Steve Bannon’s Podcast Is Top Misinformation Spreader, Study Says
In a study released on Thursday by the Brookings Institution, Mr. Bannon’s show was crowned the top peddler of false, misleading and unsubstantiated statements among political podcasts.
Researchers at Brookings downloaded and transcribed 36,603 podcast episodes from 79 political talk shows that had been released before Jan. 22, 2022. When researchers compared the shows’ transcripts against a list of keywords and common falsehoods identified by fact checkers, they found that nearly 20 percent of Mr. Bannon’s “War Room” episodes contained a false, misleading or unsubstantiated statement, more than shows by other conservatives like Glenn Beck and Charlie Kirk.
Since the advent of the medium, podcasts have generally offered a space where, in the words of [radical right podcaster] Michael Knowles, ‘you can say whatever you want.’ Once written off as a dying medium, podcasting has undergone rapid growth and monetization, while largely avoiding content moderation and regulatory debates. Today, nearly 41% of Americans listen to podcasts monthly, and almost one in four Americans look to podcasts for their news. Globally, the medium is projected to reach an audience of 504.9 million by 2024, while ad revenue in the United States is expected to double between 2022 and 2024, jumping from $2 billion to $4 billion. .... These podcasters, who span the political spectrum, make up the mainstream of the medium and regularly boast audiences in the millions.
Red = skews conservative
Blue = skews liberal
Yellow = skews moderate
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US involvement in Ukraine: The WaPo writes:
Pentagon looks to restart top-secret programs in Ukraine
If approved, the move would authorize U.S. Special Operations troops to employ Ukrainian operatives to observe Russian movements and counter disinformationThe Pentagon is urging Congress to resume funding a pair of top-secret programs in Ukraine suspended ahead of Russia’s invasion last year, according to current and former U.S. officials. If approved, the move would allow American Special Operations troops to employ Ukrainian operatives to observe Russian military movements and counter disinformation.
The debate arises as Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine nears the start of a second year, and as the Biden administration dramatically accelerates and expands the scope of military assistance it is providing the government in Kyiv despite repeated Russian protests and threats of escalation.
Russia will continue to target and destroy Ukrainian infrastructure. Putin has no qualms about freezing and starving any or all of the civilian population to death by obliterating public utilities. Unfortunately, Putin does not seem to be very interested in peace talks. And US policy appears to have been tepid at best about pushing for peace talks. It looks like the Ukraine is going to be pulverized unless a peace agreement can be negotiated.
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