The Info War & Russia's Troll Army

[KevinB]

The internet and social media are the reason this has been discovered, there is no longer a monopoly on information. If any person doesn't understand what Brad has stated above by now, I'm not sure they ever will.

However the Digital News age has also been destructive to the entire realm of media as far as credibility goes, as anyone can post a story real or imagined, and they can be picked up with little fact checking.

Nothing I have seen credited to Russia or any other foreign actor is within orders of magnitude of the discredit the MSM brings on itself. Conservatives have watched the Russian Collusion lie, the Laptop Is Russian Disinformation lie, and the Biden Is Sharp and Fit lie all play out.

Interesting you bring those three topics up as they are all interesting tidbits that have threads of truth to them, but all where skewed heavily.
1) Russian Collusion: The issue was that it got muddled together - nothing could be tired criminally directly to the 2020 Trump campaign - but there was evidence of Russian efforts to support Trump, and evidence that some on the Trump team did in fact have discussions with Russian officials.

2) Early on the FBI verified that the Laptop was genuine - however the chain of custody had lent itself to the appearance of impropriety, and yes there was a clear effort on behalf of some officials to mislead the media about the origins - I am not so sure I place all the blame on the media for that - as well as certain officials in the USG who wanted to smear the Trump Campaign.

3) Biden is Sharp and Fit: at his age, one can be easily fatigued, and also go from very capable to incapable in a short span. I don't necessarily think that it was a lie that went on for years, I know some folks who have briefed him in the last few months - and it appears the decline has been fairly recent, as he was "on the ball" in the spring.

All of them went on for months to years. All of them involved multiple major media agencies. All of them consumed vast amounts of published space and broadcast time. None of them was instigated by foreigners.

I would be very careful before I make a statement like none of them where instigated by foreigners - the Russian, Chinese, Iranian ( and with a lot less effect North Korean) governments all attempt to plant seeds of doubt into the West daily on multiple different things.

The power to restore some sort of useful reputation to the MSM rests with the MSM. Stop lying. Stop propagating unverified anonymous rumours. Read written sources carefully. Listen carefully when people are speaking and don't snip quotations out of context. Understand the difference between fact and conjecture. Stop injecting bullsh!t premises into questions.

BS sells - and unfortunately in a profit motivated world, the hierarchy of the MSM are to blame - they get richer off instability and as such have no reason to stop -- people and governments need to hold them accountable - and hit them hard in their pocketbook before any significant change will be implemented.

 

[QV]

However the Digital News age has also been destructive to the entire realm of media as far as credibility goes, as anyone can post a story real or imagined, and they can be picked up with little fact checking.

There is no disputing there is bullshit on all media. What the open internet and social media have provided is a check and balance. For example, when MSM goes on to state candidate A said XXX and then provides a narrative with it, you can often go and watch the entire statement on another platform where you see the whole version and context. It is very rare you get the full context of something from the MSM, independent operators are a counterbalance to that.

BTW: I would think that independent operators of any kind is a very American tradition...

 

[Brad Sallows]

Interesting you bring those three topics up as they are all interesting tidbits that have threads of truth to them, but all where skewed heavily.

That's the heart of the problem. Some source hands them what they want to hear, or something close to what they want to hear, and they cough up the story they want to write. If the source is US government or retired, there's no pointing the finger at foreigners.

I suppose the threshold of big lies for each consumer varies with gullibility or the same desire to hear things all one way.

 

[KevinB]

If the source is US government or retired, there's no pointing the finger at foreigners.

I would not say that is true at all. Both current and retired personnel get played like fiddles at times.

I suppose the threshold of big lies for each consumer varies with gullibility or the same desire to hear things all one way.

I tend to view it more as the boiling frog. It occurs gradually and is then too much to handle.

 

[brihard]

I would not say that is true at all. Both current and retired personnel get played like fiddles at times.

Doug Macgregor has entered the chat

 

[dimsum]

While this is specific to Canada, the overall “disinformation” bit makes it more relevant in this thread.

 

[Halifax Tar]

While this is specific to Canada, the overall “disinformation” bit makes it more relevant in this thread.

She is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

 

[The Bread Guy]

She is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

You're not wrong - but she's not wrong, either.

 

[dimsum]

She is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

If her points are good, I don’t care if she sounds like Gilbert Gottfried.

 

[brihard]

You're not wrong - but she's not wrong, either.

I find her pretty grating and generally ignore her stuff, but on that particular bit of testimony she was on the money. And she definitely has been well placed in online spaces to have observed what she’s described