The Washington Post last week overcame its tainted history of softball coverage and published a hard-hitting account quoting the King family’s disbelief in the guilt of convicted killer James Earl Ray.
As search engines’ and social networks’ power to mediate information access grows – along with their ability to gather vast amounts of user data and intelligence – the anxiety has also increased for vested interests and governments unable to cope with the disruptive effect of the once-freewheeling “online marketplace of ideas.”
AUSTIN, TEXAS – YouTube is apparently planning to deputize crowd-sourced online encyclopedia Wikipedia in a bid to combat the spread of disinformation, according to its CEO Susan Wojcicki. “When there are videos that are focused around something that’s a conspiracy -- and we’re using a list of well-known internet conspiracies
This hurricane season also sparked a wide range of conspiracy theories regarding the possibility that the U.S. government or some other government could be manipulating the weather to strengthen hurricanes.
The 2017 hurricane season has wrought more damage on the Caribbean and the Gulf Coast of the United States than any season in the last decade. Tropical Storm Harvey smashed into the Gulf, temporarily swallowing Houston and other low lying areas. Meanwhile, Hurricane Irma caused millions of dollars in damage to Florida, Puerto Rico,
In exploring how “America lost its mind,” The Atlantic let everyone in corporate media off the hook, saving most of the ire for obscure hippies, rednecks and postmodern academics.
Which “conspiracy theories” the media decide to care about and which they don’t is largely a function of who is advancing those conspiracy theories, and whose interests they serve. The Atlantic published a 12,000-word cover story by Kurt Andersen on
Sometimes conspiracy theories turn out to be true. Therefore, it’s worth assessing them, even if their claims appear wholly outlandish. Especially if their claims appear wholly outlandish.
Generally speaking, conspiracy theories form where there is a vacuum of verifiable facts associated with a controversial, usually tragic event. The concept has evolved over the years and is a part of our popular culture. There are legions of conspiracy theorists and “truthers” who have devoted their lives to certain theories, and there are
From poisoning drinkers during Prohibition to deliberately allowing syphilis to ravage the minds and bodies of black men for 40 years, the U.S. government has targeted the citizens it’s meant to govern and protect on more than one occasion.
MINNEAPOLIS --- While it can be easy to dismiss some of the more outlandish conspiracy theories floating around on the Internet, it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that the U.S. government has conspired against its own citizens on more than one occasion. It’s well known that the U.S. government has targeted its own
‘If the president is concerned that people don’t know what’s going on in the negotiations then the president should release the text and remove it from being a state secret.’
Critics of the highly-secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations responded with outrage after U.S. President Barack Obama charged they have a "lack of knowledge of what is going on in the negotiations" and dismissed their concerns as "conspiracy theories." The president made the comments this week during a press conference in Malaysia—one
