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United States News
See other United States News Articles

Title: We Tracked Down A Fake-News Creator In The Suburbs. Here's What We Learned
Source: npr.org
URL Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/alltech ... -news-operation-in-the-suburbs
Published: Nov 23, 2016
Author: Laura Sydell
Post Date: 2017-01-08 01:47:12 by Gatlin
Keywords: None
Views: 11103
Comments: 38

A lot of fake and misleading news stories were shared across social media during the election. One that got a lot of traffic had this headline: "FBI Agent Suspected In Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide." The story is completely false, but it was shared on Facebook over half a million times.

We wondered who was behind that story and why it was written. It appeared on a site that had the look and feel of a local newspaper. Denverguardian.com even had the local weather. But it had only one news story — the fake one.

We tried to look up who owned it and hit a wall. The site was registered anonymously. So we brought in some professional help.

By day, John Jansen is head of engineering at Master-McNeil Inc., a tech company in Berkeley, Calif. In the interest of real news he helped us track down the owner of Denverguardian.com.

Jansen started by looking at the site's history. "Commonly that's called scraping or crawling websites," he says.

Jansen is kind of like an archaeologist. He says that nothing you do on the Web disappears — it just gets buried — like a fossil. But if you do some digging you'll find those fossils and learn a lot of history.

The "Denver Guardian" was built and designed using a pretty common platform — WordPress. It's used by bloggers and people who want to create their own websites. Jansen found that the first entry ever for the site was done by someone with the handle LetTexasSecede.

The whole idea from the start was to build a site that could kind of infiltrate the echo chambers of the alt-right, publish blatantly or fictional stories and then be able to publicly denounce those stories and point out the fact that they were fiction.
Jestin Coler, publisher of fake news sites

"That was sort of the thread that started to unravel everything," Jansen says. "I was able to track that through to a bunch of other sites which are where that handle is also present."

The sites include NationalReport.net, USAToday.com.co, WashingtonPost.com.co. All the addresses linked to a single rented server inside Amazon Web Services. That meant they were all very likely owned by the same company. Jansen found an email address on one of those sites and was able to link that address to a name: Jestin Coler.

Online, Coler was listed as the founder and CEO of a company called Disinfomedia. Coler's LinkedIn profile said he once sold magazine subscriptions, worked as a database administrator and as a freelance writer for among others, International Yachtsman magazine. And, using his name, we found a home address.

On a warm, sunny afternoon I set out with a producer for a suburb of Los Angeles. Coler lived in a middle-class neighborhood of pastel-colored one- story beach bungalows. His home had an unwatered lawn — probably the result of California's ongoing drought. There was a black minivan in the driveway and a large prominent American flag.

We rang the front doorbell and a man answered, his face obscured by a heavy mesh steel screen. I asked for Jestin Coler. The man indicated that's who he was. But when I asked about Disinfomedia, he said, "I don't know what to tell you guys. Have a good day."

We left Coler our contact information thinking he wasn't likely to talk. But a couple of hours later he had a change of heart. He sent us an email and we set up an interview.

Coler is a soft-spoken 40-year-old with a wife and two kids. He says he got into fake news around 2013 to highlight the extremism of the white nationalist alt-right.

"The whole idea from the start was to build a site that could kind of infiltrate the echo chambers of the alt-right, publish blatantly or fictional stories and then be able to publicly denounce those stories and point out the fact that they were fiction," Coler says.

He was amazed at how quickly fake news could spread and how easily people believe it. He wrote one fake story for NationalReport.net about how customers in Colorado marijuana shops were using food stamps to buy pot.

"What that turned into was a state representative in the House in Colorado proposing actual legislation to prevent people from using their food stamps to buy marijuana based on something that had just never happened," Coler says.

During the run-up to the presidential election, fake news really took off. "It was just anybody with a blog can get on there and find a big, huge Facebook group of kind of rabid Trump supporters just waiting to eat up this red meat that they're about to get served," Coler says. "It caused an explosion in the number of sites. I mean, my gosh, the number of just fake accounts on Facebook exploded during the Trump election."

Coler says his writers have tried to write fake news for liberals — but they just never take the bait.

Coler's company, Disinfomedia, owns many faux news sites — he won't say how many. But he says his is one of the biggest fake-news businesses out there, which makes him a sort of godfather of the industry.

