Simon Ateba

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Simon Ateba (born 1979or1980) is a Cameroonian [1] [2] [3] journalist. He is the owner and sole employee of the website Today News Africa, for which he was a White House correspondent. [4] Following Ateba's repeated interruptions of press briefings, where he shouted at press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and complained about not being called on, the press office tightened rules governing the issuance of hard passes for journalists. After Ateba was excluded from the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner, he tweeted out the private phone number of WHCA president Tamara Keith.

Contents

Before coming to the United States in 2017, Ateba was a journalist in Nigeria, working for P.M. News and The NEWS magazine. He investigated the link between religion and money in Nigeria and was detained briefly in Cameroon where he was accused of spying for Boko Haram.

Early life

Ateba was born in Cameroon in 1979 or 1980. [5] [6] His father worked as a fish trader. [5]

Career

Nigeria

Ateba moved to Nigeria, where he worked at P.M. News and for nine years at The NEWS magazine. [5] [6] In 2011, he appeared in the documentary Nigeria's Millionaire Preachers about religion becoming a big business in Nigeria. By then, he had investigated the link between religion and money in Nigeria for about five years and had been assaulted at least once during those investigations. [7] He was attacked by a mob in 2009 while working on an assignment at a church in Lagos. [5]

On August 28, 2015, Ateba was arrested by Cameroonian authorities and accused of spying for Boko Haram as he investigated the living conditions of Nigerian refugees camped in the country's north. Ateba was based in Lagos and had travelled to Cameroon after receiving a grant from the International Centre for Investigative Reporting in Abuja to investigate the ordeals and suffering of Nigerians who had fled to Cameroon following Boko Haram attacks on their communities. He was released after being detained for four days. [8] [9] Ateba's arrest and detention were condemned by the Cameroon Journalism Trade Union. [3]

In January 2023, Ateba said that he had been "attacked by pirates on the Gulf of Guinea with an AK47 to my head, kidnapped in Nigeria, dumped in the woods & left for dead, arrested in Cameroon during investigation & kept in dark cell only to be sidelined at the White House..." The Washington Post was able to verify that he had been arrested and held for four days in Cameroon, but were unable to verify his other claims. [10]

United States

Ateba moved to Washington, D.C. in 2017 to report on Africa–United States relations, which he told The New York Times was motivated by an interest in the subject and the desire to leave West Africa due to dangers he experienced working as a journalist. [5]

In September 2023, Ateba shared a fake video allegedly of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy performing a belly dance. [11] The video had been digitally altered to superimpose Zelenskyy's face onto the body of Argentine belly dancer Pablo Acosta. [11] [12]

In February 2024, Ateba claimed that Russia had prevented a Ukrainian assassination attempt on Tucker Carlson. Voice of America traced the source of the claim to a YouTube video that was cited by The Intel Drop, a website that BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh characterized as "a notorious pro-Kremlin disinformation website with a long history of fabricating stories aimed to disparage Ukraine." [13]

In April 2024, Ateba was included as one of the defendants in a defamation lawsuit by a man who was falsely identified as the perpetrator of the 2023 Allen, Texas mall shooting, alongside others such as Fox News, Newsmax and InfoWars personality Owen Shroyer. The man alleged the defendants had "recklessly disregarded basic journalistic safeguards and published the photo of an innocent man, branding him as a neo-Nazi murderer to his local community and the nation at large." [14] In the same month, Ateba posted a video of President Joe Biden that had been altered to include audio of people shouting expletives; Ateba subsequently deleted the tweet. [15] [16]

White House correspondent

During Ateba's time as a White House correspondent, he became known for interrupting press briefings, being out of process, and complaining about not being called on to ask questions. He accused White House officials of discrimination. [10] In December 2021, Ateba questioned Jen Psaki about the Omicron-linked travel ban President Biden imposed on eight African nations. [17] In December 2022, Ateba had a tense exchange with Karine Jean-Pierre at the White House, in which he accused her of discrimination. [1]

On March 20, 2023, Ateba shouted at Karine Jean-Pierre during a press conference that included the cast of the comedy series Ted Lasso . [18] [19] Ateba said that Jean-Pierre had discriminated against him by not calling on him during her seven-month tenure as White House Press Secretary. [19] In response to Ateba's behaviour, the White House press office sought to tighten rules governing the issuance of hard passes, which allow reporters like Ateba to enter White House grounds without prior permission. [20]

