Chris Hedges isn’t the only one catching flack for going against the grain, so to speak. Naomi Wolf was recently the subject of intense mainstream media criticism and scrutiny after she questioned the authenticity of ISIS beheading videos:

In reporting the story, the Independent’s author tries hard to hide her own convictions by making extensive use of quotations, attributing everything that matters either to Naomi or the Vox News journalist who criticizes her:

Vox.com journalist Max Fisher branded her ideas “wild-eyed conspiracy theories” that could be harmful to an impressionable audience given her “record of respectability”.

“It is important for readers who may encounter Wolf’s ideas to understand the distinction between her earlier work, which rose on its merits, and her newer conspiracy theories, which are unhinged, damaging and dangerous,” he wrote.

But her choice of quotes, a less than flattering picture of Naomi with lipstick on her teeth, and her failure to contact Naomi herself for comment (choosing instead to lift quotes from her Facebook page), demonstrates her contempt for Naomi’s positions.

Like a long line of others, Naomi has joined the ranks of persona non-grata in the mainstream media – a growing cadre of high profile commentators who have earned the new Scarlet Letter – “C” for conspiracy.