At any given time, Coler says, he has between 20 and 25 writers. And it was one of them who wrote the story in the "Denver Guardian" that an FBI agent who leaked Clinton emails was killed. Coler says that over 10 days the site got 1.6 million views. He says stories like this work because they fit into existing right-wing conspiracy theories.

"The people wanted to hear this," he says. "So all it took was to write that story. Everything about it was fictional: the town, the people, the sheriff, the FBI guy. And then ... our social media guys kind of go out and do a little dropping it throughout Trump groups and Trump forums and boy it spread like wildfire."

And as the stories spread, Coler makes money from the ads on his websites. He wouldn't give exact figures, but he says stories about other fake-news proprietors making between $10,000 and $30,000 a month apply to him. Coler fits into a pattern of other faux news sites that make good money, especially by targeting Trump supporters.

However, Coler insists this is not about money. It's about showing how easily fake news spreads. And fake news spread wide and far before the election. When I pointed out to Coler that the money gave him a lot of incentive to keep doing it regardless of the impact, he admitted that was "correct."

Coler says he has tried to shine a light on the problem of fake news. He has spoken to the media about it. But those organizations didn't know who he actually was. He gave them a fake name: Allen Montgomery.

Coler, a registered Democrat, says he has no regrets about his fake news empire. He doesn't think fake news swayed the election.

"There are many factors as to why Trump won that don't involve fake news," he says. "As much as I like Hillary, she was a poor candidate. She brought in a lot of baggage."

Coler doesn't think fake news is going away. One of his sites — NationalReport.net — was flagged as fake news under a new Google policy, and Google stopped running ads on it. But Coler had other options.

"There are literally hundreds of ad networks," he says. "Early last week, my inbox was just filled every day with people because they knew that Google was cracking down — hundreds of people wanting to work with my sites."

Coler says he has been talking it over with his wife and may be getting out of the fake-news racket. But, he says, dozens, maybe hundreds of entrepreneurs will be ready to take his place. And he thinks it will only get harder to tell their websites from real news sites. They know now that fake news sells and they will only be in it for the money.

Below are highlights of NPR's interview with Coler.

Interview Highlights

Tell me a little about why you started Disinfomedia?

Late 2012, early 2013 I was spending a lot of time researching what is now being referred to as the alt-right. I identified a problem with the news that they were spreading and created Disinfomedia as a response to that. The whole idea from the start was to build a site that could infiltrate the echo chambers of the alt-right, publish blatantly false or fictional stories and then be able to publicly denounce those stories and point out the fact that they were fiction.

What got you engaged in this?

My educational background is in political science. I've always enjoyed the ideas of propaganda and misinformation. Then I coupled that with an interest in what makes things go viral. So that led me to finding those groups and ultimately to finding contributors. But it was just something I had an interest in that I wanted to pursue.

When did you notice that fake news does best with Trump supporters?

Well, this isn't just a Trump-supporter problem. This is a right-wing issue. Sarah Palin's famous blasting of the lamestream media is kind of record and testament to the rise of these kinds of people. The post-fact era is what I would refer to it as. This isn't something that started with Trump. This is something that's been in the works for a while. His whole campaign was this thing of discrediting mainstream media sources, which is one of those dog whistles to his supporters. When we were coming up with headlines it's always kind of about the red meat. Trump really got into the red meat. He knew who his base was. He knew how to feed them a constant diet of this red meat.

We've tried to do similar things to liberals. It just has never worked, it never takes off. You'll get debunked within the first two comments and then the whole thing just kind of fizzles out.

How many domains do you own and run?

Well, I would say there's somewhere around 25 domains that I am currently managing. National Report has been my bread and butter, where I've spent most of my time. I have people who work with me and for me in developing and maintaining the other sites and social media kind of stuff. [Coler later said not all his sites are fake news.] So I, for the most part, focus on National Report, and a lot of the other stuff is run by other folks on the team.

So, you're the publisher of an empire.

Well I wouldn't go so far as to call it an empire but, yes, it's several sites [chuckle].

How many people do you have writing for you?

It comes and goes, and as for actual employed writers, again these guys sort of make their own money through ad code. So I don't say, 'Hey, you have to write 10 stories this week' and this and that. Really, we have a more free- form idea where people, when their creativity strikes them then they can write something. And if they're in a slump then they just go dormant for a while. With that said, at any given time there's probably 20, 25 contributors all over the country. ...

Talk about the "Denver Guardian."

