A Daily Beast reporter has dashed the illusions of Western journalists everywhere by revealing on Twitter the shocking and grim reality that disinformation and fake news are not exclusively Russian concepts.
Reporter Sam Stein tweeted about the reaction to a Daily Beast effort to dox and harass a private citizen for the crime of posting a doctored video of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when he decided to philosophize on the nature of propaganda, concluding that “disinformation isn’t the purview of Russia alone.”
Who could ever have guessed?
Can’t believe some people don’t think it’s news to discover the actual identity of the guy behind the doctored Pelosi video. It’s not just that he runs partisan news site+ posted the video to make money. It’s that this story shows disinformation isn’t the purview of Russia alone
— Sam Stein (@samstein) June 2, 2019
Stein was “shocked” by the fact that readers weren’t totally delighted by his colleague Kevin Poulsen’s fearless report exposing the political misdeeds of a day laborer and sports blogger from the Bronx, who dared to make fun of Pelosi — and who actually denies posting the viral video at all.
On Twitter, reaction to Stein’s tweet was split between those wondering why he thought attempting to ruin the man’s life was a solid editorial decision — and those stunned that Stein had, until now, apparently believed disinformation was something uniquely Russian.
The only people who ever believed disinformation was “the purview of Russia alone” are “self-aggrandizing, sleazy, click-chasing Daily Beast journalists,” tweeted journalist Michael Tracey.
When journalists engage in doxxing of everyone whose politics they dislike, is that good for democracy?
— Geoffrey Miller (@primalpoly) June 3, 2019
“Thank you for showing us that moronic Russophobia is very much the purview of Daily Beast journalists,” wrote reporter Aaron Mate.
Many felt a tad uncomfortable with the idea of major media outlets using their resources to attack and harass citizens for posting political content that they don’t agree with on social media.
Can’t believe (honestly) that journalists don’t see why it’s so repellent to unleash the resources of a major news outlet on an obscure, anonymous, powerless, quasi-unemployed citizen for the crime of trivially mocking the most powerful political leaders https://t.co/0VU7D1sul9
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 2, 2019
This is far from the first of the Daily Beast’s rather flimsily-founded hit pieces. Last month, the website ran an article claiming Democratic presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard was being “boosted” by Russia after digging up three donations she had received from so-called “Putin apologists.”
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The Bronx man continues to maintain his innocence regarding the Pelosi video, even launching a GoFundMe page to open a legal case against the website. Meanwhile, Stein is presumably furiously researching the history of propaganda and having his mind blown by the results.
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