Thread by @EpochTimes

"The Epoch Times seeks to restore honest journalism, the purpose of a free press."

Wall Street Journal @WSJ publishes op-ed by @EpochTimes publisher Stephen Gregory in response to misleading @NBCNews and @MSNBC attacks. (Thread 👇) wsj.com/articles/nbc-n…

@WSJ @NBCNews @MSNBC The #EpochTimes is a nonpartisan, independent media company that publishes a daily newspaper and website. Our motto is “Truth and Tradition.”

Last week #NBCNews and its sister network #MSNBC launched a series of irresponsible and misleading attacks on us.

The network led with the claim that we have spent “more than any organization outside of the Trump campaign itself” in the past 6 months on “pro-Trump advertisements.”

NBC refers to ads promoting our print subscriptions—typically short, lively videos featuring recent articles.

Because we’ve taken the lead in reporting on #Spygate—efforts by #Obama admin officials and holdovers to take down the #Trump campaign and presidency—these ads often feature reporting on Trump.

That doesn’t make them ads for him; many of our ads have nothing to do with him.

#NBC labels our reporting on #Spygate a “conspiracy theory,” and #MSNBC’s Rachel #Maddow sought to portray #EpochTimes as a purveyor of conspiracy theories.

She described a series of such stories aired onthe YouTube show “Edge of Wonder,” as though they were #EpochTimes content.

But The Epoch Times has nothing to do with “Edge of Wonder,” which is produced in the studios of our sister media company #NTD. It’s an independently operated and funded entertainment show whose shtick is to report on far-out conspiracy theories.

#NBC also smears the spiritual practice of #FalunGong.

Our founders make no secret of being Falun Gong practitioners. Their adherence to its principles inspires the paper’s truthful reporting. But the Epoch Times is neither owned nor operated by Falun Gong.

The report mentions but plays down the brutal persecution #FalunGong practitioners have endured at the hands of the #Chinese #Communist Party.

It gives a distorted picture of Falun Gong, which the Falun Dafa Information Center says is in line with #Beijing’s #Propaganda.

This irresponsible reporting has real-world consequences. The #Chinese state newspaper #GlobalTimes immediately highlighted the #NBC report, crowing that it was an attack on #FalunGong.

NBC’s efforts are being used in #China to justify the persecution of a religious group.

The #EpochTimes is also a top target of the #Chinese #Communist Party. For 19 years we have published groundbreaking reports on the party’s record, including #HumanRights abuses. Our staff in #China were arrested and imprisoned in the fall of 2000.

Why would #NBCNews target us? It claims the #EpochTimes is “a key component of the president’s re-election campaign.” That’s false. We are independent and nonpartisan.

@Harvard’s @ShorensteinCtr found that the tone of NBC’s coverage of Trump's first 100 days was 93% negative.

#Maddow’s reaction to the news that Mr. Trump had won is emblematic. “You’re not having a terrible, terrible dream,” she said on air early in the morning of Nov. 9, 2016. “Also, you’re not dead, and you haven’t gone to hell.”

I believe this outlook leads NBC to forswear honest…

…competition with the #EpochTimes on the basis of good #Journalism. Instead it attacks us with a grab bag of lies and misrepresentations.

That damages our commercial prospects. Like many advertisers, we’ve struggled with #Facebook’s opaque and arbitrary standards for what it…

…calls political advertising. The #EpochTimes’s ads described our reporting and every one of these ads was approved by #Facebook before publishing.

Last week #Facebook banned our advertising altogether.

“Facebook’s decision came as a result of a review prompted by questions from NBC News,” the network reported.

The #EpochTimes seeks to restore honest #Journalism, the purpose of a #FreePress. #NBC’s agenda-driven journalism corrodes an institution meant for freedom.

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