Well, it's kind of a side project. We have some people working on next steps in the fake-news industry, and that came from that whole discussion. We had purchased several domain names that sounded legitimate. ... More local news sort of stories. The idea was to make the sites look as legit as possible so the home page is going to be local news and local forecast, local sports, some obituaries and things of that nature, and then the actual fake news stories were going to be buried off the home page.

We've tried lots of things in the past. The dot-com-dot-co domains were something I toyed in for a while. Those I quickly got away from because you don't get away long with borrowing someone's copyright or trademark. That was something that worked very well from a fake-news perspective. People were fooled into the domain name, but that wasn't so much what we were after. So again, the next step was to go after more city-type sites. And the "Denver Guardian" was one of those sites.

You're talking about the future of this (fake-news business) which looks more insidious because it's more real?

That's the way that it's going to be. Not just from where I am. I mean, this is probably going to be my last run in the fake-news biz, but I can promise you that it's not going to go away. It's even going to grow bigger and it's going to be harder to identify as it kind of evolves through these steps. ...

Do you know who wrote the actual FBI Clinton story?

I do know who wrote the story, but only through an anonymous pen name. Privacy is something that we take very seriously in our writers group. The actual reasonings behind that story ... it's one of hundreds that have been written about mysterious deaths of Clinton associates or political foes. This one kind of took off more than others, I believe, just because of the nature of the story. The people wanted to hear this. So all it took was to write that story. Everything about it was fictional. The town, the people, the sheriff, the FBI guy. Then, we had our social media guys kind of go out and do a little dropping it throughout Trump groups and Trump forums and boy it spread like wildfire.

Why hide your identity?

This isn't the safest business to be in, to be honest. Just the number of death threats I've received. I have a beautiful family, a beautiful life.

Some of these people that we ... bait is probably the right word — are often — let's call them the deplorables, right? They're not the safest crowd. Some of them I would consider domestic terrorists. So they're just not people that I want to be knocking on my door.

It seems like National Report is getting spoofier.

If you went to National Report today, it's specifically satire. "Chris Christie nominated to Supreme Food Court." "Sarah Palin Banning Muslims from Entering Bristol Palin." They're a little bit more offensive than some people care for their satire. I mean fat-shaming and slut-shaming isn't something that is normally met with applause. But again, it's a lot more fun in nature.

Do you make serious money?

It depends on what you would call serious money. I think I do pretty well.

Can you say how well?

I would rather not. There have been some people who have been reported on recently. The folks in Long Beach that were doing just all right stuff. They were reporting $10,000 to $30,000 a month; I think that's probably a relative ballpark.

So you're doing as well as those?

Yes.

You're making money through the ads?

Yes.

Who do you work with?

We have several advertisers. Google was one, although they shut down my account last week. We've replaced them with other advertisers.

Can I ask who?

There are literally hundreds of ad networks. Literally hundreds. Last week my inbox was just filled everyday with people, because they knew that Google was cracking down — hundreds of people wanting to work with my sites. I kind of applaud Google for their steps, although I think what they're doing is kind of random. They don't really have a process in place for identifying these things. I happen to know a very successful site that, as of today, of this morning is still serving Google ads. So it seems to be a kind of arbitrary step that they're taking either based on, I don't know if it was my reputation within the industry or specifically the "Denver Guardian" site that angered them, or I don't know what it is, but back to your question, there's hundreds of people that will work with me.

What can be done about fake news?

Some of this has to fall on the readers themselves. The consumers of content have to be better at identifying this stuff. We have a whole nation of media-illiterate peopleneeds to be something done.

Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur?

Sure.

Are you one of the biggest in the fake-news biz?

If you look at someone who has specifically sometimes peddled in fictional news then I think that I would probably be considered one of the larger sites.

As a liberal, do you have any regrets?

I don't. Again, this is something that I've been crying about for a while. But outside of that, there are many factors as to why Trump won that don't involve fake news, right? As much as I like Hillary, she was a poor candidate. She brought in a lot of baggage.

You don't feel responsible.

I do not.

Do you think you would have kept doing it if it wasn't so lucrative?

Really, the financial part of it isn't the only motivator for me. I do enjoy making a mess of the people that share the content that comes out of our site. It's not just the financial incentive for me. I still enjoy the game I guess.

Would you do this all over again?

Well, I guess it came to a head here and we're talking about it. It'll be interesting to see what happens moving forward. If I had to, if I knew specifically the "Denver Guardian" situation, that would have been handled differently. But everything else, as far as the work I've done with National Report, I'm very proud of, and I'm going to continue doing it.

