Thank you for you thoughtful journalism Carole. I have been reading your work since the expose you did on Cambridge Analytica and Brexit. I appreciate your courage and your skill. Shining light into the dark belly of our power structures seems to get more risky by the week. And now we have unlimited funds coming towards the far right bad actors in the UK from Tech bros to create more unrest and unhappiness.
The personal costs you speak about to you, your family and those like Jason Arday (who have intellect and talent but belong to the wrong class or skin colour group ) are too high to bear. I’m glad you have found the friends and resources to keep writing and speaking out. You’re a beacon of light into a dark world.
Thank you for this. The manipulative capacity of the media in all its forms is evil. Not a term that I am prone to using but I can find no appropriate other. At 80 I feel completely disenfranchised, Burnham et al, and the depth of the capacity to hound and harm individuals as both yourself and Jason Arday and others, to topple a government and to kill disturbs me. And was Jason Arday the man who was interviewed on Today some years back who pointed out that he had the capacity for street talk “but I can also speak the Queen’s.”? I remember being so uplifted by this man whether it was he or not. 🙏🏼
This whole situation makes me feel sick. I have attended Jason's seminars and read his papers. He was so smart, articulate and inspiring. I despair about the world we live in.
He didn’t deserve to be hounded to death. I feel bad for his family. He was deeply unwell.
Jason Arday — disputed/false backstory claims
Claimed Ohio State visiting professor — denied by Ohio State.
Claimed Glasgow visiting professor — denied.
Claimed Birkbeck master’s/counselling qualification — no record found.
Claimed Palgrave-published book — never published.
Claimed WaterAid overseas work installing wells — WaterAid says it didn’t send volunteers abroad.
Claimed BBC’s Seven Up! — impossible for the original series; BBC denied involvement.
Claimed £5–5.5 million raised for charity — the figure became highly questionable and was later explained as collective fundraising.
Claimed 600 miles in six days — the reported challenge actually took 12 days.
Claimed Crystal Palace youth football — club could not substantiate it.
Claimed extraordinary snooker winnings — records don’t support the scale described.
Claimed 30 marathons in 35 days, including finishing nine after a fractured leg — now reported as having evidence supporting the marathon challenge, so this one should not be called a proven lie.
Claimed non-verbal until 11 / unable to read until 18 — strongly disputed by people who knew him, but not definitively established as fabricate
You’re so proud that you put zero thought or effort into tarnishing a man’s reputation in spite of the mountain of evidence in this article about why you’re wrong.
Why would you say you feel badly for his family and then share this? Was there any reason other than being mean? Were you one of those who hounded him to death? I am puzzled
You do not know this and have little evidence . The media lied and conflated looking for inconsistencies rather than congratulating a man who had autis and fact youandthey donnot seem tounderstand at all.
He was not 'deeply unwell' before the pile on. He was stressed beforre the pile on got seriously vicious. He had autism which few understood or mentioned in the media pile on. He did not mean Seven Up the TV series but a local Seven Up for young black kids. No proof he ever mentioned going to Africa for Water Aid. He is of Ghanaian extraction and he did marathons for vaious charities. He did not claim he personally raised £5.5 million for charity but that he participated in raising it. He did at least three marathons (all documented by newspaper reports in 2010) that we know of, and have evidence for and of course he could have done many more in training as well.- one when he had a hairline fracture, and not as some horrible journo said was a broken leg. He was inspired by Eddie Izzard who did 600 mile and he said that. Its conflated journalism to catch im out rather than to congratulate him. He was non verbal up to 11 and this is supported strongly my primary schoolpupils who knew him and have spoken to Carole. Quite apart from fact that one can be non verbal with autism in some settings and less so in others as Autistica researh will attest. No proof he claimed Palgrave published book -he put in pitches for a book and Simon and Schuster have taken one book up. He did play football wheen young.
I’d also be interested in your take on the treatment of Harry and Meghan. They seem to be extraordinarily vilified. If only the same energy went towards Farridge and Mandelson.. and Osbourne who has never been held to account for the consequences of his austerity policies.
