Before I get into the meat of this article, I want to remind you of a few paragraphs I wrote back in the August post, Questioning Hillary’s Health is Not Conspiracy Theory:
As I look at the landscape in 2016 to-date, I observe emergent signs that alternative media is finally beginning to take over from the legacy mainstream media when it comes to impact and influence. The mainstream media (unlike with John McCain in 2008), had decided that Hillary Clinton’s health was not an issue and chose not to pursue it. Many in the alternative media world took a different position, and due to mainstream media’s failure to inform the American public for decades, the alternative media drove that issue to the top of the news cycle. That’s power.
This is an incredibly big deal, and the mainstream media intuitively knows what it means. It means a total loss of legitimately, prestige and power. All of which is well deserved of course.
So here’s the bottom line. 2016 represents the true beginning of what I would call the Media Wars. Alternative media is now capable of driving the news cycle. Mainstream media now has no choice but to fight back, and fight back it will. It will fight back dirty. This is going to get very ugly, but by the time the dust has settled, I think much of the mainstream media will be left as a shell of its former self.
With Hillary’s loss, the mainstream media and its distressed and discredited allies are in a panic like we have never seen before. They understand that alternative voices now influence the public as much, if not more so, than the mainstream press, and they are now out to destroy those voices. The way they are going about this is by placing anti-establishment voices under the blanket umbrella of “fake news,” or in the case of Twitter, they just seem to purge people they don’t like from the platform altogether.
The gloves are now completely off following the publication, and wide distribution by legacy media, of a list compiled by Melissa Zimdars, an assistant professor of communication at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, of “False, misleading, clickbait-y and satirical ‘news’ sources.” What you’ll find, is that some of your favorite websites, including Zerohedge are represented in this ridiculous list.
What do almost all of these sites have in common? They published a lot of anti-Hillary Clinton articles over the course of the election, which collectively helped to swing the contest for Trump. That’s the real transgression committed by these websites.
Interestingly, I didn’t see Slate on this list despite publishing one of the most blatant pieces of fake, pro-Hillary news propaganda of the year just a few days before the election with the following, quickly debunked, monstrosity:
Even Snopes rapidly dismissed the claim, yet Slate is nowhere to be seen on the “fake news” list. If you are pro-Hillary, you apparently cannot be “fake, misleading, or clickbait-y.”
This whole story hits close to home for me. Zerohedge has been publishing my writing since 2010, years before I had my own website. It has been instrumental in providing an outlet for my own voice, as well as countless others, when legacy media never would. As such, I reached out to Zerohedge for a comment. Here is what they said:
It’s funny and sad at the same time – have they done any actual rigorous analysis on what they determine to be “fake” news, or perhaps the assumption is that the public should just take their word again… like when the NYT assured its readers that Hillary Clinton had a 90% chance of winning? When it comes to “fake vs fact” on Zero Hedge, we have a simple solution: we source everything, and all the data can be replicated by anyone.
Ultimately this push will likely boost traffic to the “fake” websites – something the “credible” legacy media, which just had its worst year ever, desperately needs.
But what is more troubling is that this sets the framework for “banned media”, especially when one considers it was the outspoken “liberal” voices within the 4thestate who were in arms that Trump would unleash precisely this kind of media witch hunt. Apparently the objective media does not need a president to prompt it to start its own book burning project.
Moving along, who cares that some assistant professor made a list of sites she doesn’t like and warns people about them? Why should we pay attention?
We should care because it is being promoted heavily by the mainstream media. For example, look at how a writer at New York Magazine promoted the list (seems kinda “clickbait-y” doesn’t it):
This is as close as you can get to a publication totally endorsing the list. Moreover, the story is currently the #1 most read article on New York Magazine’s website today.
Naturally, New York Magazine would never resort to the sort of “clickbait-y” tactics perpetrated by these so-called fake news sites. Perhaps I was hallucinating when I saw its recent cover photo:
Then when you actually click through to the cover story, the following image pops out at you:
This, you see, is what real news looks like.
