Exclusive: National Press Club cancelled Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for being “in favour” of Palestine

The National Press Club cancelled a confirmed address by US journalist Chris Hedges due to concerns about “balance” and hosting too many speakers “in favour” of the Palestinian cause, according to correspondence from the organisation’s CEO obtained by Lamestream.

Controversy over the National Press Club’s (NPC) decision to cancel Hedges’ talk erupted after the journalist published a story on his Substack, accusing the organisation of caving into donors and the pro-Israel lobby because of his strong position opposing Israel’s genocide.

The NPC responded by issuing a statement claiming that they had only “tentatively agreed to a date” for Hedges to speak and that when further, unspecified details of the nature of his speech were made available, they decided to pursue a different speaker.

However, a communication trail seen by Lamestream contradicts the NPC’s public statement on the issue. Far from being just a “tentative” agreement, Hedges was officially confirmed as a speaker, then dropped by the NPC because of his pro-Palestine position, according to the NPC’s chief executive.