With thousands of ethnic Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh, chaos and tragedy abound. Tens of thousands have escaped the region, flooding into Armenia days after Azerbaijan attacked and overtook the land; the government of Nagorno-Karabakh has also disbanded. Joel Veldkamp, head of international communications for Christian Solidarity International, is a tireless advocate for preserving Christian heritage and a keen observer of the geopolitical turmoil in the region.
Veldkamp has issued concerns and warnings about the escalating conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh over the past nine months, as Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh, last December, cutting the population off from food and medicine. Months later, ethnic Armenians are now fleeing their homes — and lives.
“It’s our worst nightmare come to life right before our eyes,” Veldkamp told CBN Digital. “We saw it coming, we warned people it was coming, the Armenians warned people that it was coming, and we tried to amplify their voices as much as we could.” He expressed frustration and heartache over the dire consequences of this crisis, especially for the ethnic Armenian population.
His comments also underscored the significance of historic Christian heritage embedded in Nagorno-Karabakh. “The destruction of the Christian heritage of this land is going to be total,” emphasizing the cultural and historical losses being incurred amidst the conflict. Joel also sheds light on the role of geopolitics, particularly the interests of the Biden administration and Turkey, in ignoring and exacerbating the crisis. His plea for international action and his message to President Joe Biden convey the urgency of the situation and the need for a change in approach to protect the Armenian people. Watch Veldkamp break down the history surrounding the Armenian genocide as well.
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
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Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