[Boldness added by Gatlin]

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#1. To: Gatlin (#0)

NPR doxxing

Roscoe  posted on  2017-01-08   2:11:43 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Gatlin (#0)

Interesting...Liberals the fomentors of fake news.

redleghunter  posted on  2017-01-08   2:18:56 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: All (#0)

Here are all the 'fake news' sites to watch out for … .

For a quick look at sites that publish suspicious stories that may confuse readers, Melissa Zimdars, a media professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, compiled a list of “fake, false, or regularly misleading websites” that purposefully publish fake information or are otherwise entirely unreliable. The list, which has since been removed due to threats and harassment Zimdars says she received, also included sites that “may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information” or “sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions.”

The list included both left- and right-wing publications, and it is regularly updated or amended. Here is how Zimdars has categorized them:

“CATEGORY 1: Below is a list of fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media. Some of these websites may rely on “outrage” by using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits. These websites are categorized with the number 1 next to them.

“CATEGORY 2: Some websites on this list may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information, and they are marked with a 2.

“CATEGORY 3: Other websites on this list sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions, and they are marked with a 3.

“CATEGORY 4: Other sources on this list are purposefully fake with the intent of satire/comedy, which can offer important critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news. I’m including them here, for now, because 1.) they have the potential to perpetuate misinformation based on different audience (mis)interpretations and 2.) to make sure anyone who reads a story by The Onion, for example, understands its purpose. If you think this is unnecessary, please see Literally Unbelievable.”

Below is the complete list, which Zimdars originally published under a Creative Commons license that allows publishers to freely reprint the list. Keep in mind: Not all of these sites are intentionally spreading fake news, so pay attention to the rating.

100PercentFedUp.com (2,3)
EnduringVision.com (1) )
21stCenturyWire.com (2, 3) )
70news.wordpress.com (1) )
The Free Thought Project (3)
Abcnews.com.co (1)
Politicalo (1)
ActivistPost.com (2, 3)
Addicting Info (3)
AmericanNews.com (1)
AnonNews.co (3)
Private-eye.co.uk (includes 4)
Huzlers (4)
Indecision Forever (1)
RealNewsRightNow.com (1, 4)
Bipartisan Report (3)
Infowars.com (1, 2)
Red State (3)
Blue Nation Review (2,3)
Reductress (4)
Breitbart (2, 3)
RileNews.com (1, 4)
Call the Cops (4)
Cap News (4)
Sportspickle.com (4)
ChristWire.org (4)
The Free Thought Project (3)
CivicTribune.com (1)
Borowitz Report (4)
ClickHole.com (4)
The Onion (4)
CoastToCoastAM.com (2)
The Other 98% (3)
CollectiveEvolution (3)
MediaMass.net (1)
ConsciousLifeNews.com (2)
MegynKelly.us (1)
ConservativeOutfitters.com (2)
MSNBC.com.co (1)
ConspiracyWire (WideAwakeAmerica.com) (2)
MSNBC.website (1)
CountdownToZeroTime.com (2)
Naha Daily (4)
NationalReport.net (4*)
CreamBMP.com (1)
NaturalNews.com
Twitchy.com (3)
News-Hound.com (1)
NewsBiscuit.com (1)
US Uncut (3)
DCGazette.com (1)
Newslo (1, 4)
NewsMutiny.com (1, 4)
DrudgeReport.com.co (1)
DuffleBlog.com (4)
World News Daily Report (4)
Empire News (1)
Occupy Democrats (3)
In addition to the list, Zimdars has created a tip sheet for news consumers so that we all might better decipher what's real, what's fake, and what's simply misleading in ways that have nothing to do with whether you agree with a particular article or not:

  • Avoid websites that end in “lo” ex: Newslo (above). These sites take pieces of accurate information and then packaging that information with other false or misleading “facts” (sometimes for the purposes of satire or comedy).
  • Watch out for websites that end in “.com.co” as they are often fake versions of real news sources
  • Watch out if known/reputable news sites are not also reporting on the story. Sometimes lack of coverage is the result of corporate media bias and other factors, but there should typically be more than one source reporting on a topic or event.
  • Odd domain names generally equal odd and rarely truthful news.
  • Lack of author attribution may, but not always, signify that the news story is suspect and requires verification.
  • Some news organizations are also letting bloggers post under the banner of particular news brands; however, many of these posts do not go through the same editing process (ex: BuzzFeed Community Posts, Kinja blogs, Forbes blogs).
  • Check the “About Us” tab on websites or look up the website on Snopes or Wikipedia for more information about the source.
  • Bad web design and use of ALL CAPS can also be a sign that the source you’re looking at should be verified and/or read in conjunction with other sources.
  • If the story makes you REALLY ANGRY it’s probably a good idea to keep reading about the topic via other sources to make sure the story you read wasn’t purposefully trying to make you angry (with potentially misleading or false information) in order to generate shares and ad revenue.
  • It’s always best to read multiple sources of information to get a variety of viewpoints and media frames. Some sources not yet included in this list (although their practices at times may qualify them for addition), such as The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, and Fox News, vacillate between providing important, legitimate, problematic, and/or hyperbolic news coverage, requiring readers and viewers to verify and contextualize information with other sources. So stay vigilant, readers. It's a minefield out there.

    Update 9:44am CT, Nov. 18: IJR (Independent Journal Review) has been removed from the original list, and we've updated our story to reflect that.

    Update 10:35am CT, Nov. 18: Professor Zimdars has removed the list from her original Google Doc due to threats and harassment she received, the Los Angeles Times reports. We have reached out to Zimdars and will update this piece with more information as it becomes available.

    Update 8:15am CT, Nov. 28: We have removed all sites included in Zimdars' original list that lacked a category ranking.

    Update 2:25pm CT, Dec. 5: *We've changed the ranking on NationalReport.net to a "4" due to the clearly satirical nature of the stories now on the site. This is not the original ranking given by the author of the list.

Gatlin  posted on  2017-01-08   2:27:26 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: All (#0) (Edited)

My ‘fake news list’ went viral. But made-up stories are only part of the problem.
By Melissa Zimdars

Gatlin  posted on  2017-01-08   2:44:24 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: Gatlin (#4)

Grow up and quit spreading fake news, yourself.

buckeroo  posted on  2017-01-08   3:44:44 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: Roscoe (#1)

"NPR doxxing"

I am continually amazed how you can cram so little information into so few words. I knew more about the topic before you posted.

misterwhite  posted on  2017-01-08   11:16:01 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: Gatlin (#0)

When It Comes to Fake News, the U.S. Government Is the Biggest Culprit

‘Fake news’? Time to choose: Corporate media fakes us into Orwellian illegal Wars of Aggression with lies known to be lies as they were told (2 of 15)

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-01-08   11:17:27 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: Gatlin (#3)

Here are all the 'fake news' sites to watch out for …

Meet leftist Professor who wrote 'hit list' of 'fake' news sites

Meet Merrimack College Assistant Professor Melissa Zimdars, a 30-something self-identified feminist and activist who has expressed great dislike for President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

Alternate text if image doesn't load

She’s only actually held her teaching position at the private college in North Andover, Mass., for 15 months.

Zimdars published and circulated a list of “fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media.” She said she began writing the list because she didn’t approve of the sources her students were citing.

The problem?

In addition to some satirical and bogus sites, her list attacks the credibility of well-established news organizations such as Breitbart, BizPac Review, Red State, the Blaze, the Independent Journal Review, Twitchy, the Daily Wire, WND and James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas. In many cases (such as with her WND listing), she offers no explanation for why the news organizations were included on the list.

Mainstream media outlets such as the Los Angeles Times circulated Zimdars’ growing list. The Times headlined its story, “Want to keep fake news out of your newsfeed? College professor creates list of sites to avoid.” The Times offered no details concerning Zimdars’ qualifications or background. News organizations such as CNN, the Washington PostBoston Globe, New York Magazine, USA Today, Business Insider, the Austin American-Statesman, the Dallas Morning News and others spread the list like gospel and cited it in their reports.

But nearly none of them considered Zimdars’ political leanings or questioned her criteria or qualifications for determining which news sources should be included on her list. (Editor’s note: Zimdars removed her list following publication of this WND article. However, versions of it continue to be circulated in the mainstream media and online.)

***

I see that Breitbart is on the list.

Gatlin, you really need to call Donald RIGHT NOW and inform him that his chief strategist and Senior Counselor Steve Bannon is a purveyor of "fake news"

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.