It’s not just New York Magazine either. The Los Angeles Times today published an article titled, Want to Keep Fake News Out of Your Newsfeed? College Professor Creates List of Sites to Avoid. Here’s how it begins:
During the election, many people fell prey to fake news stories on social media — even the president-elect ended up retweeting fake statistics. A professor of communication has created a list of unreliable news sites to help people do better.
Melissa Zimdars, an assistant professor of communication at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, put together a publicly available Google doc cataloging “False, misleading, clickbait-y and satirical ‘news’ sources.” It’s been making the rounds on social media as people seek to cleanse their newsfeeds of misinformation.
The article then ends with the following:
Both Facebook and Google have recently announced they will take steps to block fake news sites from accessing their advertising services.
One has to wonder what sort of criteria Facebook and Google will be using in its determination of “fake news.” If it ends up with anything resembling the above list, we should all be very concerned.
It’s not as if these mainstream media outlets are promoting this list to sow doubts in the sites’ already existing readers; rather, the intent is to keep their own readers away. It’s a nefarious attempt at preventing current readership from being open to alternative information, and we should all hope it backfires spectacularly.
Of course, this is just one battle in the status quo’s attempt to silence alternative voices. Twitter is on its own mission following Hillary Clinton’s election loss. As USA Today reported this morning in its post, Twitter Suspends Alt-Right Accounts:
SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter suspended a number of accounts associated with the alt-right movement, the same day the social media service said it would crack down on hate speech.
Among those suspended was Richard Spencer, who runs an alt-right think tank and had a verified account on Twitter.
The alt-right, a loosely organized group that espouses white nationalism, emerged as a counterpoint to mainstream conservatism and has flourished online. Spencer has said he wants blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Jews removed from the U.S.
Heidi Beirich, spokeswoman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told USA TODAY that the center had asked Twitter to remove more than 100 accounts of white supremacists who violated Twitter’s terms of service. She also pointed to two alt-right accounts that had been verified by Twitter, including Spencer’s.
This Spencer character doesn’t appear to be a particularly nice guy, and Twitter can do whatever it wants, but what concerns me is the overall trend. Namely, how information gatekeepers are suddenly panicking to demonize or ban alternative voices following Trump’s election victory.
The message here is simple: It’s Game On. The legacy media has taken the gloves off entirely and we are now engaged in all out media war.
For prior articles on the topic, see:
Obama Enters the Media Wars – Why His Recent Attack on Free Speech is So Dangerous and Radical
Hillary Clinton Enters the Media Wars
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
Don’t fret too much. I think Trump and Bannon have a few surprises up their sleeves, and the rickety, unprofitable propaganda edifice we call the MSM might find itself with some problems it never even considered. Watch. These guys mean business.
star….I certainly hope so. I’m tired of the BS against the people that have worked hard and long since the age of 14 and are being vilified in favor of the free-loaders.
What I’d like to see is a return to the fairness doctrine for broadcasters and a requirement for license holders to actually “serve the public” instead of just make money and promote their own pov. The FCC could easily expand this to cable channels since they use RF spectrum in satellite bandwidth.
THAT would get their panties in a wad!
I’m not sure if this is funny or scary. If I had a higher opinion of the average person’s ability to filter out BS and find the truth, this would definitely be funny, but since I think tactics like this will work on a majority of Americans to influence their thinking, I find it a bit scary.
If TBP and Zerohedge are considered fake news and NYT and CNN are considered real news, then this is just another confirmation that we are living in some sort of Orwellian time and place.
Looks like they’ve doubled down.
Doubling down can work out okay when you have a GOOD hand. Doubling down on a pair of twos will only work out if we bust. Gotta be careful not to bust.
We won’t bust – there are too many pissed off people.
The only people I know that watch MSM are in their
80s. They are devoted to some of the cast characters.
If you want to retaliate….
Look into who this “college professor” is….?
Publish with ferocity your findings …
Just like them…
jus sayin’ …
As a graduate of Merrimack College, I want to thank Ms. Zimdars for compiling a list of websites I am now going to visit.
That was my response as well. My first thought was “Wow! Here are some really good sites! I want to save this list!”
Here is a modest proposal. From now on, if you see any kind of news report in the progress of being videoed, try to get within camera range and shout to the reporter and cameraman, “GET A REAL JOB! START YOUR OWN WEBSITE!”
