The Real Purpose of the Russian Scare... to Restrict Free Speech by Elizabeth Hanson, Turning Point News
The
American people are being driven like sheep to the slaughter by a flood
of false anti-Russia stories now in the main stream media. In this
article, we will look at how war hysteria and warnings about "fake news"
are being used as cover for new laws that attack our First Amendment
right of free speech.
The Rise in the Public's Fear of Fake News
In October 2016 there was a sudden dramatic rise in people's interest in the topic of "Fake News". According to Zerohedge, "the Washington Post was instrumental in planting the phrase 'Fake News' - along with Buzzfeed, factcheck.org, and The Guardian." (here)
This chart shows the Google searches for "fake news":
The Rise in Suspicion of Independent Media
Fake news has been around since the dawn of human history. Remember the Gulf of Tonkin fake news that led to the Vietnam War and the Weapons of Mass Destruction fake news that led to the Iraq War? Yet the past few months has seen a dramatic and perhaps even planned rise in stories about fake news.
A month after flooding the population with stories claiming "fake news" was rampant, on November 24th the Washington Post published a list of 200 "fake news" websites ranging from right to left on the political spectrum; from Drudge and Brietbart on one side to Consortium News and Truthdig on the other. What do these diverse websites have in common? The Washington Post's "prop or not" story claimed that all of them were purveyors of Russian propaganda, puppets of Putin and too danger for Americans to even read. Note the scary image which appears on the Prop or Not page. (here)
It was only after some of these slandered Independent News websites threatened to sue the Washington Post that the Washington Post posted a retraction saying in part:
"Editor's Note: The Washington Post on Nov. 24 published a story on the work of four sets of researchers who have examined what they say are Russian propaganda efforts to undermine American democracy and interests. " A number of those sites have objected to being included on PropOrNot's list, and some of the sites, as well as others not on the list, have publicly challenged the group's methodology and conclusions. The Post... does not itself vouch for the validity of PropOrNot's findings regarding any individual media outlet." (here)
Despite the push to get Americans to distrust independent media, via chicken little "the sky is falling" antics and listing websites as supposed Russian sympathizers, a recent Gallup survey shows that the number of Americans who trust mass media has been decreasing. Notice the decrease in trust Americans have in mass media by political party:
Why the decrease? Today, thanks to the internet, anyone can do their own independent research and start their own independent news website, and they have. Independent news websites have given the American people an alternative to the spin and distortions of the main stream media. There is a huge difference between how main stream media and independent media report and frame the news. Take the reporting of Russia hacking U.S. elections. Here are two two headlines. One from main stream news and the other from independent news:
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