Deckard  posted on  2017-01-08   11:40:20 ET  (1 image) Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: Deckard, tater (#8)

tater is a complete idiot spreading fake news, itself.

buckeroo  posted on  2017-01-08   11:42:03 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: Gatlin (#0)

We wondered who was behind that story and why it was written. It appeared on a site that had the look and feel of a local newspaper. Denverguardian.com even had the local weather. But it had only one news story — the fake one.

I have seen this a lot when looking up what I called questionable stories. CT types and demoncrap hit pieces on those that dare compete against them.

Justified  posted on  2017-01-08   12:01:45 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#11. To: Gatlin (#0)

Coler says his writers have tried to write fake news for liberals — but they just never take the bait.

OMG what horse shit. All of liberal news is fake! Like if you do not support the demoncrap you granny will being forced to eat cat food!!!!!!!!!!!

This guy is a left wing nut case as I suspected.

Justified  posted on  2017-01-08   12:25:04 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#12. To: Gatlin (#0)

Coler's company, Disinfomedia, owns many faux news sites — he won't say how many. But he says his is one of the biggest fake-news businesses out there, which makes him a sort of godfather of the industry.

No New York times is the grandfather of fake news! But like all good fake news all you need is just a little truth to get started. Just like the moslem cop who was assault because she wore a hijab on a train by Trump supporters. The truth that some Trump supporters do ride the train and some moslem women wear hijab.

Justified  posted on  2017-01-08   12:31:45 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#13. To: Deckard (#7)

‘Fake news’? Time to choose ….

Absolutely.

It’s time to choose - Do you want to believe not believe fake news and yellow journalism [FNYJ] from any and all sources.

Your choice….is?

Gatlin  posted on  2017-01-08   13:13:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#14. To: misterwhite (#6)

I am continually amazed how you can cram so little information into so few words. I knew more about the topic before you posted.

Roscoe  posted on  2017-01-08   13:17:18 ET  (1 image) Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#15. To: Deckard (#8)

Meet Merrimack College Assistant Professor Melissa Zimdars ...

Yep, that’s her …

Nice smile….dontcha agree!

Gatlin  posted on  2017-01-08   13:18:09 ET  (1 image) Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#16. To: Roscoe (#14) (Edited)

I look at that and I see two dogs in a circus, balancing something on their heads. Don't know why. Is this a test?

misterwhite  posted on  2017-01-08   13:29:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#17. To: Gatlin, Deckard, Vicomte13, ConservingFreedom, Willie Green, hondo68, calcon, Deckard, TooConservative (#13)

It’s time to choose - Do you want to believe not believe fake news

This is a wrong question. The right question is "how to tell true news from fake news?".

Most of people have a great difficulty to discern what is true and they need to be told by someone smarter. Unfortunately those smart truth-tellers are often snake-oil peddlers or worse.

So what "do you want to believe", Mr Gatlin?

A Pole  posted on  2017-01-08   13:35:16 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#18. To: misterwhite (#16)

Life is test.

Roscoe  posted on  2017-01-08   13:35:34 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#19. To: A Pole (#17)

The ability to understand real news from Fake News demands that the consumer understand the progressive agenda. This skill is lost on Fringe Folk, those who occupy 0.0001% of the population. These Fringies need to be beaten like baby seals and tossed, head first, in the nearest garbage dumpster.

Vinny  posted on  2017-01-08   13:43:18 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#20. To: Roscoe (#18)

"Life is test."

Ah so. I sit at your feet and learn, o wise-ass one.

misterwhite  posted on  2017-01-08   13:44:50 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#21. To: Vinny (#19)

The ability to understand real news from Fake News demands that the consumer understand the progressive agenda.

This is only a half of the truth, the consumer should understand the anti-progressive agenda ALSO. There are two packs of wolves fighting between themselves who will shear the sheep. Sheep can pick, from which side next shearing commence.

As great Jefferson wrote:

I am convinced that those societies (as the Indians) which live without government enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under the European governments. Among the former, public opinion is in the place of law, & restrains morals as powerfully as laws ever did anywhere. Among the latter, under pretence of governing they have divided their nations into two classes, wolves & sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe.

Cherish therefore the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you & I, & Congress & Assemblies, judges & governors shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions; and experience declares that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the governments of Europe, and to the general prey of the rich on the poor.

