Another day, another ‘job’ for Harry
Fighting ‘fake news’: Prince’s new role
PRINCE Harry has added another job to his evergrowing portfolio – working as a ‘commissioner on disinformation’ to fight so-called fake news.
The sixth in line to the throne has been recruited to a Left-wing think tank carrying out a study into ‘information disorder’, funded by a controversial billionaire.
It was revealed just 24 hours after Harry announced he had been appointed as ‘chief impact officer’ for an online life coaching company.
In his latest job he will be one of 15 commissioners and three co-chairmen conducting a sixmonth study into the digital ‘avalanche of misinformation’ on behalf of the Aspen Institute. The study is being funded by US entrepreneur Craig Newmark. He founded Craigslist, which was branded a ‘cesspool’ after it emerged hundreds of crimes were facilitated as a result of contact via the classified adverts website. They included women exploited in a growing ‘ sex for rent’ scandal during the pandemic.
Craigslist has been accused of wiping out US newspapers by taking away classified adverts they rely on to stay afloat.
It is not clear if Harry is being paid or receiving expenses for his role with the Washingtonbased organisation. The Daily Mail has sought comment from the prince’s legal representative on this.
Harry’s role as a ‘ philanthropic leader’ is part-time but will involve ‘regular meetings’. On the commission with him is Kathryn Murdoch. She is the wife of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s son James, who resigned last year from his father’s hugely successful media empire, whose titles include The Sun – which Harry is suing for alleged phone hacking.
James Murdoch, who was forced to stand down in the wake of the phone hacking scandal after publicly defending his father’s British newspapers, has since become one of his critics.
He has accused ‘media property owners’ of ‘spreading disinformation’. He and his wife have spent the last few years reinventing themselves as a Washington ‘power couple’, with Kathryn setting herself up as a critic of Donald Trump.
The Aspen Institute is one of the best known and best funded US think-tanks, drawing cash from rich donors and big businesses including Facebook. It says its mission is to build a ‘ free, just, and equitable society’. Founded by a Chicago businessman 70 years ago, it is backed by a board of billionaire trustees.
Harry, 36, who openly blames the British press in part for his decision to emigrate to California with wife Meghan, 39, and son Archie, said: ‘The experience of today’s digital world has inundated us with an avalanche of misinformation, affecting our ability as individuals as well as societies to think clearly and truly understand the world we live in.
‘It’s my belief that this is a humanitarian issue and as such, it demands a multi-stakeholder response from advocacy voices, members of the media, academic researchers, and both government and civil society leaders.’
The Sussexes, who have signed multi-million dollar deals with streaming giants Netflix and Spotify, have themselves been accused of misinformation in their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier this month.
This included the claim by Meghan that they were married in their ‘backyard’ at Kensington Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury three days before their official wedding. This subsequently proved to be false and this week the couple’s own spokesman admitted they had only exchanged personal vows.
Harry has been working as ‘chief impact officer’ at life coaching firm BetterUp for a ‘few months’, his boss, Alexi Robichaux, revealed yesterday.
‘Affecting our ability to think’