disney Television, in an email sent to ABC News employees. It also substantiated that Ms. Fedida managed in a rough manner and, on occasion, used crass and inappropriate language.

Sunny Hostins memoir,I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds, hits bookstands on Tuesday, September 22.

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Sunny Hostin Claims ABC News Tried to Censor Memoir Passages That Reflected Poorly on the Network - Decider

Days after President Donald Trump admitted to knowingly downplaying the Covid-19 pandemic in his statements to the public, new reporting late Friday revealed that Trump political aides have been reviewingand in some cases alteringweekly CDC reports about the deadly virus in an effort to bring them into closer alignment with the president's false narrative and claims.

Politico reported Friday evening that the Health and Human Services Department's politically appointed communications aides, led by former Trump campaign official Michael Caputoa Republican strategist with no medical expertise"have attempted to add caveats to the CDC's findings, including an effort to retroactively change agency reports that they said wrongly inflated the risks of Covid-19 and should have made clear that Americans sickened by the virus may have been infected because of their own behavior."

"Trump CDC is dead to me if they muzzle the MMWR. To kill the MMWR is akin to burning science." Eric Feigl-Ding, Federation of American Scientists

The primary target of the Trump officials' interference, according to Politico, has been the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR), a crucial resource for experts, public officials, and members of the public seeking to track the spread of Covid-19. While CDC officials have pushed back on meddling from political appointees,Politico reported that the agency has "increasingly agreed to allow the political officials to review the reports and, in a few cases, compromised on the wording."

According to one internal email obtained by Politico, Caputo aide Paul Alexander accused the CDCan agency directed by Trump appointee Robert Redfieldof "writing hit pieces on the administration" and attempting to use its weekly reports to "hurt the president."

"CDC tried to report as if once kids get together, there will be spread and this will impact school re-opening," wrote Alexander, an assistant professor of health research at McMaster University in Toronto. "Very misleading by CDC and shame on them. Their aim is clear."

Alexander demanded that Redfield allow the HHS aide to personally edit the CDC's reports, which are authored by career scientists.

"The reports must be read by someone outside of CDC like myself, and we cannot allow the reporting to go on as it has been, for it is outrageous. Its lunacy," Alexander, who has also attempted to alter the public messaging of Dr. Anthony Fauci, wrote to Redfield. "Nothing to go out unless I read and agree with the findings how they CDC, wrote it and I tweak it to ensure it is fair and balanced and 'complete.'"

Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves called the emails "explosive" and said Caputo should resign immediately.

"This is just beyond the pale," Gonsalves tweeted. "Caputo, with acquiescence of Redfield, has started to twist the science to Donald Trump's advantage. It's sick and disgusting."

In one email to CDC officials obtained by POLITICO, a Caputo aide blistered scientists and called for already-published reports to be retroactively altered. pic.twitter.com/QSFhMlU00i

Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) September 12, 2020

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According to Politico, attempts by political appointees to alter the MMWR to their liking "began in earnest after a May report authored by senior CDC official Anne Schuchat, which reviewed the spread of Covid-19 in the United States and caused significant strife within the health department."

"HHS officials, including Secretary Alex Azar, believed that Schuchat was implying that the Trump administration moved too slowly to respond to the outbreak," Politico continued. "The HHS criticism was mystifying to CDC officials, who believed that Schuchat was merely recounting the state of affairs and not rendering judgment on the response."

In addition to trying to change the language of CDC scientists to make it fit with the president's rosy depiction of the pandemic, Caputo and his aides have also moved "to halt the release of some CDC reports, including delaying a report that addressed how doctors were prescribing hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug favored by Trump as a coronavirus treatment despite scant evidence," Politico reported Friday.

"The report, which was held for about a month after Caputo's team raised questions about its authors' political leanings, was finally published last week,"Politico noted. "It said that "the potential benefits of these drugs do not outweigh their risks."

Politico's new reporting represents just the latest evidence of the Trump administration's ongoing interference in the activities of public health agencies, an effort lawmakers and experts have denounced as a deliberate campaign to undermine trust in Covid-19 data and advance the president's political agenda.

