General Discussion

Excellent article. Good find.

Key paragraph:

It doesn’t matter if it’s true that kids are getting “transed” in schools or Haitian immigrants are eating pets so long as those stories can be used to demonize trans people and migrants, respectively. What matters to the right is that it is able to hijack the public’s attention, to “start a conversation” about the supposed problems caused by these groups, true or not.

Debunking and fact checking don't work because that just gives the right crap attention. Back in the day no one debunked or fact checked National Enquirer headlines - "Rita Hayworth: I'm Back From the Dead. For Two Years I Was a Zombie" is one of my favorites.

NYT:

"Some observers are saying that Rita Hayworth is a zombie. Democrats are denyig that."

Sinclair Broadcasting local news:

"Was Rita Hayworth a zombie? As incredible as that might sound, that is actually being discussed. Stay tuned for details."

Then, pretty soon...

"While some are claiming that zombies do not exist, and that the story about Hayworth is not true, it has gone viral on social media and people across the country now are talking about it."

Trump:

"Well I don't know if it is true or not, but a lot of people are talking about it, I will say that. People have lost confidence in Hayworth and I think we need to look into that very closely. The lying fake news - I call it the fake news because frankly that is what it is - lying fake news is trying to cover it up."