In April 2023, Ateba falsely claimed he was banned from the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner. Only news organizations that employ WHCA members are allowed to buy tickets to the dinner. Ateba was unable to provide evidence he was employed by a legitimate news organization; [4] he is the owner and sole staffer of the website Today News Africa, for which he is the White House correspondent. [4] [10] Since Ateba's application to join the association was rejected, he cannot buy tickets to the event; however, another outlet could invite him as a guest. [4] Ateba tweeted out the phone number of WHCA president Tamara Keith, who had complained about his behavior; he later deleted the tweets. [10]

In June 2023, following another heated exchange between Ateba and Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House's published official video coverage of the presser omitted the portion of the event that included the exchange. White House officials blamed a technical "glitch" for the edit, and it was later restored. [10] In July 2023, the White House warned Ateba that he would risk losing access to briefings if he continued to disrupt and prevent other reporters from asking questions when called. [21] After the new policy on White House hard passes took effect on July 31, 2023, Ateba filed a lawsuit against Karine Jean-Pierre, contending that his inability to obtain press credentials amounted to discrimination. His case was dismissed in district court. [22]

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References

  1. 1 2 Carbonaro, Giulia. "African Journalist Accuses Press Secretary Jean-Pierre of 'Discrimination'". Newsweek . Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  2. ↑ Temitope, Yakubu (15 April 2019). "Atiku gets 21-day ultimatum to return to Cameroon". TheCable . Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Cameroonian Journalists Union, CPJ, Others Condemn Arrest Of Nigerian-Based Journalist". Premium Times . 30 August 2015. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Baragona, Justin (3 April 2023). "White House Gadfly Simon Ateba Falsely Claims He's Banned From Dinner". The Daily Beast . Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.,
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Bernstein, Joseph (26 July 2023). "Why Won't Simon Ateba Stop Shouting?". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  6. 1 2 Rakotomalala, Lova (6 September 2017). "Simon Ateba Is Not Ahmed Abba, but He Too Has Experienced Persecution as a Journalist in Cameroon". Global Voices. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "Unreported World". Channel 4 . Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  8. ↑ "Nigeria-based journalist arrested in Cameroon, accused of spying for Boko Haram". Premium Times . 29 August 2015. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  9. ↑ "Cameroon frees journalist arrested for investigating condition of Nigerian refugees". Premium Times . 2 September 2015. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Farhi, Paul (8 July 2023). "Simon Ateba, the reporter making himself the story at the White House". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  11. 1 2 Wrona, Aleksandra (21 September 2023). "Volodymyr Zelenskyy Flaunts Crazy Belly-Dancing Moves in Viral Video?". Snopes . Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  12. ↑ Baig, Rachel (26 September 2023). "Fact check: Fake Zelenskyy video raises fears of AI disinfo". Deutsche Welle . Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  13. ↑ "Fake Ukrainian Assassination Attempt on Tucker Carlson Hits Millions on X via Russian Disinfo Laundering Scheme". Polygraph.info . 29 February 2024. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  14. ↑ Kalmbacher, Colin (12 April 2024). "'Recklessly disregarded basic journalistic safeguards': Man sues Fox News and several conservative media outlets after he was falsely identified as a neo-Nazi mass shooter". Law & Crime . Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  15. ↑ Liles, Jordan (29 April 2024). "Video Shows People Yelling Expletives at Biden in Sheetz Convenience Store?". Snopes. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  16. ↑ McCarthy, Bill (30 April 2024). "Video of expletive shouted at Biden in Pennsylvania is altered". Agence France-Presse . Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  17. ↑ "Biden Administration to End Omicron Travel Restrictions on African Countries". National Review. 24 December 2021. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  18. ↑ "Reporter disrupts White House press briefing featuring Ted Lasso cast". The Independent. 20 March 2023. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  19. 1 2 Samuels, Brett (20 March 2023). "White House, reporters push back on disruptive journalist at press briefing". The Hill. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  20. ↑ Baragona, Justin (27 March 2023). "White House Wants New Rules to Shut Down Briefing Room Chaos". The Daily Beast . Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  21. ↑ Farhi, Paul (12 July 2023). "White House warns reporter Simon Ateba about his press-room outbursts". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  22. ↑ Umanah, Ufonobong (8 December 2023). "Africa Reporter Loses First Amendment Suit Against White House". Bloomberg Law. Archived from the original on 13 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
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