MIDLIFE CRISIS-19, Wednesday, October 04, 2023 [1 of 2] – Not Simply “Charges Dropped,” "There Was No Kidnapping."
This is Part I of a two-part post regarding some of the propaganda waged at the Sound of Freedom, double entrendre intended.
“Christine Bertelson, the circuit court's public information officer, told USA TODAY the case involved ‘a misunderstanding’ between relatives of the children in question. ‘There was no kidnapping’” (1.).
But the damage was done at the height of the movie’s summer run, there will be no price paid for that loss.
At the time of reporting in early August, how was the July 23 arrest reported?
“Financier of QAnon-Esque Child Trafficking Film Is Arrested for Child Kidnapping – The Irony” according to the Daily Beast (2.).
The reporting continues.
“One of thousands of funders of Sound of Freedom, a partially crowdfunded film about child trafficking with ties to QAnon conspiracies, was recently charged with child kidnapping, Newsweek reports. Only weeks after the film’s release, Fabian Marta, 51, was arrested by St. Louis Metropolitan Police on July 23 for the class A felony. The incident happened on July 21 but police declined to provide more details to The Daily Beast. Before his arrest, Marta seemed to brag on social media about helping fund the film, according to since-deleted Facebook posts seen by Newsweek” (2.).
As noted, the Daily Beast refers to Newsweek reporting (2., 3.), so what does Newsweek reporting look like?
“'Sound of Freedom' Creator Addresses Funder Fabian Marta Kidnapping Arrest” (3.).
See how the Daily Beast propagandist … I mean, reporter, takes the liberty to inflame a factual headline, what turned about to be, “no kidnapping,” and turned it into propaganda about right-wing conspiracy where the only conspiracy was the Daily Beast reporting? The Daily Beast was not participating in journalism, they were participating in a malign campaign against the movie, and anyone associate with it.
I guess that we could simply blame it on the intern, Isabella Ramirez, Breaking News Intern, Daily Beast.
In journalism, the Daily Beast reporting serves the unwitting, those who are known as the “drive-by” reader, those who only read the headline, then form an opinion without ever reading the story reported, nor the underlying context in which the headline is being propagandized.
The Newsweek reporting continues.
“On Friday morning, Newsweek reported that Fabian Marta was arrested by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and charged with accessory to child kidnapping, according to a Missouri court filing. A department spokesperson confirmed to Newsweek that Marta was charged on July 23” (3.).
Catch that?
Fabian Marta was charged with, “accessory to child kidnapping,” which makes the Daily Beast headline false at face, independent of the outcome of the investigation (3., 2.).
Even the Daily Beast’s disingenuous word choice is a gross abuse of semantics. The Daily Beast’s reporting took Newsweek’s, “one of the anti-child trafficking movie's funders,” as reported in their headline as, “Funder,” and bastardized it to, “Financier,” including making it the lead word in their headline (2., 3.).
“Financier” sounds more like a principal, a major stakeholder, of which Fabian Marta is not. It’s quite the contrary, funders were limited in what they could contribute.
Angel Studios, the media and film distribution company for Sound of Freedom, responded with great clarity on what funding means specific to the crowd funding that took place in the run-up to the movie’s release.
“Jeffrey Harmon, co-founder of Angel Studios, which created the Sound of Freedom movie, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘He is one of 6600+ crowd investors. Seriously, who sorted through 6600 names of random people who put a few hundred dollars into P&A funding and cross checked it with local judicial databases? That's a lot of work for a nothingburger.’” (3.).
Jeffrey’s brother further clarified their funding criteria.
“Neal Harmon, Jeffrey's brother and CEO of Angel Studios, also issued a statement on Friday discussing its crowdfunding policy for Sound of Freedom.
“’Angel Studios adhered to the requirements of federal and state laws and regulations in allowing 6,678 people to invest an average of $748.73 each into the launch of SOUND OF FREEDOM. Just as anyone can invest in the stock market, everyone who meets the legal criteria can invest in Angel Studios projects. One of the perks of investing was the ability to be listed in the credits,’ the statement said” (3.).
The USA TODAY reporting put it in even simpler terms.
“Marta was one of many who contributed small sums to help market "Sound of Freedom," generating small returns for each investor. The film became a surprise summer hit, earning more than $183 million at the North American box office” (1.).
So basically, the Daily Beast, baselessly inflamed the Newsweek reporting – the Truth – in a grossly misleading headline. That is not news, it is textbook propaganda.
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Let us continue, returning to today’s USA TODAY reporting.
Giving credit where credit is due, USA TODAY got the headline right.
“Charges dropped against 'Sound of Freedom' crowd investor: 'There was no kidnapping'” (1.).
That’s a pretty solid headline.
But also unlike the Newsweek reporting, USA TODAY took further discretion in maligning Tim Ballard regarding repeated baseless allegations, where only the allegations exist, not even a victim, only the anonymous, literary ghosts.
“Yet the thriller, which features "The Passion of the Christ" star Jim Caviezel as Ballard, became a lightning rod for criticism and a political football. Caviezel made comments on Steve Bannon's podcast that referenced QAnon and adrenochrome, topics that have surfaced in far-right circles, and then Marta made headlines with his arrest” (1.).
Tim Ballard is on record giving personal account to instances in which he witnessed traffickers participating in blood rituals. Any attempt to conflate firsthand testimony with “conspiracy” is propaganda, because the reporting lacks context, it simply exploits the opportunity to insert the words, “QAnon,” and “adrenochrome,” into non-journalism.
The USA TODAY reporting continues.
“More controversy encircled the film when Ballard, who founded an anti-sex trafficking organization called Operation Underground Railroad, left the group in July. In a series of reports about Ballard and his organization, Vice News said the departure was related to sexual misconduct allegations against Ballard” (1.).
Like the Daily Beast bastardizing Newsweek reporting, USA TODAY is taking Vice “reporting,” a rag known for maligning anything not-Left, and attempting to pass off its reporting as journalism.
Has Ballard been able to exercise his Constitutional right to face his accused? Of course not, again they are “anonymous,” ghosts, but the USA TODAY is happy to pass him, her, who, off without issue (1.).
“Sources who asked to remain anonymous ‘because they fear retaliation’ told Vice that Ballard invited female employees to act as his ‘wife’ on undercover overseas missions aimed at rescuing young victims of sex trafficking. Ballard would coerce the women into sharing a bed or showering together, claiming that was necessary to fool traffickers, Vice reported.
“Ballard denied the reports. ‘As with all of the assaults on my character and integrity over many years, the latest tabloid-driven sexual allegations are false,’ Ballard said in a statement sent to USA TODAY by The Spear Fund, an anti-human trafficking group. ‘They are baseless inventions designed to destroy me and the movement we have built to end the trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable children’” (1.).
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Part II of this two-part post regarding some of the propaganda waged at Sound of Freedom, is coming soon.
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Not simply “Charges Dropped,” "There was no kidnapping."
- Matfucius
1.) https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/charges-dropped-against-sound-freedom-143639662.html
2.) https://www.thedailybeast.com/fabian-marta-financier-of-qanon-esque-child-trafficking-film-is-arrested-for-child-kidnapping
3.) https://www.newsweek.com/sound-freedom-creator-addresses-funder-fabian-marta-kidnapping-arrest-1817679