I had understood this issue as the targeting of a black man by racists for the crime of being successful and black. I hadn’t appreciated the depth of personal animus and organised hate demonstrated by the media organisations, who could easily have presented a balanced and thoughtful viewpoint, and even not platformed what was obviously a confected hate campaign. It hadn’t quite dawned on me that the tools that undermine people's critical reasoning concerning politics can be weaponised to target personal and emotional weaknesses in this way; that they become a deeply personal attack and a deconstruction of an individual's psychological defences. This is beyond contemptible.
Exactly as how I had understood it from reading the UK press on this matter. It is not something that has been reported or written about where I live in Europe
Thank you so, so, SO much for standing up. The visceral hatred of POC, let alone of successful POC is terrifying and so disheartening it can be exhausting. I was paralyzed by what I witnessed in the last week. We need solidarity and to unite in our understanding of what this was and why. Thank you so much. Vale brilliant Jason.
Thanks Carole. Connected to this (maybe?) as an Australian here in the uk on a visit I have been astounded at the coverage of the return of Harry and Meagan. Not even here and it’s seems so relentless. Please keep up your great and thoughtful writing on such important issues.
I'm disgusted at the silence from The Guardian, who did so much to intellectualise the justification for the hounding of Jason Arday. That (literal) killer quote: "I thought you'd just believe me" came from The Guardian and as far as I can tell, they have done nothing *themselves* - they have of course commissioned pieces by non-Guardian folk, but with no mention of The Guardian as a very willing partner in the hunt.
Whilst a different situation, I remember that Private Eye* never accepted their part in the championing of Andrew Wakefield, whose presence now haunts every part of the growth of the anti-vax movement, globally, leading to deaths of children from measles. Two august publications, whose presence in UK media are desperately needed, but who have both seemed to shrug and move on instead of applying the same critical view that they use on others to themselves - something which every media organisation (and every individual) needs to do as part of being a moral actor in a culture we all try to build and maintain.
*Sidenote: It may be that they have been a bit more honest about theîr part in the shambles in more recent times, but I stopped buying it in the end, with their lack of accountability being one major aspect of my decision to do so.
Thank you, Carole. I wrote to The Guardian after seeing the chart in your previous post that ranked The Guardian's coverage between that of The Spectator and The Express. Days later, some letters have been published in the paper. I received a reply from the Reader's Editor to say they were considering their response, and they did also publish an opinion piece sort of defending themselves. I consider them part of the problem, to be honest.
Thanks for this honest and soul-searching piece Carole. I especially appreciate (as a disabled person who knows how easily our issues are overlooked) that you have mentioned Jason Arday's autism. What I've learn from all the autistic people I've met over the years is that high levels of anxiety play a major role in their lives, regardless of how other aspects of their condition operate. So this is a layer of the story that is equally shameful, especially as the statistics for suicide amongst autistic people are much higher than in the rest of the population.
I am going to read in depth Carole. BUT HAVE YOU READ PRIVATE EYE number1682? It's appalling. We need to write to them. Will you? Meanwhile, I have been exchanging views with Prof William Davies (Goldsmiths) who accused those defending Arday on the liberal/left side of the political divide of 'Paranoia' on his Substack. The wrong protagonists I would have said. We are already getting apologies from Novara, and even dear Ash Sarkar said she had to look in the Mirror because of negative thought she had had prior to understanding more about the story. I will send my exchange with him to you if you want it, as he is influential and writes in the LRB. I have also tackled my friend Nick Wallis in charge of 'Scandal's at the Oxford Lit Festival this year and also author of the Great Post Office Scandal for jumping on the anti woke bandwagon on Times Radio post Arday's death. Alan Rusbridger in Prospect said 188 articles of well over 260 articles (not counting social media) were published in the press after Arday died! Obviously Baron-Cohen is very useful. But I was thinking of contacting a couple of international autism charities, one of which Autistica, has made an online statement about how they are going to intervene with media in future directly to give them guidelines and information on autism its impacts, manifestations and guidelines on how to understand and write about it. This is crucially important and they do admit to failing, like a lot of people, beforehand. I think it particularly important in the light of the usual suspects and some unusual actors doubling down, and particularly Private Eyes vile piece. Of course the Eye quite rightly has a particular beef with Carter Ruck, and whoever advised and paid for that intervention against the THES needs to be surfaced , as nothing works so well as cease and desist (like SLAPPS) to get the ire of the media and in this case it gave white supremacist eugenecist 'racial realist' (an invented term and his own adopted misnomer) and friend of Project 25 DEI lowlifes Cofnas, a willing audience - the Telegraph and Gordon Rayner who failed to expose Cofnas for who he really was
What I can’t seem to find anywhere is verified facts. Are there any verified facts? I’m multiracial and neurodivergent so I don’t need to be explained the vile poisonous environment around this story, I’d just like to know the facts and for the greater part the Guardian can *usually* be trusted with factual accuracy (even if the interpretation is sometimes subjective or misleading, which is the nature of any interpretation). In this case, I admit I haven’t read anything since the 6th Aug “The rise and fall of Jason Arday: a full rundown of the questions being asked” and it was raising questions about his “Academic posts and achievements” that seem unrelated to race and autism and genuinely deserved answers; I supposed the vileness to Cofnas and his theories explain accusations of plagiarism. The Intimidation paragraph is troubling though: what did happen and what didn’t? Did the Met lie? A 63 page report vs 3 polite emails doesn’t seem hard to verify. Why is it left to the readers to take a position?
