Ford Fischer

Ford Fischer is an independent journalist[1][2] and filmmaker.[3][4] He is the editor-in-chief of News2Share, a company which has White House press credentials.[5][6][7] It is a platform for raw video journalism related to political activism.[8]

Ford Fischer
Fischer at a 2018 rally
Alma materAmerican University
Occupations
WebsiteNews2Share

Early career

Fischer started reporting on politics when he went to Masconomet Regional High School. He filmed local politics in the town of Boxford, Massachusetts for Boxford Cable TV. He received a degree in Film and Media Arts from American University.[6]

Fischer was an intern with Reason magazine in the summer of 2014.[9][10]

News2Share

Fischer co-founded News2Share with Trey Yingst in 2014 when they were both students of American University.[11] Fischer's journalism involves recording political events such as those related to rallies and protests, later uploading raw unedited footage to online platforms where its shared and licensed to larger media organisations.[12]

Fischer reported on the violence at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. His footage was featured in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman[13][14] and ProPublica's Documenting Hate.[15][16]

In 2019, Fischer's channel News2Share was demonetized and could no longer receive ad revenue from YouTube.[1][12][17] As part of a crackdown by on Holocaust denialism, YouTube removed two videos of raw footage by Fischer.[17] One showing a Holocaust denier getting shouted down by Israeli and Palestinian protesters and another of Mike Peinovich Enoch, a neo-Nazi giving a speech.[17] Views present in the footage were not advocated for by Fischer.[17] YouTube's move made Fischer lose much of his income, money used by him to employ freelance journalists or to pay for his travel costs.[12] After seven months, Fischer was finally able to get his channel remonetized by YouTube.[17]

In September 2020, Fischer had his account taken off from Facebook.[12] Not long after, Facebook addressed the matter and apologized for the action.[12] After the November 2020 US Presidential election, Fischer was suspended from posting on the platform.[12]

Storming of the United States Capitol

Fischer recorded a rally held by President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, just prior to the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol. His video included Trump's speech and the crowd reaction to it.[12][18] He uploaded raw footage of the rally to YouTube, which was monetized by them on January 8, and then licensed by the BBC for its documentary about the rally and subsequent attack on the Capitol.[12][18] In late January, the footage was removed by YouTube.[12][18] YouTube alleged the footage was spreading election misinformation because it gave no counter-viewpoints or context.[12][17] Fischer protested Youtube's actions on Twitter and pointed out that other networks still had livestreams of Trump's rally on their platforms.[12][17] He said the situation made him angry, and that he was perplexed by the fact that YouTube did not distinguish between footage documenting an historical event and people purposefully spreading misinformation regarding the 2020 US election.[17] YouTube responded by demonetizing Fischer's channel on grounds that it contained "harmful content".[12][18] In early February, Fox News published an article about YouTube's "crackdown on independent media;" Fischer's channel was remonetized not long after.[18] YouTube acknowledged their action constituted "over-enforcement" of their rules, but stated that Fischer's rally footage was "policy violative."[18] Fischer stated that he hoped YouTube would revisit and make changes in its policies and its enforcement of them.[18]

After his reporting of the US Capitol riots, Twitter shadow banned Fischer, an action which limits the ability of his account to appear in Twitter's search results, and which shows warnings about "potentially sensitive content" on his tweets.[12] Journalist Matt Taibbi posted an article criticizing Twitter and Youtube's "crackdown on independent media." The article referenced Fischer.[12] Fischer has stated that he considers it important that his Trump rally footage remain available to the public because it documents events relative to Donald Trump's second impeachment trial over his role in the events of January 6.[17] Jay Ulfelder, a Harvard University academic, emailed YouTube to say that footage of the rally is "crucial archival material for future scholars looking to get a better sense of what happened."[17]

References
  1. "Journalist, teacher get caught up in YouTube's struggles with hate speech". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  2. Bromwich, Jonah Engel (2018-05-19). "Death of a Biohacker". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  3. Chamberlain, Samuel (2018-08-06). "Filmmaker describes Antifa violence at Berkeley protest". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  4. Re, Gregg (2019-06-05). "YouTube ends monetization of conservative commentator Steven Crowder's channel, several others after left-wing outrage". Fox News. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  5. "YouTube Finally Bans Supremacist Videos After 14 Years. What Took So Long?". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  6. Waters, Wendall. "A witness in Charlottesville: Boxford native reported live from the scene". Tri-Town Transcript. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  7. "Journalist's account demonetized after YouTube targets hateful content". Washington Examiner. 2019-06-06. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  8. Taibbi, Matt (2019-06-07). "YouTube, Facebook Purges Are More Extensive Than You Think". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  9. "Muscular Content Moderation Is a Really Bad Idea That's Impossible To Implement Well". Reason.com. 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  10. "Ford Fischer". Reason.com. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  11. "College student Trey Yingst skips classes ... to report from conflict zones". Poynter. 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  12. Wulfsohn, Joseph A. (4 February 2021). "YouTube's 'dangerous' crackdown on independent journalists: 'It defies all logic and reason'". Fox News. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  13. Beck, Chris. "Interview With Ford Fischer, a Journalist Who Documents American Turmoil". Splice Today. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  14. Movie credits for BlacKkKlansman.
  15. "Documenting Hate: Charlottesville - Credits". FRONTLINE. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  16. "Documenting Hate: New American Nazis - Credits". FRONTLINE. Retrieved 2020-01-12..
  17. Sandler, Rachel (4 February 2021). "YouTube Is Taking Down Raw Footage From The Capitol Riot As It Tries To Crack Down On Misinformation". Forbes. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  18. Wulfsohn, Joseph A. (4 February 2021). "YouTube remonetizes independent journo's account hours after Fox News runs story on its 'dangerous' actions". Fox News. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
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