Doing It for the Content?

Robby Brod:

The Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus claimed yesterday that by reporting on the uptick on COVID, “liberal media” are laying the groundwork for new restrictions.

On Wednesday, State Sen. Doug Mastriano tweeted, “Do Not Comply,” in support of Donald Trump’s call to resist any hypothetical restrictions.

Matt Jordan, who leads Penn State’s News Literacy Initiative says this presents a difficult situation for fact checkers.

Matt Jordan:

By creating these outrageous claims, people who think it is verifiably untrue will end up amplifying it, so it’s a tricky thing to figure out how to debunk the alternative reality of these kinds of right-wing content producers without strengthening that rumor.

Robby Brod:

Voters approved an amendment in 2021 to curb the governor’s power and authorize lawmakers to decide whether a disaster declaration is related to a disaster or a pandemic.

Robby Brod, WITF News.

Robby Brod in Harrisburg.

The News Literacy Initiative's own Matt Jordan had the opportunity to speak with WITF journalist Robby Brod about the use of outrageous claims and propaganda to cultivate a political following.

These are topics News Over Noise visited when Joan Donovan, a leading expert on media manipulation, disinformation campaigns, and online extremism, joined us for Episode 106: Trolling the Information Economy. Donovan also gave a guest lecture at Penn State in October 2022, during which she shared insights into the communication, media and other strategies of extremist groups like the Proud Boys.

Listen to Episode 106 Watch Joan Donovan's Guest Lecture

For a current real world example of how disinformation campaigns can be used to gain political traction even at a state level, we can turn to WITF's news coverage of state lawmakers.

When asked to comment on the matter of Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers preemptively voicing opposition to renewed COVID restrictions, despite the fact that nobody is actually calling for them yet, Jordan described how tactical rumors (such as those about the return of stringent COVID regulations) can generate engaging content among supporters, fortify backers, and even generate party revenue.

Jordan also explained why claims created by this kind of "agitation propaganda" can be difficult for fact-checkers to verify and his expectation for the trend to continue. With this in mind, Jordan suggests visiting other media sources when one seems to be only reporting catastrophes and being selective about news consumption, as we emphasized in News Over Noise Episode 104.

Read the WITF Article

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