Hey CO2, where have you been?
Been lurking, busy with work, harvest season, deer season, closing camp, kids, killing my non-laying chickens etc. etc. Thoroughly enjoying the progressive meltdown though. It is a sight to behold. They have been completely outed and exposed. Thanks TBP!
Two of MO’s state legislators actually recommended Zerohedge as a news source ahead of the mainstream outlets.
They have nothing to lose and like Hoboken411 said all they got is a pair of two’s. They have even flung their cards on table daring Trump to call. Not hard to see how this plays out. They are pushing the popular vote narrative to give themselves legitimacy to resist. And they are all in!
Folks are drawing parallels between Germany 1933 and USA 2016. Many claim that Trump is the Fascist and draw similarities with the rise of Hitler. The so-called Real news never tiring and leading the charges by making spurious claims about him. Yet if one looks at current events with an objective eye one will see that it is the left in League with MSM that is employing the same stratagems that were successful for the NASDP and the Bolsheviks.
Shocking to say this but the experts in MSM have it wrong.
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Hitler isn’t bowing before Hindenburg.
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He is a nobody getting drunk with his friends in a beer hall.
Meanwhile the Bankers and Industrialists are at a table in corner plotting how to use the bombast to advance their plans for conquest and control. It isn’t 1933 it is 1923.
As for the list I find it amusing that the musings of an Assistant Professor are news in the media that claims to be the only that’s legitimate. They are drawing dead on the river and they don’t fucken’ care.
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Fake news sites are easy to spot. Any news site that regularly created the impression that Trump had less than 50% chance of winning is a fake news site.
Fake websites are not always as easy to spot as we like to think they are. For example, a student of mine mentioned to me earlier in the week that El Chapo had escaped prison for a 3rd time. I thought it peculiar that I didn’t hear anything about it so I did an internet search. The only “news article” I could find was a link that took me to “ABCnews13” website or at least it looked like it. This website does a good job discussing it:
http://www.morningledger.com/did-el-chapo-escape-what-happened-where-is-he-now/13120500/
I wonder how many people link articles without doing due diligence as to the veracity of them. This seems like a case of creating a problem, getting the desired reaction (we should block these spurious links and websites from influencing public perception) and offer the solution…which would be an even more controlled internet
‘Useful’ List Of False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, And/Or Satirical “Real News” Sources
Submitted by Alex Christoforou via TheDuran.com,
Having trouble makes sense of what news is real and what news is fake. Worry no more, The Duran has compiled a list of news sources you should avoid at all costs.
Disclaimer 1: All of the contents in this document reflect the opinion of the author and are for not educational purposes, because fundamentally I believe you are smart enough to make your own decisions. This resource was split into categories around 2:29pm GMT +2 on 17/11/16.
CATEGORY 1: Below is a list of fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media. Some of these websites may rely on “outrage” by using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits. These websites are categorized with the number 1 next to them.
CATEGORY 2: Some websites on this list may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information, and they are marked with a 2.
CATEGORY 3: Other websites on this list sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions, and they are marked with a 3.
CATEGORY 4: Other sources on this list are purposefully fake with the intent of satire/comedy, which can offer important critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news. I’m including them here, for now, because 1.) they have the potential to perpetuate misinformation based on different audience (mis)interpretations and 2.) to make sure anyone who reads a story by The Onion, for example, understands its purpose. If you think this is unnecessary, please see Literally Unbelievable.
Note: I will not be updating the categorizations and will not be adding links gradually through the next couple of days, because i have better things to do with my life.
Many of the websites on this list continue to offer valuable journalism and/or satirical commentary. Finally, I do NOT care if you use plug-ins that automatically block any of the websites listed below. You are free to install anything you want on your computer. And as a reminder, not all of the sources listed below should be considered fake because this is just one man’s opinion.
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Tips for analyzing news sources:
Avoid websites that end in “week” ex: Newsweek. These sites take pieces of accurate information and then packaging that information with other false or misleading “facts”.
Watch out for websites that end in “.com” as they are often web site versions of fake news media conglomerates.