Based on what I read, all the fluffiness about his character is just as damaging as the racist frothing at the mouth of the usual suspects, because it all takes precedence on fact-finding. If the horrid Cofnas was accused of the same allegations, I would like to know just as much. I wish there were a clearer compartmentalisation of what he did/didn’t do, who he was, the sadness of his death. It may be one story but that hot lava of high emotions fighting one another is not doing much to prevent this from happening again with someone else.
Yes Bea. There are facts, known facts and unknown facts, and known unknown facts as someone once said. But I would not take a deep dive yet into all that yet if I were you - because that is what the right wing journalists and jump- to -conclusioners will want. There are facts we do know: He did a PhD, had poor supervision (although he would not have known at the time it was poor) at Liverpool John Moores, and when accused of plagiarism by Nathan Cofnas, he was cleared. That is a fact. It suited Cofnas, the THES and and the Times not to mention this. Wait until Cambridge does its investigation and wait to hear from the charities I am contacting such as Autistica for their knowledge about the emotional world of those who suffer from autism and their guidelines for media. I can't emphasise enough that the principal objective of all that happened was political -to get rid of DEI and that Cofnas' role in this was to opportunistically take that objective to the media and get rid of DEI to no doubt please his like-minded white supremacist friends in the lower echelons of Project 25 and Turning Point USA, for favours. That's how the dark arks can work , unplotted, opportunistically -its called working to the fuhrer as I said somewhere else on here. He also ran marathons and helped raise £5 million over several years. He like me, shaped his CV from time to time, but he is autistic and I am not. Autism can include memory issues. Putting on the best face is what we all do to get a job particularly disadvantaged people. It does not mean that given a chance you can't overcome disadvantage and make a true go of your talents. One of his greatest talents was his belief in love. And yes in many ways he was an innocent mauled by not only the media but by academia itself. We must ensure no one ever allows people with autism or black people with autism not to get on and be recognised in academic life -they are after all part of our wider social community with all its barriers, and he is right, at the risk of me, a hard-nosed PR and journo looking soppy, only love of others can break down those barriers.
Thank you very much Rosie for your thorough and considerate reply.
Not only have I not taken a deep dive, I’ve stayed out of the entire conversation until now and probably need to let it rest for much longer (until a comprehensive and impartial investigation is led) as you suggest.
The Guardian is still my main source of information for national matters and it bothers me when the factuality of their reporting is subpar and/or tainted by partisanship.
American politics affects our society so deeply and for the worst: the rot of hatred is growing and it’s gone from “we don’t have a racism problem in the UK” to “it’s not racist, it’s normal”.
Nationals will need to take heed even if its only a quotation placed at the bottom of a piece. The anti woke lot are dead keen as you know on denying that ADHD or Autism exist.
I too wondered about the Carter-Ruck intervention. Was it a false flag operation designed to stir up a hornets' nest that was already quietly in preparation by the usual right-wing suspects and their useful idiots?
