Mint Press News

Mint Press News
Web address mintpressnews.com
Commercial? Yes
Type of site
 News website
Registration Optional
Available in English
Launched 2013

MintPress News (MPN) is an independent American news website founded in 2012, covering opinion and investigative reporting on American political, economic and environmental issues.[1] Its administrative offices are in Minnesota.[2]

Quoted in the Columbia Journalism Review founder Mnar Muhawesh said she believed, “Our media has failed us very miserably,” and spoke of her aspirations for Mint Press, citing uninformed public debates around issues like Iran’s nuclear capabilities, or intervention in Syria. “We are in a crucial time in American history where most Americans don’t know what’s going on in the world around them.”[3]


History

MintPress News was founded in January 2011 by Mnar A. Muhawesh, a broadcast journalism graduate of St. Cloud State University. She began her career as an independent multimedia journalist covering Midwest and national politics, focusing on civil liberties and social justice issues.[4]

In 2012, MintPress News said it was a for-profit "regular news organization," with an initial three-year break-even business plan based on advertising.[5] In January 2012, MintPress' investors were said to be unnamed "retired businesspeople" who "choose to remain anonymous" and will help fund MintPress for three years starting in 2012, according to Columbia Journalism Review.[6]

In 2013 in an email to BuzzFeed, Mnar Muhawesh said she was financing MintPress alone as of 2012: "MintPress was originally funded by angel investors when I was first putting the company together over a year ago, but that route fell through last year as I restructured the business plan," Muhawesh said, adding "I am the sole investor of MintPress."[7]

MintPress launched a YouTube channel in 2014.

Coverage of the Ghouta chemical attacks

On August 29, 2013, a MintPress article by Dale Gavlak and Yahya Ababneh said that Syrian rebels and local residents in Ghouta, Syria alleged in an interview that the Al-Nusra Front was responsible for the chemical weapons incidents in Ghouta; those interviewed claimed that weapons had been delivered to untrained fighters and "some of the fighters handled the weapons improperly and set off the explosions."[8] Gavlak later told Brown Moses Blog that "Despite my repeated requests, made directly and through legal counsel, they have not been willing to issue a retraction stating that I was not the author. Yahya Ababneh is the sole reporter and author of the MintPress News piece."[9] MintPress editor Mnar Muhawesh released two public statements saying Gavlak retracted her involvement due to pressure from third parties two days after the article was published and only "assist[ed] in the research and writing process of the article", and MintPress stands by Gavlak and the co-author Yahya Ababneh. At the end of her official statement Muhawesh claims that, "We are prepared and may release all emails and communications made between MintPress and Dale Gavlak, and even Yahya to provide further evidence of what was provided to you in this statement." However, to date, Muhawesh has not released any such materials to substantiate her claims.

The MintPress report was widely circulated[10] and cited by other news outlets, such as Military.com, the Voice of Russia, Press TV, the Spanish newspaper ABC, and ConsortiumNews.com.[11][12][13][14] When asked about the MintPress News story, Åke Sellström, the chief UN weapons inspector in Syria remarked, "They are famous for [the] 1001 Arabian Nights stories."[15]

References

  1. ↑ cjr.org
  2. ↑ Press TV
  3. ↑ cjr.org according to Colombia Journalism Review.
  4. ↑ Peterson, Liz McKeone (November 2012). "Maple Grove Young Entrepreneurs". Maple Grove Magazine. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  5. ↑ David Brauer, MinnPost, 18 January 2012, Who is MintPress and why are they doing all this hiring?
  6. ↑ Binkovitz, Leah. "Mint Press News". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  7. ↑ Rosie Gray and Jessica Testa, buzzfeed, 1 October 2013 The Inside Story Of One Website’s Defense Of Assad
  8. ↑ Mint Press News, "EXCLUSIVE: Syrians In Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack," Aug. 29, 2013. http://www.mintpressnews.com/witnesses-of-gas-attack-say-saudis-supplied-rebels-with-chemical-weapons/168135/
  9. ↑ Brown Moses Blog, 20 September 2013, Statement By Dale Gavlak On The Mint Press Article "Syrians In Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack"
  10. ↑ Bryant Jordan, 10 September 2013, military.com, White House Mum on Rebel Chem Weapons Use
  11. ↑ Voice of Russia, 30 August 2013, 'Syrian rebels take responsibility for the chemical attack admitting the weapons were provided by Saudis' - source
  12. ↑ Lisa Pease, ConsortiumNews.com, 4 September 2013, The Still-Sketchy Intel on Syria
  13. ↑ Press TV, 1 September 2013, Saudi Prince Bandar behind chemical attack in Syria: Report
  14. ↑ ABC, 2 September 2013, Una colaboradora de AP afirma que el ataque en Damasco fue obra de los rebeldes
  15. ↑ crbneworld February 2014

External links