The Grayzone

The Grayzone is a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind tankie webshite founded by Max Blumenthal , who was formerly a journalist for mainstream news publications but later became an RT contributor. The website purports itself to be "a news and politics website dedicated to original investigative journalism on war and empire",https://thegrayzone.com/about but it mostly promotes Assadist, Russian, Venezuelan, and Chinese propaganda. Especially after Blumenthal's trip to Moscow.Joshua Collins (February 10, 2020). "Grayzone, Grifters and the Cult of Tank". Muros Invisibles, via Medium. The Grayzone is known for using ad hominem attacks by calling critics neocon shillshttps://www.codastory.com/disinformation/grayzone-xinjiang-denialism or McCarthyites.https://www.axios.com/grayzone-max-blumenthal-china-xinjiang-d95789af-263c-4049-ba66-5baedd087df4.html The website was formerly carried by Alternet, a liberal website that sometimes promotes pseudoscience about GMOs. In February 2018, The Grayzone became an "independent" news source.
Major contributors to The Grayzone (including, as mentioned, Blumenthal) have worked in some capacity or another with Russia and/or its state-run media, like RT and Sputnik News. Blumenthal's wife, Anya Parampil, was previously a presenter for RT America,Justin Baragona (January 19th, 2017). Jake Tapper Delivers Knockout in Response to RT America Anchor Criticizing CNN’s Coverage. Mediaite. and Kit Klarenberg has been credited in articles on RT and Sputnik.Emilio Casalicchio (August 28, 2022). "How a retired MI6 boss, his Brexiteer friends and a celebrity Marxist became targets in Russia’s war on Ukraine". Politico. Aaron Maté has previously worked as a briefer for Russia's mission to the United Nations.Nicolas Camut (July 20, 2023). "Scoop! Why Ben from Ben & Jerry's Blames America for War in Ukraine". Politico. Quote: "I spoke to Aaron Maté, the Canadian-born journalist who won the award for 'defense reporting and analysis' that Cohen was instrumental in funding. ... His reports suggest the Syrian government may not have been responsible for a 2018 chemical weapon attack on civilians, and he has briefed the U.N. Security Council at Moscow’s invitation."(March 24, 2023). "Remarks by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at 'Arria-formula' meeting of UNSC members on risks stemming from politicization of the activities of the OPCW". Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations. Quote: "In this connection, we highly appreciate the activities of our second briefer for today, Mr.Aaron Maté..." Blumenthal, Parampil, Maté, Klarenberg, Ben Norton, Gareth Porter, Dan Cohen, Rania Khalek, Ajit Singh, Alan MacLeod, and The Grayzone itself have all received "Serena Shim Awards","Laureates". Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism. (Archived). which come from the a group supportive of Bashar al-Assad.Julie Carr Smyth (April 25, 2018). "Ohio governor's race feud grows over Kucinich's Syria work". The Associated Press. Quote: "...the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees, the parent group to the pro-Assad Syrian Solidarity Movement."Charles Davis (September 30, 2019). "Pro-Assad Lobby Group Rewards Bloggers On Both The Left And The Right". Bellingcat. In Blumenthal's case, he received $20,000 alongside the award, and in Porter's case he received $10,000 alongside it.Brian Whitaker (July 3, 2021). "Prizes galore! Assad supporters win awards for 'integrity' – with help from a piano tuner in California". al-bab.com.(2019). "ASSOCIATION FOR INVESTMENT IN POPULAR ACTION COMMITTEES: 2019 Form 990 Filing", p. 30. Internal Revenue Service.
At least one of The Grayzone's editors received funding from Iran via state-sponsored Press TV, possibly violating sanctions against those countries as well as the United States' Foreign Agent Registration Act.News site editor’s ties to Iran, Russia show misinformation’s complexity: Experts say an overlap in funding underscores concern that the spread of falsehoods and propaganda online is entering a more complicated stage as the November election draws closer. by Joseph Menn (June 2, 2024 at 9:05 a.m. EDT) The Washington Post.
