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Mainstream media has a lot to account for in 2024, but go back 90 years, and prestigious publications have often failed to see when things were so clearly wrong. In 1930s Germany, many journalists downplayed Adolf Hitler’s ascension to power, with the New York Times writing “There is no warrant for immediate alarm…The more violent parts of his alleged program he has himself in recent months been softening down or abandoning.” But one young British journalist who, seeing what was happening, quit his job with The London Times and founded The Week, a newsletter that became famous for its opposition to fascism and the Western powers that were enabling it. His name was Claud Cockburn, and he’s the subject of a newly-released biography by his son, Patrick Cockburn, “Believe Nothing Until It Is Officially Denied: Claud Cockburn and the Invention of Guerrilla Journalism,” out now via Verso Books. Patrick is an award-winning journalist himself, with a long expertise in the Middle East. And Patrick is Laura Flanders’ uncle; Claud is her grandfather. How did mainstream media miss what Claud knew about the rise of Nazis, and how did his guerilla journalism make an impact? And why is Claud’s story so relevant now? All that, plus a commentary from Laura.
“It’s often said, that horrible phrase, ‘You’re talking truth to power.’ Well, dear old power certainly doesn’t want to hear the truth . . . What everybody ought to do is tell the truth to the powerless . . .” – Patrick Cockburn
“. . . It was pretty obvious that things were going to get worse. Yet those who were meant to be in charge kept on announcing that peace was just around the corner, that things weren’t as bad as they looked. I think that the parallel is all too strong . . . these crises got worse and the same thing seems to be happening today.” – Patrick Cockburn
Guests
- Patrick Coburn: Author, Believe Nothing Until It Is Officially Denied: Claud Cockburn and the Invention of Guerrilla Journalism; Columnist, iNews
Portions of this interview are featured in our episode, “Patrick & Claud Cockburn: A Legacy of Guerilla Journalism Against Media Complacency.”
