Free Beacon website bribed to whitewash UAE crimes
American media revealed suspicious funding that the UAE has started to provide to an American website to whitewash and promote Abu Dhabi’s reputation.
The Free Beacon website reported that Abu Dhabi began funding an American news website called Grid, launched last month.
According to the website, the new media outlet Grid, which has attracted press hype and big-name talent, was developed by pressure groups affiliated with the Emirates with funding from Deputy Prime Minister Mansour bin Zayed.
It explained that the new press network, promoted by left-leaning blogger Matthew Iglesias as its itinerant editor, raised the initial funds from a holding company owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Grid also consulted with a lobbying firm in Washington, DC, which is a foreign agent registered for the UAE.
The website highlighted that this foreign funding and the participation of pressure groups raises questions about the independence of the news outlet and whether it should be required to register as a foreign agent with the US Department of Justice.
The US Department of Justice has cracked down on news outlets that receive foreign funding and seek to influence US domestic audiences in recent years. This prompted Russia’s RT and China’s CGTN to sign up as foreign clients.
This information comes amid government scrutiny of the status of the UAE’s intense lobbying in Washington, where Abu Dhabi has pumped millions to influence the United States on issues such as climate change and relations with its regional rival Qatar during the crisis, according to the site.
Last year, Tom Barrack, a former Trump aide, was indicted for allegedly working as an unregistered lobbyist for the UAE, charges he denies.
While Grid’s goal of providing more comprehensive and in-depth coverage of news stories is commendable, Ben Freeman, author of The Foreign Policy Auction, said. However, it is worrying that the initial funds for this project came from a company owned by the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE.
“The UAE enjoys one of the worst levels of press freedom in the world. The UAE government has been repeatedly spotted illegally interfering in US politics and elections,” he added, adding: “Is this really who we want to report to?”
According to the New York Times, Grid was first designed in August 2020 by former National Geographic CEO Mark Bowman, which raised the seed money from a company called International Media Investments.
International Media Investments is a holding company owned by the Deputy Prime Minister and half-brother of the Head of State. It is a pressure company in the capital and a registered foreign agent for the UAE. It has also been closely involved in the APCO Worldwide project.
Grid describes itself as a “collaborative newsroom for skilled reporters”. It seeks to provide a “more complete picture” of significant news stories ranging from climate change to the global economy.
He promotes the importance of journalistic independence on her website and says her reporters will “take strict steps to avoid and disclose personal conflicts of interest when they cannot.”
APCO confirmed that it advised Grid before its launch. But she refused to identify the client who brought the company into the project.
“APCO Worldwide provided advisory services to Grid during the first half of 2021,” APCO spokesperson Jimmy Koo told Free Beacon. “APCO does not have an ongoing role in the network.”
During this same time, APCO was a registered foreign agent of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. According to records filed in the Foreign Agents Registration Act database of the Ministry of Justice.
In the Justice Department filings, the company said it was advising the UAE on its media outreach strategy in the United States. As it relates to the “Global Climate Agenda”.
Freeman said it was “alarming that the company is registered by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).” Working in the UAE she was consulting Grid.”
Freeman added: “This, in addition to Emirati funding, may raise eyebrows in the Foreign Agents Registration Law Unit at the Ministry of Justice, which has been requested in recent years by several foreign media. Including Al Jazeera + AJ. Registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”
He continued, “The critical question is how much of Grid’s funding comes from the UAE. and the amount of editorial control, if any.”
While APCO said it was no longer working with Grid, the lobbying firm announced in a press release at the time the appointment of Defterius, a former presenter in CNN’s Abu Dhabi office. by APCO last July. “To support the development of branded content for global media platforms”.