==General dishonesty==
*They whine about how Wikipedia has "censored" them.Ben Norton (June 10, 2020). "Wikipedia formally censors The Grayzone as regime-change advocates monopolize editing". The Grayzone. Article written by an author who later left The Grayzone. They try to paint Wikipedia editors as neocon shills because The Grayzone was deprecated as a usable source by the community for being a pro-Kremlin propaganda blog. The Grayzone claimed: "At no point has this cabal of editors pointed to a pattern of errors or fabrications by The Grayzone. Instead, they have argued for its blacklisting on the grounds of the political views of its writers". In fact, examples of false propaganda by The Grayzone were discussed (e.g. on the subjects of Syria and Nicaragua), along with its status as a kind of self-published blog rather than an established news organization with a serious editorial policy. The community discussion is publicly archived, meaning the thought process behind this decision can be openly verified by anybody.(December 2019). "RfC: Grayzone". Wikipedia. They attack Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's co-founder, for being a libertarian and admiring Ayn Rand.Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal (June 11, 2020). "Meet Wikipedia’s Ayn Rand-loving founder and Wikimedia Foundation’s regime-change operative CEO". The Grayzone. The Grayzone at all attempting to link Jimmy Wales to the community decision to deprecate their website as a source further demonstrates either their ignorance or propaganda regarding the decision, since Wales had no involvement in the discussion.Here are points raised against The Grayzone by Wikipedia editors (none among the listed were substantially refuted in whole by the response article; most of the "response" simply attacked the individual editors and writers who mentioned these problems; some of these points were not addressed in The Grayzone's response whatsoever) aside from their status as a group-blog, and their association with AlterNet, MintPress News, RT, and Sputnik News:
**In 2011, Max Blumenthal was accused of outright fabricating quotes by the very person he was supposedly quoting (Karen Greenberg). Confronted about this, Blumenthal speculated that she was "intimidated by [Jeffrey] Goldberg and the pro-Israel forces he represents" into claiming she never said it.Jeffrey Goldberg (December 7, 2011). "Did Israel Train American Interrogators in Torture? (UPDATED)". The Atlantic.
**In 2018, The Grayzone published an article claiming validity in Nicaraguan opposition protester "confession" which was possibly coerced or even tortured out of her by interrogators; the article also claimed she was "shown to be play-acting" in a viral livestream where pro-government militants were shown "attacking [a] church in the capital, Managua, where she and 200 other unarmed students had sought refuge." The human rights office for the United Nations contradicted The Grayzone, stating: "The church was subject to shootings by police and pro-Government armed elements for several hours, which led to the killing of two individuals and injured at least 16".Charles Davis (October 4, 2018). "In Nicaragua, Torture Is Used to Feed 'Fake News'". The Daily Beast.
**Quoting from Blumenthal "has attacked not only the White Helmets but also Bana al-Abed, a nine-year-old girl who lived in rebel-held Aleppo and ran a Twitter account with her mother. ... The man ... now accuses anti-Assad Syrians of belonging to al-Qaeda and has claimed that the were affiliated with the Islamist group".
**The Grayzone attempts to smear the Democratic Socialists of America as being substantially backed by the US State Department,Dan La Botz (July 12, 2019). "Against the GrayZone Slanders". New Politics. as well as "millions of protestors, from Hong Kong to Xinjiang, as U.S.-backed fascists and imperialists."Promise Li (January 20, 2020). "No to Chinese Authoritarianism, No to 'Yellow Peril'". Democratic Left, Democratic Socialists of America.
**In an earlier Wikipedia discussion, one editor highlighted a Grayzone article that attempted to: "insinuate that the ISO's logo of a a symbol historically associated with anticapitalist movements (as well as others), was somehow connected to Otpor, a Serbian protest organization which the Grayzone describes as being 'US government funded'".(August 2019). "On the reliability of The Grayzone". Wikipedia.
*Unrelated to Wikipedia: in 2023, Alexey Kovalyov, a journalist with the Russian opposition outlet Meduza posted a screenshot apparently showing his email exchange with one writer for The Grayzone, Kit Klarenberg. In it, Klarenberg states: "my reporting has played a not insignificant role in Meduza getting foreign agented. There's more to come on you lot too." Kovalyov indicated that this was proof that Klarenberg was collaborating with Russian government agencies to label opposition media as foreign agents (see: He asked another Grayzone reporter, Aaron Maté, about this.Alexey Kovalyov (November 16, 2023). "Hey @aaronjmate, I'll give you another chance to respond. You can confirm the authenticity of this exchange with @kitklarenberg. Is it standard practice for @TheGrayzoneNews contributors to collaborate with the Russian Ministry of Justice and other federal agencies?" Twitter, via archive.today. Maté said that both he and Klarenberg suspected the email was fabricated; he added that even if it were real it wouldn't be proof of collaboration.Aaron Maté (November 17, 2023). "I asked Kit and he has no record of this email and can't remember writing it, which leads us to suspect that it's fabricated. ..." Twitter, via archive.today. Kovalyov then sent Maté the .eml file and posted the unredacted screenshot, in response to which, Maté retracted his belief that the email was fabricated but continued to claim that the email did not demonstrate that Klarenberg collaborated with the Russian government. He also said to Kovalyov: "You fabricate claims constantly so there's no reason to trust you."Alexey Kovalyov (November 17, 2023). "Oh, that's how you want to play this? Here's an unredacted screenshot of my inbox with both mine and Kit's emails clearly seen (they're in both our Twitter profiles). You want the .eml file or shall we consider this particular matter settled?" Twitter, via archive.today.Aaron Maté (November 17, 2023). "Yes, send me the .eml file. You fabricate claims constantly so there's no reason to trust you. ..." Twitter, via archive.today.Aaron Maté (November 17, 2023). "Ok thanks for sending. I withdraw my suspicion that you fabricated it. You lie so much about GZ that it was plausible. ..." Twitter, via archive.today. Maté did not respond to a follow-up question about whether Klarenberg had misled him about the email being fabricated.Alexey Kovalyov (November 20, 2023). "At this point I'm going assume you agree with me on this, so let's move on @aaronjmate. Can we also establish that @KitKlarenberg misled you when he claimed in response to your inquiry that he had no recollection of that email? Because it's not the first time I raised this issue." Twitter.
