"THE SMEAR: SHARYL ATTKINSON EXPOSES FAKE NEWS, HIDDEN POLITICAL AGENDAS" - Jenna Browder, CBNNEWS.COM, 8-15-2017; http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/august/the-smear-sharyl-attkisson-talks-fake-news-hidden-political-agendas-in-new-book-nbsp
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WASHINGTON – Behind many political stories lurks a hidden agenda. This disturbing movement is exposed by renowned investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson in her latest book, The Smear: How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, What You Think, and How You Vote.Attkisson recently sat down with CBN's Jenna Browder to chat about the book. "There's an industry that is paid to go after and target journalists, whistle blowers, political figures, whatever it may be and inundate our consciousness and the images we see to try to ruin, destroy our smear the idea that they don't like or the person who's delivering it on behalf of paid corporate or political interests," Attkisson explained. The ultimate goal she says is control.
"I quote one of the smear artists himself. It kind of gave me chills when he said, 'everything you see is put there for a reason.' He said it's like a movie. It's like a scene in a movie that the images that you come across, whether it's what a comedian jokes about on a national program, whether it's social media, whether it's on the news, it's put there for a reason, often by someone who paid a lot of money to put it there."
2016 Presidential Election: 'Smear Marchine' Operating at Full Speed
Attkisson points to this past election as a prime example of the "smear machine" operating at full speed. "There was the idea in the past conservatives have had the edge but for 2016, going into that race, all seem to agree, Democrats had control of the messaging, particularly when it came to using the news media," she said. "To the extent conservatives try to control the news message – yes they would like to just as much – but they don't have as much of a receptive ear in the news media so they're not able to do it as effectively," she said.
In the book, Attkisson uses statistics from emails returned through Freedom of Information Act requests and information exposed by outlets like Wiki leaks.
Controlling the Narrative
"These groups say how they were able to influence the narrative. They name names. They talk about the news publications and networks that publish the stories they wanted them to publish. I've even published emails between journalists and these interests that they're supposed to cover showing what I call transactional journalism which I think is ethically inappropriate when they're making deals with the news makers," she said.
Although Democrats may have been more effective, Republicans ultimately won. Attkisson says this could be because voters are becoming more media savvy.
"Are people getting wise to these techniques? Are they seeing through some of the narratives? I think it's fair to say 90 percent of the news narrative was in one direction and yet Donald Trump still managed to overcome what this huge machine had built against him, Democrats and Republicans in the media, to become president," she said.
Today one reoccurring narrative is Russia. Evidence that Russia Probe is a Witch Hunt - Does Attkisson think, like President Trump, that the Russia probe is a political witch hunt?
"President Trump is correct when he says that this is a 'witch hunt' in some respect based on the evidence to date and based on Obama's own intel experts who not only didn't see any evidence of collusion between Donald Trump and the Russians by their own account, but also by the account of all public information, Democrats and Republicans alike, who haven't seen the connection and yet, you've seen it dominate the news narrative," she said. "I call it like the Brady Bunch, 'Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.' You just hear, "Russia, Russia, Russia" all the time and there have been wildly incorrect reports from some formerly top respected news outlets in the nation about all of this and in some cases they haven't even corrected or done mea culpas when what they report has been found to be false. It's not that the Russia question doesn't deserve some investigation, but the coverage for it is so wildly disproportionate to the evidence at large."
Whether it's Russia coverage or any other story, Attkisson says it's important to step back and ask questions, approaching nearly everything you see or read with a healthy dose of skepticism.
"Nearly every image that's put before them, in the words of the people who operate in this universe, is put before them for a reason by an interest that is often not disclosed and that should make you question when you see themes and memes coming up on social media and common ideas expressed over and over again. That should make you question, who's behind it? Who wants me to think this way?"
British writer and theologian G.K. Chesterton observed, "It is hatred that unites people -- while love is always individual."
The use of hatred to mobilize has a long and bloody history. We should understand why it works so well. It taps into human weakness. It exploits the unwillingness of individuals to take responsibility for their own lives, to courageously confront life's ambiguities and inconsistencies, and still move forward constructively. It's so much easier to blame someone else.
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"Jake Tapper Comes Clean: Obama Lied and Biased Media Let Him Get Away With It" - TruthRevolt.com, 8.15.2017 ,Trey Sanchez, http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/jake-tapper-comes-clean-obama-lied-and-biased-media-let-him-get-away-it
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