Look beneath the surface

When one does a Google search for key rules or principles of journalism, similar answers come up.

The American press institute starts with the following key rules:

·         Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.

·         Its first loyalty is to citizens.

·         Its essence is a discipline of verification.

·         Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.

·         It must serve as an independent monitor of power.

Other much quoted principles online are:

·         Truth and Accuracy. “Journalists cannot always guarantee 'truth' but getting the facts right is the cardinal principle of journalism.

·         Independence.

·         Fairness and Impartiality.

·         Humanity.

·         Accountability.

Noble and high principles that sadly some journalists seem to have thrown out the window.
There are plenty of examples we can find in current day media where bias comes through blatantly in an article. One such example is an article about Kosmic Fusion and its Founders by Steve Kilgallon and Tony Wall in an online New Zealand newspaper called Stuff.

These two proudly call themselves national correspondents but have miserably failed to uphold basic principles of journalism. They shamelessly published an extremely biased article that demonized two selfless people doing good and sharing a most uplifting Frequency for the benefit of humanity.

Biased apparent right off the bat

For this article one doesn’t even need to look beneath the surface to see it is biased, Hinduphobic and Hindumisic. The very start of the article shows the attitude and bias of the two journalists. They took photos of the murtis from Sree Maa Shri Ji’s home temple and wrote ‘Bad vibrations’ underneath it. Who in their right (journalistic) mind would do such a thing?

Would they ever dare to do this with a statue of Jesus on the cross? Of course, they wouldn’t. Beheadings are done if someone drew prophet Mohammed, but these journalists will not report on that. However, they felt no qualms taking photos of Deities that are very dear and sacred to Sree Maa Shri Ji and abuse these photos. On top of that they ‘decorated’ the article page with incense smoke. These two so-called journalists were clearly taking a dig at Hinduism.

The reason for this becomes clearer when you look beneath the surface.

When you read through the article, one of the things that strikes immediately is the use of only Christian words and concepts. If Steve’s and Tony’s own leaning and understanding only extends to Christianity, they should have made sure to interview experts on areas where they are lacking.

 Quoting again from the principles as described by the American press institute:

“This “journalistic truth” is a process that begins with the professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Then journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of their meaning, subject to further investigation.”

“Seeking out multiple witnesses, disclosing as much as possible about sources, or asking various sides for comment, all signal such standards. This discipline of verification is what separates journalism from other forms of communication such as propaganda, advertising, fiction, or entertainment.”

All of the above, the journalists have failed to honour though they try to make it appear as if they have consulted multiple people.

What is clear in the article is that the journalists have not consulted any Vedic expert or someone who understands Shakti. Instead, they quote a professor who has never even experienced Quantum Vortex Scalar Wave-Photon Pulse to give his comment. What kind of a scientist is this that talks about something without researching it?

They also failed to consult a psychiatrist or psychologist to explain the basics about narcissistic personality disorder and only gave passing reference to narcissism.

Had these two journalists bothered to do their due diligence, they would have learnt that people who suffer from narcissism run a smear campaign when they are being called out for their toxic behaviour. This would have put the words of the two ex-volunteers who were asked to leave after 5 years of discordant and toxic behaviour in a much different perspective. Instead, the journalists gave them a carte blanche to play their victim card – something that narcissists also love to do.

What is more disturbing is the fact that the so-called experts that Tony and Steve do portray extensively in their article are heavily involved in the Christian church – though this is not disclosed in the article. A clear breach of the journalistic principle “disclosing as much as possible about sources”.

‘Experts’ linked to the Christian church

It does take a little digging to find out the truth about the sources mentioned in the article, but one doesn’t have to be a super sleuth.

One key expert that is extensively quoted is Mark Vrankovich, described as “the executive director of cult monitoring organisation Cultwatch”. One look at the about page of Cultwatch and its Christian roots and purpose are obvious.

Its website says: "Cultwatch is a para-church organisation made up of people from different Christian denominations." and "Cultwatch is a Christian based organisation dedicated to helping people from all walks of life." This is followed by a long list of what they believe in which is all about Christ and the Christian doctrine.

The official document of the “Charitable Trust” called “Cultwatch” shows it was registered in 1995 and the purpose of Cultwatch is and i quote “: "To endeavour to reinforce Christian doctrine and to teach Christian people and Christian leaders concerning the adverse effect of mind control" and "To defend historical and orthodox Christian doctrine".

Mark Vrankovich also has close ties with Ian Mander who manages the website cults.co.nz, which clearly states “The list will be of most use to Christians in New Zealand, as the list entries have been written from a Christian perspective with New Zealanders in mind.” This website lists anything that is not of a certain Christian doctrine as a cult, from astrology to meditation to yoga and particularly anything related to Sanatana Dharm (Hinduism) is classified as ‘danger’. Why this need to call anything that is not their particular Christian doctrine a cult?

Also extensively quoted in the article is Peter Lineham “professor of religious history at Massey University”. A small internet search reveals that this professor has particular interest in preaching Christianity on radio and other media, see for example this podcast interview with him.

With having such clear objectives of reinforcing Christian doctrine in their lives, how can the commentary of Mark Vrankovich and Peter Lineham be unbiased or even fair? And why did the journalists not reveal the strong Christian background and objectives of these two key sources?

No integrity

But then again, when the journalists couldn’t even get basic facts right in their article, it didn’t give much confidence for the rest of the content. For example, there were only ever a maximum of 3 volunteers living in the Ashram house, whereas they claim 12.

The one volunteer living in the Ashram house from start to finish, they also ‘failed’ to interview as they knew this person would relay facts that wouldn’t fit their agenda and narrative. Neither did they interview the one person who had worked closely with Joy Kuo (now calling herself Joy Vottus) for 5 years and had been the prime victim of her narcissistic abuse. His testimony would definitely not fit with their agenda, so they avoided contacting him.

Their seeking out witnesses is selective at best but would probably fall under the qualification of deceptive.

Rather than honest and verified reporting these two so-called journalists showed no integrity. They lent themselves for a smear campaign by two narcissists and worse they lent themselves for propaganda of the Christian church that  since the start of colonial times has been demonizing Hindus and Hinduism.

The next blog will explore the larger context in which this Hindumisic article was written.