"A Trump stooge with a history of racist statements and no medical background is doctoring CDC reports warning Americans on Covid because they make Trump look bad," Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.) tweeted late Friday, referring to Caputo.

Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, said the "Trump CDC is dead to me if they muzzle the MMWR."

"To kill the MMWR," Feigl-Ding added, "is akin to burning science."

Continued here:
'Downright Criminal': Leaked Emails Reveal Effort by Trump Aides to Censor and Alter CDC Covid Reports Behind Closed Doors - Common Dreams

President Donald Trump's threat to pull funding from schools planning to incorporate The New York Times' 1619 Projectwhich aims to reframe American history through an increased focus on slavery and the contributions of Black Americanshas sparked intense criticism.

On Sunday, Trump tweeted that the Department of Education would be "looking at" claims that California is planning to use the 1619 Project to teach students about America's history of slavery.

The president's tweet came on Sunday morning in response to a Twitter user's claim that "California has implemented the 1619 Project into the public schools."

"Soon you won't recognize America," the social media user wrote in a September 1 tweet.

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If that is the case, Trump responded, "they will not be funded!"

The president's threat was met with both support and backlash, with a journalist behind the project appearing to accuse the president of censorship.

"Do those concerns about cancel culture and McCarthyism and censorship only apply to the left or do they apply to the POTUS threatening to investigate schools for teaching American journalism?" Nikole Hannah-Jones, a New York Times Magazine journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary for her essay in The 1619 Project, wrote in a tweet. "Silence is deafening here."

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Meanwhile, in a piece written for Forbes, writer Seth Cohen accused the Trump administration of "threatening to censor the way schools teach about the history of slavery and racism in the United States."

The tweet, Cohen wrote, "continues a trend of [the Trump administration's] provocative actions regarding educational approaches to racial injustice in America, with the writer pointing out that it came just days after the Trump administration announced plans to cease diversity training it determines to be "anti-American."

Bernice King, the youngest child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, also condemned Trump's tweet, writing: "We are on the brink of change, family. The highest office in the land is trying to stop teaching that will bring us closer to eradicating racism."

"Millions have aligned themselves and are complicit," King added. "But it's been too long. Justice will win."

While many struck out at the president's threat, others spoke out in support of the decision, with some pointing to the scrutiny the 1619 Project has faced over its historical accuracy.

In a tweet, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took aim at Hannah-Jones's tweet, asserting that "calling out lies is not silence."

"NYT explicitly admits the 1619 Project is revisionist history," he wrote, quoting the project's own self-proclaimed effort to "reframe our country's history."

"It is filled with serious errorswhich have been called out by top historiansbut the NYT doesn't care," Cruz claimed, adding: "You're not after truth."

The creators of the 1619 Project have been clear that the initiative is aimed at challenging widely accepted interpretations and portrayals of American history by telling the story with a focus on the realities and long-lasting impacts of slavery and on the contributions of Black people in America.

Cruz is correct that a number of historians have questioned and criticized aspects of the historical veracity and fairness of the 1619 project.

In December 2019, for example, five prominent historians, Sean Wilentz, Victoria Bynum, Gordon Wood, James McPherson and James Oakes, wrote a letter to The Times accusing the creators of the project of a "displacement of historical understanding by ideology."

In particular, the letter argued that a claim made in Hannah-Jones' introduction to the project, which asserted that a primary reason that "colonists decided to declare their independence from Britain was because they wanted to protect the institution of slavery" was unfounded.

Meanwhile, that same month, a number of scholars and political scientists focused on the American Civil War wrote a letter claiming that the project made the unfair suggestion that slavery is a uniquely American phenomenon.

Eventually, New York Times magazine editor-in-chief Jake Silverstein wrote an update to the project changing Hannah-Jones' essay to say: "protecting slavery was a primary motivation for some of the colonists," rather than all.

While the project has faced some criticism, it has also been praised as a critical endeavor that refocuses the telling of American history on the stories of those affected by the country's history of slavery since it began more than 400 years ago.

Newsweek has contacted the White House and the Department of Education for comment.

