I report on China without prejudice. According to the Swedish newspaper The Flame (Flamman), this is a ”thought crime”. You then become a target for ridicule, but when Leonidas Aretakis, the responsible publisher, used my name to triumphantly sell subscriptions, they went too far. The Flame is being blamed and must pay USD 1300 for violating the ethical rules of honour by the Swedish Media Ethics Committee.
By T. Sassersson, Editor-in-Chief, NewsVoice, updated on Sep 10
China has received particular attention in our foreign reporting over the past two years. It began with our objective reporting on BRICS, the Belt and Road nations, and countries such as Africa and China. We are free from the influence of Western propaganda. Western media, however, is often coloured by indignant post-colonialism, with France and Britain standing out.
We write about how African states are throwing out these colonisers. China did the same thing, but earlier in history. Now China has become strong, and that scares the Western powers.
Sony Thang (@nxt888):
”When China builds, you say it stole.
When China sells, you say it cheats.
When China grows, you say it threatens.
But when you [the US] bomb, you say it liberates.
When you sanction, you say it protects.
When you steal, you say it secures.”
We have had the opportunity to visit China, participating in study visits for media professionals in collaboration with Chinese newspapers and the Belt and Road News Network, among others. We have travelled with journalists from all over the world. China is the most significant player in Asia and deserves media coverage. I have financed some flights myself, using my own small company’s funds.
In this context, it is noteworthy that diplomats from China appreciate smaller, independent, and alternative Swedish media outlets – like NewsVoice – that report without prejudice. In contrast, these are often treated poorly by the Swedish establishment, including our politicians and US/EU-aligned Swedish mass media outlets. Is Sweden becoming a small, nasty rogue state?
China is a prominent geopolitical leader behind BRICS and BRI. These enormous projects are leading to the emergence of a multipolar or polycentric world, where the US and other Western states can no longer act as the moral world police and exploit the world’s natural resources.
The countries that are part of BRICS and BRI belong to the Global South and East, which used to be called “the Third World,” but not anymore. Now these countries are rising and represent a majority of the world’s total population. This is, of course, important to report on. China is a key player in this context and the first major one we are investigating on-site.
It is also interesting to write about how the Western and unipolar rules-based order elite is shaking at its foundations.
In the world of Leonidas Aretakis and his journalist colleague Jacob Lundberg, this has been simplified to what they describe as “glorifying propaganda trips” to “dictatorial China.”
So Jacob Lundberg at The Flame called me and asked questions about my media trips to China. Partway through the interview, several negatively leading questions came up. The questions were reminiscent of those I received from Expo.se in early 2024, another Swedish magazine that doesn’t like China. I began to understand that The Flame was also going after NewsVoice.
It later became apparent when The Flame’s interview with me was published that Jacob Lundberg had given the journalist Anders Dalsbro at Expo more than half the space. The interview seemed to focus more on Expo’s opinions than on the person being interviewed (me). It raises questions about why a journalist at The Flame would collaborate with one at Expo to get the NewsVoice editor in trouble.
Jacob Lundberg also jokes that I wore panda ears on my head when I visited a zoo in Chengdu, while some young Chinese journalists from a Chinese channel asked me questions about what I think of pandas (VIDEO). The atmosphere on site was relaxed, friendly, and fun, as it often is with the Chinese. A fellow traveller from Serbia (Bojan) said that we must learn to relax, just like pandas.
However, journalists at newspapers such as The Flame and Expo lack both self-distance and the ability to see the bigger picture to understand China as a nation and the geopolitical changes that are now lifting the third world. For the staff at Expo and The Flame, everything is deadly serious and black and white. They see a world out there with enemies and allies. According to Leonidas Aretakis, you have to choose the right side, their side, to be “good.”
My reports from China cover a car factory, cotton cultivation, tea cultivation, a geopark, projects to stop desertification, Chikan old town in Zhangjiang, and other topics, including a report on Uyghur mosques. Some claim that I praise Uyghur Islam in China…
During my trips to China, I have had the opportunity to meet more than 100 journalists from 75 countries around the world. These are experienced journalists. This context has helped us to build up our monitoring of the world around us, for example, through collaborations with TV BRICS and China Daily (partners in Africa, the Middle East, and South America are in the pipeline).
Over the years, we at NewsVoice have “deprogrammed” ourselves from Western propaganda, as we too have been misled by Western media about China, Russia, Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Africa.
Flamman – The Flame
Flamman describes itself as an independent socialist media. The newspaper was started by the Swedish labour movement in 1906, as a party organ for the left in northern Sweden. The Flame has since adopted the negative US and EU policy toward China, which originates from think tanks and policy institutes in Brussels, the UK, and the US. The Flame has thus taken on the role of a channel for the unipolar imperialist world order.
Deprogramming or reprogramming?
