Adrien Chen at The New Yorker has added his voice to the many who have challenged The Washington Post’s dreadful story about PropOrNot, the group that has compiled a list of sites that it alleges are conduits for Russian propaganda. PropOrNot had contacted him to see if he would write a story on their work or connect them to someone who would at the Post or The New York Times. He did neither. Excerpts from his critique:
But a close look at the report showed that it was a mess. “To be honest, it looks like a pretty amateur attempt,” Eliot Higgins, a well-respected researcher who has investigated Russian fake-news stories on his Web site, Bellingcat, for years, told me. “I think it should have never been an article on any news site of any note.” [...]
To PropOrNot, simply exhibiting a pattern of beliefs outside the political mainstream is enough to risk being labelled a Russian propagandist. Indeed, the list of “propaganda outlets” has included respected left-leaning publications like CounterPunch and Truthdig, as well as the right-wing behemoth Drudge Report. The list is so broad that it can reveal absolutely nothing about the structure or pervasiveness of Russian propaganda. “It’s so incredibly scattershot,” Higgins told me. “If you’ve ever posted a pro-Russian post on your site, ever, you’re Russian propaganda.” In a scathing takedown on The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald and Ben Norton wrote that PropOrNot “embodies the toxic essence of Joseph McCarthy, but without the courage to attach individual names to the blacklist.” [...]
The story of PropOrNot should serve as a cautionary tale to those who fixate on malignant digital influences as a primary explanation for Trump’s stunning election. The story combines two of the most popular technological villains of post-election analysis—fake news and Russian subterfuge—into a single tantalizing package. Like the most effective Russian propaganda, the report weaved together truth and misinformation.
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BLAST FROM THE PAST
At Daily Kos on this date in 2009—The Last Person Who Should Be Opening His Mouth:
Whatever differences we as Democrats have regarding President Obama's policy choices in Afghanistan, the one thing we can all agree on is that we're sick of hearing arsonists hanging around the fire they started telling us the best way put it out. Certain media, however, eagerly add kerosene to the flames by endlessly quoting them.
Thus, today, we've got torturer-in chief Richard Bruce Cheney - who lied us into war and further enriched himself and his wealthy cronies in the process - explaining to Politico how Obama has botched his decision because he actually spent time thinking about it. Therefore, the President is projecting "weakness."
Weakness is added to weakness, Cheney says, by trying some Gitmo prisoners in New York in civilian courts. Uh-huh. By hauling self-described holy warriors into American criminal courts to be tried with thieves and murderers means the terrorists have already won.
It takes no special effort or reading between the lines to see the main theme behind Cheney's remarks: Obama is giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: If you thought the Kellogg’s thing was crazy, you won’t believe what Greg Dworkin found! And that’s about it. Except for the assault on health care, Trump’s cabinet of foreclosure profiteers, still more Gop election fraud & the upside-down Carrier “deal.”
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