[Republished from Off-Guardian] Catte Black is one of the founders of Off-Guardian. Off-Guardian is the creation of people committed to the original vision which drew us together on The Guardian's CiF pages. We followed with dismay and disappointment the increasingly distorted and tendentious news reporting on Libya, the proxy-war in Syria, and the Ukraine Crisis. Tired of being censored by our beloved, once-upon-a-time left-of-centre newspaper, in February 2015 we decided to create our own platform for airing our unacceptable opinions.

Our small group is dispersed globally, with representatives from North America, Britain, and Southern and Eastern Europe. The site is our own work, and is not supported by any governments, institutions or pressure groups.

We believe in the concept of truth itself -- not merely in that of competing narratives -- and in the sanctity of facts themselves. For that reason, we shall try to track them down, present them to the public, and preserve them as best we can. We believe in a true free press that (consistently) speaks truth to power. And we'll be doing our little best to remind our mainstream media, including The Guardian itself, that this is supposed to be their duty. They probably won't listen, but we'll keep saying it anyway.

If you're also sick of being stifled, moderated, abused or slandered as Putinbots or worse, and censored to oblivion on any of the Readers' Comments sections of our mainstream press, come and tell us about it. We operate a completely open comment policy, and all shades of opinion are welcome.