Don’t Bother So Much About UnHerd website, Its a “Cow” Place For Conspiracy Theorists Like Ian Birrell
Former British journalist Ian Birrell, who has not had attachment to any conventional media platform for some time, is back.
This time, he goes after Dr Donald Kaberuka, the Rwandan former President of the African Development Bank in what appears to suggest he cannot run a legitimate international business. Birrell is in pain because SouthBridge, a financial services firm co-founded by Kaberuka pays consulting fees to British MP Andrew Mitchell.
Not only is this a tired racist dogma, it however is not surprising, considering the platform in which Ian Birrell is publishing; UnHerd.
I will later return to Birrell’s questionable character including forcing musicians for a project he co-founded, to accept £1 payment or go to hell. That is about Rwf 1,330, which buys a loaf of bread in Rwanda.
Let me first tell you about UnHerd website. It was founded in 2017 by editors and writers who couldn’t fit in The Times and Daily Telegraph, two among UK’s major newspapers.
Journalist and independent writer Mic Wright, who also worked at the Telegraph, in a July 2020 piece, described UnHerd as: “site for awful people which pretends it's 'rational'.”
The British news comment site is also known to its detractors as “the cow site” due to its unusual cattle-based branding.
This website gets all its funding from Sir Paul Marshall, a hedge fund multi-millionaire who started his firm, in part, with money from billionaire George Soros. There is no doubt that as a ‘thank you’, Sir Marshall isn’t also funding Human Rights Watch where Soros put $100m in 2010.
“Why do I dislike UnHerd?,” retorts writer Mic Wright, “Because it purports to be ‘reasonable’, ‘fair’ and ‘balanced’ while pushing a relentless right-wing, cruel and populist agenda. It clothes itself in respectability but it is as dangerous as any YouTube cesspool.”
“UnHerd exists as part of a right-wing ecosystem of people, think-tanks, and publications that cosplay as outsiders while having access to the people at the heart of power and often having had access to the levers of power themselves at some point UnHerd cries that no one listens to it, while holding a hedge fund boss’ golden megaphone.”
There is a whole list of media articles about UnHerd. British media hasn’t welcomed the site because it runs conspiracy theories, fashioned as factual information.
Back to Ian Birrell, he has found home at UnHerd. It has several of his stories mainly on Rwanda. Looking at the length of the latest article, you get the sense he filed quite a substantive invoice; he must have used quite a network to pay for spot checks on target sites, such as where he claims are the offices of Dr Kaberuka’s firm in different countries.
Ian Birrell doesn’t have the moral ground to cast doubt on Kaberuka’s ability to run a legitimate global firm. I will not go into detailing Kaberuka’s curriculum vitae. He needs no introduction.
Let’s put Ian Birrell’s own track record into focus. There is so much to say. But I will share just one.
In 2006, Birrell co-founded the so called 'Africa Express’, branding it as platform to “bring musicians of all genres and countries together to collaborate”.
The group claims to have released at least 5 musical albums and has held various tours in Africa, claiming to be working with African singers.
In late January 2018, Africa Express put together a scheme in South Africa that turned out to be a plan to defraud the musicians involved. The victims didn’t go silent despite intimidation and threats from Ian Birrell and his colleagues.
On 5th February, for example, Nabihah Iqbal, one of the affected singers published the exploitative contract which they were lured into signing. It turns out, the contract includes a clause that grants copyright of everything produced on the trip, including any interviews given, to Africa Express in exchange for £1.
Nabihah said on Twitter – “People need to know what is really behind the façade of this "charity". As a POC, I know the playing field is not level. It never has been. But unless we take the risk to speak out about these injustices, things will never change.”
Before Ian Birrell goes around flashing white entitlement over Dr Kaberuka and Rwanda’s leaders, maybe he should explain to us what he intended to do with the South Africa victims.
In the above screenshot, I share a Tweet from one of the musicians lured into an exploitative project. More of the Thread here.
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