I took the opportunity to inform Jacob Lundberg that China is not a one-party system but a nine-party system and that Uyghurs are free to practice Islam. In my opinion, the alleged genocide of Uyghurs is a Western lie, regardless of what the American front organisation, the UN and the British Empire’s Amnesty claim. Uyghurs even receive government subsidies. China’s leadership is building large mosques for them.
I have written about how the autonomous region of Xinjiang has dealt with terrorism by “deprogramming” terrorists, and that this is being done in cooperation with Uyghur Muslim Imams.
Jacob Lundberg distorts this statement into a claim that I ‘praise’ what he calls “reprogramming camps” for Muslims. In fact, I tried to explain to Lundberg that I want to report on how China is “deprogramming” the terrorists who killed civilians in the streets of Urumqi in Xinjiang in 2014. The BBC writes that 90 people were injured and 31 civilians were killed in this terrorist attack. My question is, can terrorists be “deprogrammed” from committing mass murder again? Jacob Lundberg’s angle is therefore ridiculous.
Read more (Meilleur Murindabigwi): The disinformation campaign about Xinjiang serves the West’s geopolitical interests
The Flame has received USD 550.000 in media support over the past 3 years
The Swedish Media Authority granted The Flame an operating subsidy for 2023 of USD 300.000 [SEK 3.056.000]. In 2024, The Flame received an additional USD 254.000 [SEK 2.546.667] in support from the same authority (but nothing for 2025), still the editorial office of Flamman only consists of five people.
NewsVoice has never received press support from the Media Authority despite two approved applications in previous years. Instead, NewsVoice is dependent on advertising revenue. Now, Flamman’s defamations have damaged our ability to attract advertisers.
Despite the fact that Leonidas Aretakis is periodically rolling in money, he considers himself an innocent victim. Aretakis complains that I “exposed” him and his newspaper to pressure, but all I asked for was the opportunity to respond to their article. I did not get that. He even claimed to the Media Ethics Committee that I never asked for it.
The Flame blamed – leaked information and triumphed
Then came a new attack. This time, it was a defaming mass email with the aim of selling subscriptions to Flamman. My name and my trips to China were used as arguments. Jacob Lundberg is even taking the opportunity to triumph in the newsletter after the Media Ethics Council acquitted The Flame following the first complaint, in which he portrays me as a propaganda figure, even though I was not paid to write.
These China trips are highly demanding, with normally 5-6 study visits per day to different locations over the course of a week. This is followed by post-production. A video report takes at least one day to complete. During these trips and the subsequent post-production, it is almost impossible to keep up with all the regular work at NewsVoice. Many of my reports on China are pending.
So, all the unpaid work is very demanding, but the important thing is to do it when the opportunity arises. We report more truthfully than Swedish journalists from the mainstream media (politically aligned with the US Atlantic Council and similar Western organisations), who have all their travel expenses paid and receive large salaries for their work.
Jacob Lundberg writes in the sales mass email that it is important that they continue to scrutinise people like me. The Swedish Advertising Committee considers this a defamation case, which led to the idea of suing The Flame, as they refuse to allow me to respond. However, I have never filed a lawsuit. That does not prevent Leonidas Aretakis from playing the victim before the Media Ethics Committee.
However, the committee does not condemn Flamman for selling subscriptions by using my name as the responsible publisher of NewsVoice.
The committee writes:
“It is not true that he [Sassersson] has attempted to influence the media‘s [The Flame’s] reporting. He has only asked for the opportunity to comment or respond. That he would have ‘strategically’ exploited the media ethics system with dark intentions [Aretakis’ thesis] appears to be a conspiracy theory.”
“The Media Ethics Committee shares MO’s assessment and criticises The Flame for violating good journalistic practice.”
Johannes Nesser at the Journalists’ Union magazine Journalisten explains the decision:
“In its January newsletter, Flamman disclosed information about MO’s decision, which is contrary to the rules of honour.”
The Media Ombudsman (MO):
”There is usually an imbalance of power between an individual complainant [Sassersson] and a media company [Flamman], and the system wants the rules to ensure that the media [via Jacob Lundberg] should refrain from “triumphing” when they have won a case, as there is a person on the other side who has filed a complaint but has not been vindicated, or who is awaiting a final decision by the Media Ethics Committee.”
…and further:
“The media outlet [Flamman] that has been reported to the Media Ethics Committee [via MO] should not publicise the fact that a complaint has been filed. The reason for this is that the complainant should not suffer further damage to their reputation during the investigation.”
Therefore, Flamman’s responsible publisher, Leonidas Aretakis, failed to honour the ethics. Flamman now has to pay a fee of USD 1300 to the Committee.
By T. Sassersson, Editor-in-Chief, NewsVoice
Related
- Media Ethics Committee, Decision: Exp. No. 53/2025 §4 Ref. No. 25097 – Complaint against Flamman