==You've just crossed over into...the Grayzone==
===Conspiracy theories===
*The Grayzone has spread nutty conspiracy theories about George Soros,https://thegrayzone.com/tag/george-soros/ blaming him for regime changes and protests around the world. Blumenthal also blames Soros for supporting protests in Hong Kong, Latin America, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. by Matthew Dimitri (11:16 PM · May 17, 2020) Twitter (archived from April 9, 2021).
*The Grayzone rejects Russiagate.https://thegrayzone.com/tag/russiagate/
===Pseudoscience===
*They believe that Big Pharma is poisoning the population with vaccines.https://thegrayzone.com/tag/big-pharma/ In the same article, they promote anti-vaxxer Del Bigtree.
*They are pissed that people don't like Michael Moore's propaganda https://thegrayzone.com/2020/09/07/green-billionaires-planet-of-the-humans/ They also complain about its supposed "censorship" by billionaires.
===China===
*The Grayzone denies that up to 1 million Uyghurs are in re-education camps in Xinjiang.Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian (August 11, 2020). "The American blog pushing Xinjiang denialism". Axios.https://thegrayzone.com/2018/08/23/un-did-not-report-china-internment-camps-uighur-muslims/https://thegrayzone.com/china-detaining-millions-uyghurs-problems-claims-us-ngo-researcher They believe that there are only 2 studies that corroborate this number, but in reality there are many methods of obtaining similar results.https://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/features/where-did-one-million-figure-detentions-xinjiangs-camps-come They misrepresent CHRD's investigation by claiming that they only interviewed 8 people. In reality, they interviewed 8 people from 8 different villages, which means that their conclusion is much more accurate.https://www.nchrd.org/2020/08/chrd-stands-firmly-by-estimate-of-one-million-uyghurs-detained/ Surprisingly, China's officials suggest that the interviewees' numbers are correct.P.P.S.: CGTN chides the @CHRDnet study for estimating 1 million detainees based on only 8 interviews. Indeed a tiny sample size. But ironically, the internment shares estimated by those 8 locals are not far off from the internment shares reported by 3 townships, also from Kashgar by Adrian Zenz (3:43 PM · Dec 30, 2019) Twitter (archived from January 1, 2020). They also discredit CHRD's research by stating that they received funds from the (NED). Not only is this ironic and hypocritical, they did not bother criticizing his methodology. The only thing in the article that comes close to attacking his methodology is stating that the data comes from a separatist group in Xinjiang. However, Zenz cites other sources in his study, especially Chinese government documents.Zenz is quite forthcoming about how he comes to his conclusions. His writing is standard for peer-reviewed academic work, which it doesn't seem like either Grayzone author has read much of. Most of his (dozens or hundreds of) references are gov. reports and state journalism. by Ben Mauk (6:09 AM - 27 Jul 2020) Twitter (archived from July 27, 2020). The article also fails to mention that it was a Chinese government official who gave them the numbers.ウイグル絶望収容所の収監者数は89万人以上 by 水谷尚子 (Naoko Mizutani) (March 3, 2018) Newsweek Japan.https://chinalawandpolicy.com/2020/01/05/when-journalism-is-not-journalism-the-grayzones-faulty-analysis-of-what-is-happening-in-xinjiang/
*They also opposed the asserting that the CIA, NED, and George Soros funded the Hong Kong protesters, and exaggerated the amount of alt-right support of the protests. They attempt to frame the protesters as literally Hitler by saying that the Neo-Nazi group Azov Battalion joined the protest. In reality, they only went for a tour in Hong Kong and went to places like Ocean Park (whose founder is Pro-Beijing). Also, the protestors have condemned the battalion as well.Actual swastika tattoos, just in case you were left in any doubt these are actual neo-nazis. by Hong Kong Hermit (6:31 AM · Dec 2, 2019) Twitter (archived from November 22, 2020).