A Pole  posted on  2017-01-08   14:25:33 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#22. To: A Pole, Deckard, Vicomte13, ConservingFreedom, Willie Green, hondo68, calcon, TooConservative, GrandIsland, A K A Stone, misterwhite, Roscoe (#17)

It’s time to choose - Do you want to believe not believe fake news
This is a wrong question. The right question is "how to tell true news from fake news?".
Most of people have a great difficulty to discern what is true ….

Excellent point, right on target.

Most people can train themselves to discern what is true….it is a relatively easy thing to do.

…. and they need to be told by someone smarter.
Unfortunately those smart truth-tellers are often snake-oil peddlers or worse.

You are correct….compounding the problem only make the problem twice as difficult.

So what "do you want to believe", Mr Gatlin?

Excellent question, worthy of some thought and a detailed answer.

I’ll get back to you with an answer …

Gatlin  posted on  2017-01-08   14:32:40 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#23. To: Gatlin (#22)

Gatekeeping is the beam, fake news is the mote.

Roscoe  posted on  2017-01-08   14:39:14 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#24. To: Gatlin (#22)

You are a fucking idiot, tater. It was always symptomatic when you sucked, yukon's asshole on a daily basis.

Here we go again!

buckeroo  posted on  2017-01-08   14:45:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#25. To: Gatlin (#22)

Most people can train themselves to discern what is true….it is a relatively easy thing to do.

No, they need to be trained to discern by the smarter and HONEST people, like Thomas Jefferson and multitude of other good smart men who do exist.

But when an average Joe can teach himself on his own, it means that he is material for a leader.

A Pole  posted on  2017-01-08   14:46:53 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#26. To: buckeroo (#24)

Why is it you act like a Ferguson zoo animal when any of your libtard agenda posters are exposed for being liberal, deceitful or idiotic?

You rely on YELLA journalism... it feeds the 6% and you can't afford to lose one back to reality.

I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح

GrandIsland  posted on  2017-01-08   14:49:18 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#27. To: Gatlin (#0)

And as the stories spread, Coler makes money from the ads on his websites. He wouldn't give exact figures, but he says stories about other fake-news proprietors making between $10,000 and $30,000 a month apply to him. Coler fits into a pattern of other faux news sites that make good money, especially by targeting Trump supporters.

If he does not disclose he is fake news to his clients could he not be sued?

Justified  posted on  2017-01-08   14:50:57 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#28. To: GrandIsland (#26)

You suck tater's ass? Why is that? He makes you comfortable?

buckeroo  posted on  2017-01-08   14:52:03 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#29. To: buckeroo (#28)

You suck tater's ass? Why is that?

Funny coming from a kook that constantly fights faggot Stinky Peter Puff's battles by begging Stone, from your knees... to let the faggot patriarch back.

You're a hypocritical joke.

I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح

GrandIsland  posted on  2017-01-08   15:00:47 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#30. To: A Pole (#21)

This is only a half of the truth, the consumer should understand the anti-progressive agenda ALSO

If you get the progressive agenda, the opposite should be evident, even to the Fringies.

Vinny  posted on  2017-01-08   15:03:40 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#31. To: GrandIsland, tater (#29)

You have never made a serious post that ensures a personal perspective other than your donut-eater and koffee attitude and support of tater that sucked yukon's asshole.

Fuck you.

buckeroo  posted on  2017-01-08   15:05:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#32. To: A Pole, ISIS tater, Make Aztlan Great Again, *Border Invasion* (#17)

So what "do you want to believe", Mr Gatlin?

Tater believes:

1) his Senator Juan ISIS McCain of Panama.

2) SPLC

3) Subverted Nation, and other skinhead Nazi sites.

4) NPR

5) The Reconquista Republicans, aka Make Aztlan Great Again

The D&R Party is a suicide cult!

Hondo68  posted on  2017-01-08   15:10:54 ET  (2 images) Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#33. To: Justified (#27)

www.theonion.com

Roscoe  posted on  2017-01-08   15:13:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#34. To: A Pole, Deckard, Vicomte13, ConservingFreedom, Willie Green, hondo68, calcon, TooConservative, GrandIsland, A K A Stone, misterwhite, Roscoe (#17) (Edited)

So what "do you want to believe", Mr Gatlin?
It not what I “want to believe” for that is the purpose of Fake News and Yellow Journalism (FNYJ)….to “make people want to believe” it. I can however tell you what I “actually” believe….along with why I do and what I do about it.
It is unfortunate but true that FNYJ can have real-life consequences. FNYJ is becoming a big problem. I decided some time ago It was time to stop just reading or hearing the news….it was time to self-check the news and get the facts.

