The American Free Press is a weekly newspaper published in the United States.
According to one former correspondent, the newspaper's direct ancestor was the publication The Spotlight,[1] which ceased publication in 2001 when its parent company, Liberty Lobby, was forced into Bankruptcy.
Like The Spotlight and Liberty Lobby, Willis Carto, one of America's most influential political racial theorists known for his promotion of Antisemitic Conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial, was one of its founders.
Like The Spotlight, the newspaper describes itself as "maverick, independent grass-roots media". It proclaims a "populist and nationalist" political orientation.[2]
The Southern Poverty Law Center considers it a hate group [10] and claims that it "carries stories on Zionism, secret 'New World Order' conspiracies, American Jews and Israel."
[11] One of the newspaper's ex-contract reporters, Christopher Bollyn, is sometimes cited for his reporting in the 9/11 Truth Movement. The Anti-Defamation League has criticised the newspaper and, in particular, Bollyn for linking of prominent figures in the Jewish community with the events of September 11, 2001, and in September 2006 attacked the newspaper for disseminating "antisemitic propaganda".[12]
Many contributors such as Mark Dankof[13] and Mark Glenn are also contributors to Iran's PressTV television station. The website Veterans Today which advocates moderate views towards Iran and Syria also carries content created by AFP.[14]
According to Accuracy in Media, "Press TV spews out unending streams of anti-American propaganda", and refers to Dankof as a Ron Paul supporter who is also a "Press TV propagandist". In a May 2011 article Dankof protested the British government attempting to shut down Press TV, blaming it on "media outlets and correspondents with provable connections to the American Jewish lobby; Israeli intelligence; and Neo-Conservatives thirsting for a War of Civilizations with Iran specifically, and the Islamic world generally.” [15] In a May 2011 article, Dankof also quoted from and wrote that the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion accurately reflect the state of the world. He lauded PressTV as one of the few exceptions to the Jewish control of the media.[16]