Watch out if established mainstream media news sites are reporting on the story. Sometimes established media coverage is the result of corporate media bias and other factors, but there should typically be a good un-bias alternative media source reporting on a topic or event.
Odd domain names generally equal odd domain names.
Lack of author attribution may, but not always, signify that the news story is suspect and requires verification, or that the author decided to not publish his/her name.
Check the “About Us” tab on websites or call the website landline number to chat with Editors and make sure that they are good guys.
Bad web design and use of ALL CAPS can also be a sign that the news source doesn’t know dick about web design.
If the story makes you REALLY ANGRY it’s probably a good idea to calm down and realize that it is just a news story. Go out and grab a beer with friends.
It’s always best to read multiple sources of information if you want. Or just read one source of information. Or don’t read at all. It is up to you.
Bio: I am writing this post, and many other posts for The Duran. That is all you need to know.
Update 1: I’ve received some of emails with suggestions, very few of which are duplicates, and I will do absolutely nothing about it, because as I said above I have other things to attend to.
Update 2: No, I am not considering further coding/categorizing these sources for clarity and creating a more durable/dynamic database. See Update 1.
Update 3: Some people are asking which news sources I trust, and all I can say is that I read/watch/listen to what I find interesting. Do the same. Don’t let some university assistant professor tell you what to think and do. Live your life the way you want to, on your terms. Do not become a tool for the neo-liberal hate mongers.
Update 4: No group of AWESOME librarians will be working with this list to provide more detail, examples of the news articles in question, etc…because I have no contact with AWESOME librarians
Update 5: It should be noted I am not the first person to call out some of these websites. When I first started compiling this specific large list this morning, I did it to poke fun at the ridiculous list compiled by a clueless liberal trying to impose their values onto society. They are free to do so, but I am also free to piss on your “fake news” list and chose what I want to read and what I want to believe.
I don’t know why anybody is taking this list or the ASSISTANT professor seriously. I looked her up, she’s a recent PhD grad and has never worked in the field. Like most professor these days she doesn’t know what she’s talking about because she’s never worked in the field. If she had, she wouldn’t be able to compile this list. The mainstream media has a big churnalism problem. They write their news stories based off of spoon fed press releases. Most of those press releases are written by outside PR firms.
Last year I applied for a freelance job and was sent a press release for a tech company’s series A funding. I was suppose to rewrite the press release their outside PR firm already wrote to make the company sound more interesting. All the quotes in the the press release were made up. The quote of the CEO of the company was made up, and two sources and their quotes were made up. To say the least, the company didn’t like the press release I wrote them. But sure enough a few weeks later I saw articles about this company’s series A published on TechCrunch and WIRED with the PR firm’s made up quotes.
Even having experience doesn’t mean shit these days it seems, so many professionals only have “experience” in being kiss asses and boot lickers.
A resume doesn’t tell you shit, want to know what a person is about, put the tools of the trade in their hands and stand back to see how they handle them.
Free advertising for Alt-Right sites! Thanks for the links!
Soros is running out of time before puppet O out
Admin, you just have to work harder if you want to make the list. Llpoh and Stucky might have some ideas about how to grab Madison Kircher by her cunt and pull out some pubes. The bitch just hasn’t figured out who is the real backbone of the Alt Right.TBP,TBP,TBP!
…why didn’t they put “crooksandliars.com” on the list, I wonder…?
FaceBook and Twitter are purging the right wing commentary because of the effect it had on the election, they want to remove them now, so the left can resume influencing, and dominating their information content.
That way they can begin to control the web in preparation for the next election cycle.
The hell with them, the people that run this site, and a few other sites like Zerohedge, should counter their move, and start a competing website like FB, or Twitter, and not sensor the content.
You could call it something like FreeSpeech, or SpeakYourMind, or PureTruth, or anything.
Before you know it everyone will be on these new sites, and as far as I’m concerned the others can go 404.
Create a place where people can speak the truth, and they will come, besides it would be worth it just to shove it up their ass…
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Gab.ai says it wants to be a honest Twitter. Have to see.
Don’t want / need FB, so no need to replace it, just let it wither.
Same for Google, use DuckDuckGo.