Paleo Pete Evans Sets His Unblinking Sights On “F-Grade Journalists”

Celebrity chef “Paleo” Pete Evans, a.k.a. the Unblinking Eye of Wellness and Definitely Not A Cult Leader, has taken to Instagram for his latest transmission from the Health Deity / message to his fans: a big ol’ FAKE NEWS post that looks a little bit like this:

Has the modern day journalist lost sight of their code of ethics? Let’s have a look at what they are meant to represent and uphold! “The journalist must defend the freedom of speech, retain independence of his/her political views and convictions. He/she must resist any efforts to distort information or introduce censorship. Like any other citizen, the journalist has a right to political and other convictions. However, in his/her professional activity he/she should remain neutral and objective. Principles for searching and receiving information Respecting the right of society to objective information, the journalist must convey truthful information and a whole spectrum of opinions on certain issues. The news should be based on facts and information where truthfulness can be checked. The journalist should do his/her best to obtain information from all possible sources, to make sure it is complete, truthful and unbiased. Information which may offend or humiliate a person should be checked especially carefully.” http://ethicnet.uta.fi/belarus/journalists_ethics_code

A post shared by Healthy Paleo Chef (@chefpeteevans) on Mar 29, 2017 at 11:09pm PDT

That lengthy caption there purports to “have a look at what [modern day journalists] are meant to represent and uphold“, as Evans seems to think that modern journos have lost sight of their code of ethics. This is presumably a response to last week’s unflattering Sunday Night profile, during which he blinked a total of 15 times*.

And it’s absolutely fine to approach the media from a position of skepticism! And also 100% correct to expect journalists to abide by a code of ethics.

But maybe it is a slight stretch to expect Australian journalists to abide by the code of ethics for… Belarus?

I’m not being a dick here – this is what the link in Pete Evans’ Instagram post leads to: 

The Journalists Ethics Code for Belarus.

In case you didn’t know where Belarus is (I didn’t), here’s a map:

Pete… why?

It’s not like the Belarussian journalist code of ethics is particularly different from the Australian journalist code of ethics either, which makes the whole thing all the more perplexing. 

So why would Evans choose that particular code from which to pull the caption for a post to his 145,000+ Instagram followers? Could it be that it allows him the opportunity to rile up his many devoted followers by using terms that have become nigh-meaningless from overuse in an era defined by “alternative facts” and suspicion of mainstream media – terms like “freedom of speech“, “neutral and objective” and “censorship“? 

No, that can’t be it. Cherry-picking data to support your claims is unethical. After all, as Pete has demonstrated with his post, it’s of utmost importance that we obtain information from all possible sources, make sure it is complete, truthful and unbiased, and resist any efforts to distort information, right?

Right.