Probably not. I suspect an overly protective (suddenly!) Cambridge intervention or maybe one of Jason's supporters. Harassment and original Police involvement was probably related to Jason having an autistic meltdown and poor advice on the grounds of what happened to the forced removal of the black head of Harvard which he had investigated and spoken about apparently . Amazingly, Carter Ruck intervening on behalf of a white academic would have nipped it all in the bud. but, combined with THES' contact with Cofnas beforehand, the protagonists were already in place for a perfect storm. That and the Working to the Fuhrer mentality of these fringe white supremacist fanatics desperate for notice in the lower echelons of the Turning Point/Project 24, Heritage Foundation objective to take down DEI everywhere.
PS: No orchestrated plot involving Cofnas I think In the dark arts from whichever political persuasion opportunism reigns, not military style plots. In other words you don't need a real conspiracy to deliver when there are roaming right wing insurgents seeking favour. ( I am an old hand political PR and Journo).
Insightful piece about perverse incentives and bias driving appalling media behaviour. Senior politicians ‘embellish’ their CV’s and it’s an ‘oh well’. Condolences and thoughts to his family and friends.
It is like shouting into a vacuum on social media. The number of comments, mostly but not exclusively, from white men making snidy little comments they think are witty about Jason are exhausting. The media pile on has given permission to every bigoted, racist w⚓️ to feel free and entitled to disparage him and others too, black, women, lgbtq+. Yes, it should be a moment for the media to reflect and maybe they will but I also fear it is to late, the genie and all that.
Thank you for you thoughtful journalism Carole. I have been reading your work since the expose you did on Cambridge Analytica and Brexit. I appreciate your courage and your skill. Shining light into the dark belly of our power structures seems to get more risky by the week. And now we have unlimited funds coming towards the far right bad actors in the UK from Tech bros to create more unrest and unhappiness.
The personal costs you speak about to you, your family and those like Jason Arday (who have intellect and talent but belong to the wrong class or skin colour group ) are too high to bear. I’m glad you have found the friends and resources to keep writing and speaking out. You’re a beacon of light into a dark world.
Thank you for this. The manipulative capacity of the media in all its forms is evil. Not a term that I am prone to using but I can find no appropriate other. At 80 I feel completely disenfranchised, Burnham et al, and the depth of the capacity to hound and harm individuals as both yourself and Jason Arday and others, to topple a government and to kill disturbs me. And was Jason Arday the man who was interviewed on Today some years back who pointed out that he had the capacity for street talk “but I can also speak the Queen’s.”? I remember being so uplifted by this man whether it was he or not. 🙏🏼
To save myself some typing… I ditto this post wholeheartedly!
Trial by media, where the fourth estate is judge, jury, and executioner. Thank you for this outstanding piece .
This whole situation makes me feel sick. I have attended Jason's seminars and read his papers. He was so smart, articulate and inspiring. I despair about the world we live in.
He didn’t deserve to be hounded to death. I feel bad for his family. He was deeply unwell.
Jason Arday — disputed/false backstory claims
Claimed Ohio State visiting professor — denied by Ohio State.
Claimed Glasgow visiting professor — denied.
Claimed Birkbeck master’s/counselling qualification — no record found.
Claimed Palgrave-published book — never published.
Claimed WaterAid overseas work installing wells — WaterAid says it didn’t send volunteers abroad.
Claimed BBC’s Seven Up! — impossible for the original series; BBC denied involvement.
Claimed £5–5.5 million raised for charity — the figure became highly questionable and was later explained as collective fundraising.
Claimed 600 miles in six days — the reported challenge actually took 12 days.
Claimed Crystal Palace youth football — club could not substantiate it.
Claimed extraordinary snooker winnings — records don’t support the scale described.
Claimed 30 marathons in 35 days, including finishing nine after a fractured leg — now reported as having evidence supporting the marathon challenge, so this one should not be called a proven lie.
Claimed non-verbal until 11 / unable to read until 18 — strongly disputed by people who knew him, but not definitively established as fabricate
Your LLM client did an excellent job of compiling all those allegations
I know! So handy! 😜
You’re so proud that you put zero thought or effort into tarnishing a man’s reputation in spite of the mountain of evidence in this article about why you’re wrong.
Why would you say you feel badly for his family and then share this? Was there any reason other than being mean? Were you one of those who hounded him to death? I am puzzled
Two things can be true at once. I feel bad for his family.