*They doxxed a Hong Kong activist named Brian Kern.https://thegrayzone.com/2020/08/08/hong-kong-western-media-yellowfacing-amnesty/ His pseudonym is Kong Tsung-Gan, a Tibetan sounding name.what is it with blumao and a general lack of knowledge? Kern's alias sounds Tibetan, not Chinese. by @OldChinaBland (6:46 AM - 13 Aug 2020) Twitter (archived from August 13, 2020). They plagiarized The Standard's article about it (written 8 months before The Grayzone "exposed" him).https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news/section/21/214605/The-voice-of-Hong-Kong,-from-far-away They blame the mainstream media for using him as a source, but it's not like The Grayzone does it as well right?https://www.thedailybeast.com/in-nicaragua-torture-is-used-to-feed-fake-news When someone talks about Brian, try talk about Charles Redvers.
===Venezuela===
*They claim that the myriad of humanitarian crises that have plagued Venezuela in recent yearshttps://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisishttps://www.icip.cat/perlapau/en/article/violence-corruption-and-organized-crime-in-venezuela/ (ranging from extreme poverty and starvation to gang violence and political oppression) is actually imperialist propaganda from the Big Bad U.S. State Department trying to smear the socialist Maduro government. Max Blumenthal supposedly "exposes" this sinister conspiracy by filming himself grocery shopping at a well-stocked supermarket in a wealthy neighborhood in the capital city of https://medium.com/muros-invisibles/grayzone-grifters-and-the-cult-of-tank-fbd9b8e0dbe2 According to Blumenthal, this is somehow enough to prove that the accounts of unbearable living conditions faced by everyday Venezuelans and the millions of people who have quite literally fled from the country en massehttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-63279800 are apparently nothing more than capitalist lies.
===Eastern Europe===
*They assert that the is funded by the despite there being no evidence on their website.https://canvasopedia.org/about-us/https://www.ned.org/region/central-and-eastern-europe/serbia-2019/
*They are extremely supportive of Alexander Lukashenko. They have spread fake news regarding the recent Belarusian Protests. For example, Ben Norton claimed that protestors were chanting "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty" (US propaganda outlet), but they were chanting "Give us freedom".Anyone falling for this extremely stupid Belarus coup propaganda probably still thinks Saddam Hussein was hiding "WMDs" Because protesters often just "spontaneously" chant the name of CIA-backed US govt propaganda outlets. That's totally normal and organic. Nothing to see here! by Benjamin Norton (6:57 AM · Aug 16, 2020) Twitter (archived from August 16, 2020).That’s not what they are chanting.. they are chanting “give us freedom!”.. you might want to ask someone who speaks Russian to translate by Igor Sshatz (7:34 AM - 16 Aug 2020) Twitter (archived from August 16, 2020).
*Ben Norton claimed that the grenade was thrown by protestors. Since that was a lie, he deleted it. What a coward.https://thegrayzoneproject.wordpress.com
===COVID-19===
*In a surprisingly stopped clock moment, albeit one resulting from pro-PRC bias, The Grayzone called Trump out for normalizing the lab conspiracy, comparing it to Saddam's WMDs.https://thegrayzone.com/2020/04/20/trump-media-chinese-lab-coronavirus-conspiracy/
*Unfortunately, this didn't last as they were still hoping that it came from the US instead.The spokesperson from China's Foreign Ministry is publicly saying the US army might have brought coronavirus to Wuhan, which held the 2019 Military World Games in October, just before the outbreak began by Benjamin Norton (11:10 AM · Mar 12, 2020) Twitter (archived from March 12, 2020).