See the article here:
After 1619 Project Threat, Trump Accused of Trying to Censor History of Slavery - Newsweek

This is exactly how liberal fact checks lie and deceive. The liberal fact checks debunk things they make about what is said, in the hopes people just read false and move on. I will give you an example like the video does. If I state the absolute fact that masks do not stop viruses. The virus is too small and the fibers of most masks can not hold it. That is a scientific fact that will never change. But liberal Fact checks will say my clam is false. If you read why they say it is false you find out they are liars. They will cite studies showing masks blocking spital and how masks stop spit and sneezes. Bill Nye the science guy will say I am wrong because he cant blow out a birthday candle while wearing a mask. Notice they are all deceivers. I am not saying a mask cant block spit or block blowing air across a room. I said it cant block a virus! The VIRUS will go through the mask in all those scenarios. But they dont even address what I said, they pretend I said something else and then deceive you.

Liberal fact checks are the opposite of what they claim to be. They are liberal opinion and liberal lies designed to trick you and make you reject the truth. And, if you are already liberal, they are there to make you stay in the dark and make you feel better when someone confronts you with the truth so you dont change and escape from your liberal prison.

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Video Facebook tries to censor me again but they're wrong - WSAU News

The uni is also enforcing unconscious bias training

The University of Lincoln SU has made the decision to censor the N-word during SU club nights after pressure from a university group trying to highlight institutional racism within universities.

The student-led project, LIBCO (liberation-coordinations), composed over ten thousand words on how the University of Lincoln and the Student Union can be better allies, following their statements on Black Lives Matter.

Since then, talks between LIBCO and the uni and SU have led to multiple changes being promised, including unconscious bias training, the appointment of a racial complaint officer, and censoring the N-word in SU club nights.

Naomi Ngondi, one of the four students leading this project, told The Lincoln Tab: The purpose of this is not to blame and shame, rather have these uncomfortable conversations and move towards a fair and equal system for all. As uncomfortable as senior leaders or white people are having these conversations, black people are subjected to an uncomfortable existence.

Having sent the 10,000 word document to both the SU and the university, LIBCO was invited to video-call meetings with each organisation.

Naomi told The Lincoln Tab that within the meeting with the SU, the SU confirmed that they will be taking action based on focus groups that they have conducted. They also told the group that they will be appointing a racial complaint officer, and have been speaking with an independent candidate that they feel will fulfill this role well.

The SU also said that they will be offering workshops on unconscious bias, which will also be available to those outside of the University.

They have ensured that the N-word will now be censored on Student Union club nights. Rihanne Morris, another student leading the project, tried to push for this in her role as BAME officer two years ago. (The University of Lincoln reassured The Lincoln Tab that the process of making these changes has been in the works for a long time.)

The group then went on to speak with Liz Mossop and Simon Parkes from the University of Lincoln. In the meeting, Naomi says that it was agreed that the University will be more aware of the way in which they use the term BAME, as to not over-generalise.

They also told the group that they will be offering training to students and staff on unconscious bias, and training to their wellbeing staff on how to be culturally competent in the support that they offer.

Additionally, they told the group that they will be setting up a student advisory, to help them with any anti-racism projects, and to help them to be more active in their response to social justice matters on social media, too.

LIBCO also highlighted how there need to be steps taken to not only decolonise the curriculum but to make it more inclusive. Naomi also said that the university ensured they were committed to doing so.

The group also highlighted the attainment gap, which indicates that black students get 26.2 per cent less of the higher grades than their white peers. Naomi told the Tab that they were assured that there will be a focus on closing this gap.

The University of Lincoln and the Students Union said in a joint statement: We are delighted to continue collaboration with students and staff in discussing how, as a community, we address racial inequality. It is important we continue our work together to help inform decisions and best practice. We have made it clear we stand with the black community against racism, discrimination and injustice and we are committed to numerous ongoing and developing projects including curriculum changes,appropriate educational resources and addressing educational awarding gaps.

LIBCO have started a petition to show support from the student body for these institutional changes, which you can access here.

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Lincoln SU club nights to censor the N-word in songs after pressure from BLM group - The Tab