On June 17, 2014, we posted our first diaries on Daily Kos, and though much shorter and sweeter than our diatribes these days, those first posts from nine years ago remain painfully relevant. The supposed "Lone Wolf" with a nonsense theory being "censored" sounds just like Shellenberger's UFO whistleblower, the supposed pause in global warming covered the next day is still a cherry picker's favorite, and the week closed out with a reminder that Patrick Moore didn't co-found Greenpeace, despite constant claims otherwise.
While we were hardly the only ones talking about the problem when we started, and outlets that were doing the work then, like Skeptical Science, DeSmog and Inside Climate News, also keep putting out great stuff, there are also now a bunch of other options for newsletters that call out and debunk climate denial and disinformation!
For example, the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition has begun producing a monthly bulletin on information integrity! The first edition is on the 15-minute city conspiracy theories that disinfluencers have begun incorporating into their warped worldview where the freedom to walk instead of being dependent on a car is portrayed as a draconian restriction on movement and travel.
Then, if you'd like a weekly dispatch on the digital fight between Big Oil and green groups, Climate Monitor covers environmental and energy posts, with a particular focus on ad buys.
There's also our friends at ExxonKnews, who provide regular updates on the litany of court cases seeking to hold Big Oil accountable for its decades of disinformation, as well as coverage of studies and reports outlining the problem or proposing solutions for climate accountability.
But if that's a little too niche, you could zoom out and take a daily look at right-wing media more broadly with The Righting. Alternatively, check out MisinformationKills to learn about COVID conspiracy theories, get a friendly weekly readout on fighting online extremism from CtrlAltRightDelete, or, even more broadly, get general tips for digital investigations from Craig Silverman's aptly named Digital Investigations.
Finally, there's Gen Dread, Dr. Britt Wray's newsletter on the psychological impacts of the climate crisis, which isn't directly disinfo-related but is certainly relevant!
This is all just to say that after some 2,000 posts 5 times a week, we're going to dial things back just a little, and on Fridays and/or Mondays, at least for the summer, we'll be leaving you in the hands of our many smart friends.
And since Monday is Juneteenth, we won't be back until next Wednesday. See you then!
