Ever wonder why news outlets give such a positive view of lefty protests? Maybe it’s where major media get their images. Saturday’s #RiseUpOctober #BlackLivesMatter protest in New York is an excellent example of how journalists spin the news by relying on liberals for their video.
Such protests always have left-wing, anti-police protesters taking video or photos and blogging or Tweeting about the event. In this case, four news organizations – including representatives from ABC, CBS, NBC and Tribune – all reached out to acquire video from one anti-police poster who has complained about “police terror” and called cops “scumbags.” He even claimed police “still work to either control, exploit, or drive out the colonized and oppressed.” So far, it appears only Tribune used the video.
The Twitter account under the name @AshAgony covered the protests – tweeting or retweeting nearly 100 times, many with video. That poster calls himself a “Writer. Thinker. Reporter. Iconoclast,” based in Brooklyn, New York. That links out to a GoFundMe page created by “Ashoka Jegroo,” described as “Ash Agony's Radical Reporting Fund.”
His Waging Nonviolence bio depicts him as a “journalist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York” who has had “bylines in The Santiago Times and the New York Times' The Local blog.” Those New York Times bylines are with the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, which works in collaboration with the Times. Jegroo’s LinkedIn profile says he graduated CUNY in 2013.
His Twitter account gives more evidence he’s no neutral reporter. It also linked to an anti-police oped by Jegroo, headlined: “Black Lives Matter: The Real War On Terror.”
In that Telesurtv piece, he complained specifically about “police terror.” “Over the last year, as well as over the course of the U.S. history, police all over the country have engaged in a ruthless terror campaign.”
Except to Jegroo, it’s not just the last year. It’s since day one. “From their beginnings, the United States’ police have always functioned as a force for controlling poor people and minorities, especially Black people. And the exploitation and violent displacement of colonized people is an American tradition as well. Police today, as they have done in past, still work to either control, exploit, or drive out the colonized and oppressed.”
In another piece he wrote for CUNY’s The Advocate, Jegroo cited a Greek expression linking police, the media and conservatives together. “‘Cops, TV, Neo-Nazis! All the scumbags work together! goes a popular Greek anarchist chant. And it is precisely this chant that contains a truth that has seemingly gone unrecognized by Americans in general and New Yorkers specifically.” In case there’s any doubt he meant all three are scumbags, he reiterated it later, adding: “In the end, all these scumbags work together.”
His Twitter feed is much the same. In one post, he claimed “#NYPD making violent arrests at #RiseUpOctober now! #BlackLivesMatter #JailSupport.” In reality, police were arresting someone who was resisting and multiple people in the crowd appeared to interfere.
Naturally, that’s the video ABC and WNBC wanted. “Hi @AshAgony Did you take this video? If so, may ABC News & its licensees use it w/o limitation in all media? We will courtesy you.” Of course, they tried to get it for free, but he sent them back a response about rates.
Here’s NBC’s adam bruce cousins or @johnnycalzone1 on Twitter making an inquiry: “@AshAgony I work at WNBC News. May we have permission to use your video on all platforms?”
The response from our anti-police poster: “@johnnycalzone1 You can email me for rates. :).”
Even CBS’s Amy Bucknam, a “News junkie, city romper, cat snuggler,” reached out to use his video. “@AshAgony Hi! Can CBS News + domestic + inter'l affils use your video in perpetuity across platform? Feel free to email amy.bucknam@cbs.com.” Again, Jegroo was quick to offer up his services: “@AmyBucknam I'll email you with my rates in the next few minutes.”
That’s the same kind of response @Pix11News reporter Myles Miller got when he asked: “@AshAgony hi there, @MylesMill with @PIX11News can we use this video on-air/online with credit.” Only, when asked about rates, he responded: “gotcha! What's your email?” Video that appears to be the same as Jegroo’s ran on Pix11News’s site.
It will be interesting to see which videos AshAgony’s media friends choose, if any, since journalists are notorious for not running negative images from protests or pretending such protests aren’t anti-police.
In this case, it’s easy to see as one of his posts includes video of protesters chanting, “#NYC: #RiseUpOctober protesters chanting "From New York to #Greece! Fuck the police!" #BlackLivesMatter #ACAB #FTP.” That would seem to indicate a certain anti-cop attitude. Bet that doesn’t land on ABC and CBS.
Or here’s another showing protesters attacking police. “#NYC: Just heard some water bottles got thrown at cops & now they're salty. #RiseUpOctober #BlackLivesMatter #FTP #ACAB.”