He lied about a lot of things, the uni let him down, the press hounded him. Racism. There is a lot going on here.
You do not know this and have little evidence . The media lied and conflated looking for inconsistencies rather than congratulating a man who had autis and fact youandthey donnot seem tounderstand at all.
He was not 'deeply unwell' before the pile on. He was stressed beforre the pile on got seriously vicious. He had autism which few understood or mentioned in the media pile on. He did not mean Seven Up the TV series but a local Seven Up for young black kids. No proof he ever mentioned going to Africa for Water Aid. He is of Ghanaian extraction and he did marathons for vaious charities. He did not claim he personally raised £5.5 million for charity but that he participated in raising it. He did at least three marathons (all documented by newspaper reports in 2010) that we know of, and have evidence for and of course he could have done many more in training as well.- one when he had a hairline fracture, and not as some horrible journo said was a broken leg. He was inspired by Eddie Izzard who did 600 mile and he said that. Its conflated journalism to catch im out rather than to congratulate him. He was non verbal up to 11 and this is supported strongly my primary schoolpupils who knew him and have spoken to Carole. Quite apart from fact that one can be non verbal with autism in some settings and less so in others as Autistica researh will attest. No proof he claimed Palgrave published book -he put in pitches for a book and Simon and Schuster have taken one book up. He did play football wheen young.
I’d also be interested in your take on the treatment of Harry and Meghan. They seem to be extraordinarily vilified. If only the same energy went towards Farridge and Mandelson.. and Osbourne who has never been held to account for the consequences of his austerity policies.
I had understood this issue as the targeting of a black man by racists for the crime of being successful and black. I hadn’t appreciated the depth of personal animus and organised hate demonstrated by the media organisations, who could easily have presented a balanced and thoughtful viewpoint, and even not platformed what was obviously a confected hate campaign. It hadn’t quite dawned on me that the tools that undermine people's critical reasoning concerning politics can be weaponised to target personal and emotional weaknesses in this way; that they become a deeply personal attack and a deconstruction of an individual's psychological defences. This is beyond contemptible.
Exactly as how I had understood it from reading the UK press on this matter. It is not something that has been reported or written about where I live in Europe
The Media, particularly the Mail and The Times made 'click' money out of it too. based on rumourand inuendo and anonymised quotes.
One of the most compelling and heartbreaking reads I’ve ever encountered. I remember the pile on by the press of Camila Batmanghelidjh.
Me, too. That was disgusting. Too many similarities with too many others. 😢
The pile-on was partly because they knew they would have no impact. look at her (then) supporters across the great& good and political spectrum
Thank you so, so, SO much for standing up. The visceral hatred of POC, let alone of successful POC is terrifying and so disheartening it can be exhausting. I was paralyzed by what I witnessed in the last week. We need solidarity and to unite in our understanding of what this was and why. Thank you so much. Vale brilliant Jason.
Thanks Carole. Connected to this (maybe?) as an Australian here in the uk on a visit I have been astounded at the coverage of the return of Harry and Meagan. Not even here and it’s seems so relentless. Please keep up your great and thoughtful writing on such important issues.
Tinaa Brown seems to be obsessed wth the Royals and has pled on in over Meghan.
The press are going to hound Harry and Megan, aren't they? /American and ignorant.
Excellent writing about a disgusting pile-on leading to a terrible outcome.
I'm disgusted at the silence from The Guardian, who did so much to intellectualise the justification for the hounding of Jason Arday. That (literal) killer quote: "I thought you'd just believe me" came from The Guardian and as far as I can tell, they have done nothing *themselves* - they have of course commissioned pieces by non-Guardian folk, but with no mention of The Guardian as a very willing partner in the hunt.
Whilst a different situation, I remember that Private Eye* never accepted their part in the championing of Andrew Wakefield, whose presence now haunts every part of the growth of the anti-vax movement, globally, leading to deaths of children from measles. Two august publications, whose presence in UK media are desperately needed, but who have both seemed to shrug and move on instead of applying the same critical view that they use on others to themselves - something which every media organisation (and every individual) needs to do as part of being a moral actor in a culture we all try to build and maintain.
*Sidenote: It may be that they have been a bit more honest about theîr part in the shambles in more recent times, but I stopped buying it in the end, with their lack of accountability being one major aspect of my decision to do so.