It is high time for those who consume news to begin finding ways of determining if what they’re reading is true. The need is there for those who search for information to start reading like fact checkers.

Start by isolating a claim into something that can be objectively verified. Do this by seeking the best primary source to be found on the topic. Be careful because FNYJ proliferates and through journalistic cannibalism feeds off itself with each new source spinning their version to the same stories and before long there are 20 to 30 FNYJ sites promoting the same story and telling their version. If the primary source cannot be found, or does not match, or refute, or prove the claim being made….then DO NOT blindly accept the claim and assume the FNYJ is true.

One poster recently stated, when commenting on this FNYJ subject….words to the effect that: “I will accept what I read as true until it is proven otherwise.” I take exactly the opposite approach to that irrational comment. I say: “I will not accept what I read as true until I have proven it to be true.” If I cannot prove it to be true, then I read on past to mentally file it away as only an opinion….that is perhaps, and most probably is, agenda driven.

I will never let anyone channel my thoughts with their words to make me think the as they do. Others do that….but I never will.

Even before I read and posted this article today, I had seen many times where sites with such endings like “.com.co” post false or misleading FNYJ information and that identifying feature alone causes me to raise my eyebrows. Since it tips me off that I cannot accept what they are putting out, it sends me on the trail to dig around and see if it can be trusted. In this day and time, I am triggered to automatically question and seek factual confirmation. That is a good procedure to follow. I do this even though the site may look professional. For example, if you are not careful, you will see “abcnews.com” as a legitimate news source….but you fail to see “abcnews.com.co” as a FNJY source because of its similar appearance.

If I am to consume information, the language needs to be straightforward. If it's melodramatic and seems overblown, I will be skeptical and feel it necessary to find out more information about the organization's leaders in places other than that site.

I am always careful to observe quotations because I find much chicanery on the FNYJ sites. For example, they will show a name and a statement in quotation. Then without the use of quotation marks, they will continue with their own misleading information as though it is part of the original quotation. Misleading and devious. If I find someone is referencing a study, I will go to the source and read the study. You will notice that some, to many, time….the source is not shown. However, google is the roadmap for you to find it easily.

Watch out for the pictures. A picture should be from the event and accurately illustrating what the story is about. Often time it is not. It often happens that a picture was not taken at the event in the news, so a file photo is enlarged and wrongly presented in the information as though it is an actual occurrence. Do a little detective work and reverse search for the image on Google. You can do this by right-clicking on the image and choosing to search Google for it.

Do all of this and you will be not only helping yourself….you will also be helping others by not becoming a “Deckard” and increasing the circulation of these FNYJ stories….making the owners of those FNYJ sites enrich themselves with from $10 to $30 thousand dollars monthly.

Join in to stop the spread of false content in FNYJ articles. If you see someone promoting and republishing FNJY, be a friend and kindly challenge it and tell them it's not real. Don't shy away or avoid engaging even if it might be uncomfortable. Remember, everyone needs to pitch in to help fix the FNYJ problem.

Gatlin  posted on  2017-01-08   15:21:53 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#35. To: A Pole (#11)

Coler says his writers have tried to write fake news for liberals — but they just never take the bait.
This is exactly what I am talking about recognizing….and what to do.

As I originally read down through the article, the word “never” turned on the “Fact Check Now” alarm to me. So, I stopped, immediately went to google…. it took me about 1 minute and three hits to find this”

The fake news stories that fooled liberals in 2016.

[….]

… fake news stories surpassed real news stories in popularity and engagement on Facebook.

The discussion around fake news has largely framed it as a conservative problem, but these stories fool people on both sides of the aisle. Using BuzzFeed's data, we've compiled a list of the viral fake news stories that fooled liberals leading up to the election.

[….]

I thought, Ah Ha….gotcha, and I went back reading the rest of the original article.

Gatlin  posted on  2017-01-08   15:53:02 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#36. To: Roscoe (#23)

"Gatekeeping is the beam, fake news is the mote."

Great book.

misterwhite  posted on  2017-01-08   16:10:31 ET  (1 image) Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#37. To: misterwhite (#36)

I like Larry and Jerry.

Roscoe  posted on  2017-01-08   19:13:01 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#38. To: Roscoe (#37)

I also liked Footfall and Lucifer's Hammer.

misterwhite  posted on  2017-01-08   19:53:33 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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