Challenge the Reporting of Corporate Media
CODEPINK
(August 3, 2026) — The media landscape is shifting — can you feel it? More people are questioning the narratives that have long been used to justify war, and courageous journalists are beginning to ask questions others won’t.
In recent months, Vanity Fair‘s Ta-Nehisi Coates has been one of the few prominent writers willing to challenge the status quo. His searing critique of Kamala Harris’s silence on Gaza confronted truths that much of the mainstream media has avoided.
We critically need journalists willing to challenge the lies being used to promote violence. Today, those lies are being used to portray China as America’s next great enemy, justify a record $1.5 trillion war budget, fuel anti-Asian racism, militarize the Pacific, and bring the world closer to catastrophic conflict.
That’s why we’re asking Coates to investigate the growing U.S. drive toward war with China and expose the devastating costs to people and the planet.
Do you remember when Congress was attempting to ban TikTok, claiming it was being used by China to spy on the children of America, and in retaliation Gen Z flocked to Chinese social media app RedNote? For a beautiful few months, the internet was consumed with cross-cultural learning between American and Chinese citizens, leading to epiphanies like these:
“After just 48 hours on here I am sure that everything I was ever taught about China was a lie.”
“The US loves war too much. If there is no enemy, they will create one.”
This is what happens when the lies are debunked and the propaganda exposed: people return to the very real inner knowing that all humans are just human, going about their typical human lives. The U.S. government has been working very hard to make sure that doesn’t happen. Did you know they recently passed $1.4 billion specifically reserved for spreading propaganda about China? That’s not even part of the whopping $1.5 trillion war budget.
Mainstream media is monopolized by the elites. It’s used to push carefully calculated stories that accomplish their agendas while hiding truths that could expose everything. But we’re starting to see the cracks. Renowned journalists are flocking to Substack to publish pieces not subsidized by the corporate media; they’re risking their careers to write what is meaningful to them, and independent media outlets are receiving new life as people search for truth.
This is the kind of momentum we need to push back against the story that China is our enemy and that war is inevitable. We need truth and human connection. We need to remember that we are all the same, and that the enemy is not each other, but the elite who profit off war and destruction. So join us as we download RedNote, as we explore the beauty of China in-person, and as we write to brave journalists encouraging them to speak out against the U.S. war drive.Together, we will stop this war before it’s too late!
News and Analysis
👉 Trump walks back China election interference claims. After alleging in a nationally televised address that China interfered in the 2020 election, President Trump later said, “they do things and we do things to them, too,” while U.S. officials noted there is no evidence that China compromised U.S. election systems in 2020. This is a reminder of how unsubstantiated claims can fuel public fear, reinforce hostile narratives, and build support for confrontation with China.
👉 White phosphorus leak at U.S. base triggers evacuation in South Korea. Residents near Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek were told to evacuate after a white phosphorus leak was reported at the U.S. military installation. White phosphorus is an incendiary chemical that can ignite on contact with oxygen and cause severe burns that penetrate deep into tissue. The incident is the latest in a long history of environmental contamination, hazardous material spills, and other harms associated with the U.S. military occupation of South Korea.