Thank you, Carole. I wrote to The Guardian after seeing the chart in your previous post that ranked The Guardian's coverage between that of The Spectator and The Express. Days later, some letters have been published in the paper. I received a reply from the Reader's Editor to say they were considering their response, and they did also publish an opinion piece sort of defending themselves. I consider them part of the problem, to be honest.
Yes I agree and stopped supporting them a while back for those exact same reasons!
Thanks for this honest and soul-searching piece Carole. I especially appreciate (as a disabled person who knows how easily our issues are overlooked) that you have mentioned Jason Arday's autism. What I've learn from all the autistic people I've met over the years is that high levels of anxiety play a major role in their lives, regardless of how other aspects of their condition operate. So this is a layer of the story that is equally shameful, especially as the statistics for suicide amongst autistic people are much higher than in the rest of the population.
Also very high levels of imposter syndrome, along with overthinking and catastrophising, which only increase anxiety.
I am going to read in depth Carole. BUT HAVE YOU READ PRIVATE EYE number1682? It's appalling. We need to write to them. Will you? Meanwhile, I have been exchanging views with Prof William Davies (Goldsmiths) who accused those defending Arday on the liberal/left side of the political divide of 'Paranoia' on his Substack. The wrong protagonists I would have said. We are already getting apologies from Novara, and even dear Ash Sarkar said she had to look in the Mirror because of negative thought she had had prior to understanding more about the story. I will send my exchange with him to you if you want it, as he is influential and writes in the LRB. I have also tackled my friend Nick Wallis in charge of 'Scandal's at the Oxford Lit Festival this year and also author of the Great Post Office Scandal for jumping on the anti woke bandwagon on Times Radio post Arday's death. Alan Rusbridger in Prospect said 188 articles of well over 260 articles (not counting social media) were published in the press after Arday died! Obviously Baron-Cohen is very useful. But I was thinking of contacting a couple of international autism charities, one of which Autistica, has made an online statement about how they are going to intervene with media in future directly to give them guidelines and information on autism its impacts, manifestations and guidelines on how to understand and write about it. This is crucially important and they do admit to failing, like a lot of people, beforehand. I think it particularly important in the light of the usual suspects and some unusual actors doubling down, and particularly Private Eyes vile piece. Of course the Eye quite rightly has a particular beef with Carter Ruck, and whoever advised and paid for that intervention against the THES needs to be surfaced , as nothing works so well as cease and desist (like SLAPPS) to get the ire of the media and in this case it gave white supremacist eugenecist 'racial realist' (an invented term and his own adopted misnomer) and friend of Project 25 DEI lowlifes Cofnas, a willing audience - the Telegraph and Gordon Rayner who failed to expose Cofnas for who he really was
What I can’t seem to find anywhere is verified facts. Are there any verified facts? I’m multiracial and neurodivergent so I don’t need to be explained the vile poisonous environment around this story, I’d just like to know the facts and for the greater part the Guardian can *usually* be trusted with factual accuracy (even if the interpretation is sometimes subjective or misleading, which is the nature of any interpretation). In this case, I admit I haven’t read anything since the 6th Aug “The rise and fall of Jason Arday: a full rundown of the questions being asked” and it was raising questions about his “Academic posts and achievements” that seem unrelated to race and autism and genuinely deserved answers; I supposed the vileness to Cofnas and his theories explain accusations of plagiarism. The Intimidation paragraph is troubling though: what did happen and what didn’t? Did the Met lie? A 63 page report vs 3 polite emails doesn’t seem hard to verify. Why is it left to the readers to take a position?
Based on what I read, all the fluffiness about his character is just as damaging as the racist frothing at the mouth of the usual suspects, because it all takes precedence on fact-finding. If the horrid Cofnas was accused of the same allegations, I would like to know just as much. I wish there were a clearer compartmentalisation of what he did/didn’t do, who he was, the sadness of his death. It may be one story but that hot lava of high emotions fighting one another is not doing much to prevent this from happening again with someone else.