*They claim that Taiwan didn't warn anyone about COVID-19, which was misleading.https://thegrayzone.com/2020/07/17/us-taiwan-lied-warning-world-health-organization-coronavirus/
*Blumenthal talked on RT about Bill Gates's COVID-19 simulation.On the Zero Hour with RJ Eskow, Max Blumenthal pushes conspiracy theory that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation predicted the novel coronavirus. by Matthew Dimitri (1:33 AM - 31 May 2020) Twitter (archived from May 31, 2020). His claims were completely false.https://www.factcheck.org/2020/01/new-coronavirus-wasnt-predicted-in-simulation/
===US politics===
*Max Blumenthal spent an hour badgering members of https://twitter.com/KristinMink_/status/1421712240558977025 at a protest related to housing evictions, "questioning them" why they didn't force Medicare4All through to be voted onto the Senate ground. This is a view that's known as "Force the Vote", and is considered to be generally politically unviable. In spite of being faced with multiple explanations as to why they didn't do this (it made no strategic sense and would burn the Squads goodwill and their ability to enact further change within the Democrats, it's important to first gather votes, none of the members of The Squad have the ability to bring the M4A bill to the Senate anyway), Blumenthal kept repeatedly asking the same question, seemingly ignoring the explanation. In response, Ilhan Omar pulled up Blumenthal's Twitter feed where she discovered that he'd been retweeting offensive memes about the Squad. When questioned, Blumenthal dismissed it as "just memes" before being removed by staff of the Squad. Blumenthal then uploaded a video to his own Twitter account which only showed him being removed after a short discussion with a single member, removing all context of the previous badgering to paint the Squad as the people unwilling to advocate for change.https://twitter.com/maxblumenthal/status/1421668812659830786
==Norton-Blumenthal split, or "The Worm Turns"==
Sometime around 2021 – early 2022, a schism emerged between Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton,(January 27, 2022). "Ben Norton left The GrayZone". Empire Media. who was formerly The Grayzone's top writer. There is a dispute as to the facts of what happened. Norton's Geopolitical Economy Report (formerly Multipolarista) still exists as a splinter site from The Grayzone as a result of this schism.
On October 4, 2023, Blumenthal made a "tl;dr"-worthy Twitter post proclaiming (edited for relative brevity):Max Blumenthal (October 4, 2023). "Enough silence. The criminal schemes of Ben "Bait-and-Switch" Norton must be known. ..." Twitter, via the Wayback Machine.
Norton wrote in response: 
Blumenthal also posted a video, apparently from July 2023, from an incident in which he (with Anya Parampil) accosts Ben Norton on a random bus in Nicaragua. He yelled at Norton about the above-mentioned disputes for at least two minutes.Max Blumenthal (October 4, 2023). "After Ben violated the terms of our mediation agreement, I decided to break my silence about his deceptions and financial crimes. ..." Twitter (mirrored here). Blumenthal was supported in the split by Caleb Maupin (who claimed Norton's "eyes look possessed"),Caleb Maupin (October 5, 2023). "I was on a bus with Ben Norton in Nicaragua for many hours and he never acknowledged or even spoke to me or any of our CPI members, including a Transwoman. ..." Twitter, via archive.today. Maram Susli (who mentions Norton's opposition to the Russian fascist Aleksandr Dugin),Maram Susli (October 6, 2023). "Max actually cares about ending wars. Ben Norton purity spirals over ideology, lest we forget his statements after Dugina’s murder. In the end he had liberal tendencies." Twitter, via archive.today. Jackson Hinkle (no comment necessary),Jackson Hinkle (October 4, 2023). "So happy the truth finally came out about the criminal Ben Norton. He stole from you and The Grayzone after you gave him so much when he really needed support. This dude is a total asshole!" Twitter, via archive.today. and perhaps most strangely, conservative Twitter influencer Ian Miles Cheong.Ian Miles Cheong (October 5, 2023). "Same thing happened to me some years ago, with someone with a serious drug problem that he hid from me for months. ..." Twitter, via archive.today. Norton was supported by Marxist-Leninist pundit BadEmpanada,BadEmpanada Live (February 16, 2022). "The Grayzone BREAKS UP! Ben Norton Leaves, Regains Sanity - The Sino-Soviet Split of Our Age". YouTube. as well as much of r/socialism."Thoughts on the Ben Norton vs Max Blumenthal fiasco happening on Twitter right now?". r/socialism, on Reddit.
==In a nutshell==
==See also==
*RT
*Alternet
*Globalresearch
==External links==
*"Meet the Sneakiest Defenders of Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine", The Daily Beast
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Antisemitism
Category:Anti-vaccination movement
Category:Anti-Western
Category:Authoritarianism
Category:Blogs
Category:Clogosphere
Category:Conspiracy theorists
Category:Crank magnetism
Category:Denialist websites
Category:Doxers
Category:Fake news
Category:Fascism
Category:Genocide denial
Category:Internalized discrimination
Category:Internet kooks
Category:Iran
Category:Leftists who turned right with age
Category:Plagiarists
Category:Propaganda
Category:Pseudoscience promoting organizations
Category:Russia
Category:Tankies
Category:Vatniks
Category:Webshites