Yes Bea. There are facts, known facts and unknown facts, and known unknown facts as someone once said. But I would not take a deep dive yet into all that yet if I were you - because that is what the right wing journalists and jump- to -conclusioners will want. There are facts we do know: He did a PhD, had poor supervision (although he would not have known at the time it was poor) at Liverpool John Moores, and when accused of plagiarism by Nathan Cofnas, he was cleared. That is a fact. It suited Cofnas, the THES and and the Times not to mention this. Wait until Cambridge does its investigation and wait to hear from the charities I am contacting such as Autistica for their knowledge about the emotional world of those who suffer from autism and their guidelines for media. I can't emphasise enough that the principal objective of all that happened was political -to get rid of DEI and that Cofnas' role in this was to opportunistically take that objective to the media and get rid of DEI to no doubt please his like-minded white supremacist friends in the lower echelons of Project 25 and Turning Point USA, for favours. That's how the dark arks can work , unplotted, opportunistically -its called working to the fuhrer as I said somewhere else on here. He also ran marathons and helped raise £5 million over several years. He like me, shaped his CV from time to time, but he is autistic and I am not. Autism can include memory issues. Putting on the best face is what we all do to get a job particularly disadvantaged people. It does not mean that given a chance you can't overcome disadvantage and make a true go of your talents. One of his greatest talents was his belief in love. And yes in many ways he was an innocent mauled by not only the media but by academia itself. We must ensure no one ever allows people with autism or black people with autism not to get on and be recognised in academic life -they are after all part of our wider social community with all its barriers, and he is right, at the risk of me, a hard-nosed PR and journo looking soppy, only love of others can break down those barriers.
Thank you very much Rosie for your thorough and considerate reply.
Not only have I not taken a deep dive, I’ve stayed out of the entire conversation until now and probably need to let it rest for much longer (until a comprehensive and impartial investigation is led) as you suggest.
The Guardian is still my main source of information for national matters and it bothers me when the factuality of their reporting is subpar and/or tainted by partisanship.
American politics affects our society so deeply and for the worst: the rot of hatred is growing and it’s gone from “we don’t have a racism problem in the UK” to “it’s not racist, it’s normal”.
Anyway, thank you again!
Good to hear that Autistica have stepped up. Whether they'll be listened to is another question.
Nationals will need to take heed even if its only a quotation placed at the bottom of a piece. The anti woke lot are dead keen as you know on denying that ADHD or Autism exist.
Indeed! I've been following the Uta Frith media round with frustration and don't get me started on *that* Channel 4 "documentary"!
I too wondered about the Carter-Ruck intervention. Was it a false flag operation designed to stir up a hornets' nest that was already quietly in preparation by the usual right-wing suspects and their useful idiots?
Probably not. I suspect an overly protective (suddenly!) Cambridge intervention or maybe one of Jason's supporters. Harassment and original Police involvement was probably related to Jason having an autistic meltdown and poor advice on the grounds of what happened to the forced removal of the black head of Harvard which he had investigated and spoken about apparently . Amazingly, Carter Ruck intervening on behalf of a white academic would have nipped it all in the bud. but, combined with THES' contact with Cofnas beforehand, the protagonists were already in place for a perfect storm. That and the Working to the Fuhrer mentality of these fringe white supremacist fanatics desperate for notice in the lower echelons of the Turning Point/Project 24, Heritage Foundation objective to take down DEI everywhere.
PS: No orchestrated plot involving Cofnas I think In the dark arts from whichever political persuasion opportunism reigns, not military style plots. In other words you don't need a real conspiracy to deliver when there are roaming right wing insurgents seeking favour. ( I am an old hand political PR and Journo).
Insightful piece about perverse incentives and bias driving appalling media behaviour. Senior politicians ‘embellish’ their CV’s and it’s an ‘oh well’. Condolences and thoughts to his family and friends.
It's glaringly obvious that the guilty parties in our media are now smothering the backlash against their despicable coverage.
Now the pack will regroup and sharpen their claws for the next victims. Welcome home Harry and Meghan...
It is like shouting into a vacuum on social media. The number of comments, mostly but not exclusively, from white men making snidy little comments they think are witty about Jason are exhausting. The media pile on has given permission to every bigoted, racist w⚓️ to feel free and entitled to disparage him and others too, black, women, lgbtq+. Yes, it should be a moment for the media to reflect and maybe they will but I also fear it is to late, the genie and all that.