Impressively enough, the local Public Radio stations morning local show, "Charlotte Talks" addressed this very thing today, in the hour long broadcast. I didn't hear all of it. But there are commerical "farms", disinformation farms, located in places like, believe it or not, Sudan. They post on social media, create fake media companies, I would not be surprised if we haven't seen many of the stories they generate here, on this very site.
And yes, the left does it too. They just are not that good at it, not that organized, and quite honestly, it is a different demographic. Besides, visit a right wing blog--The American Thinker perhaps, Townhall, read that writing. Then go to Common Dreams, Counterpoint. Read the writing. A world of damn difference. Sometimes, the writing out of Townhall isn't even high school level.
Russian disinformation "farms" feed division in this country. They capitalize on our pressure points, like racism. The whole George Floyd thing, those Russia disinformation farms fanned the flames, this is indisputable, has been proven. The whole Russian collusion thing, the Mueller investigation, yes, it didn't prove collusion, but what it did prove, Russia actively engaged in a disinformation campaign to effect the Presidential election of 2020, and no doubt, 2024 as well.
In the end, who do we blame and how do we stop it? Well, you got to blame those falling for the stuff. Most of it, confirmation bias. They see what they want to see, and they don't see very far. I think they will just age out. I mean we are talking about the oldest generation, those last remaining Boomers. This computerized, cell phone, social media, connected world, it is kind of novel to them. They haven't quite grasped the intricacies. The following generations, born into it, a part of them.
How do we stop it? By calling it out, from the rooftops. Sure, Facebook, X, or whatever, those places need to be filtering submissions, based on point of origin. Sudan, get out of here. Russia, nope. China, hell no. You think China and Russia are not already doing it? Get in the ballgame. And when it comes to media, we need a Walter Cronkite. For real, someone America can trust because, well they deserve that trust. "That is the way it is".
Maybe we need to bring back the equal time clause. I mean for real, there are "local" TV news broadcasts for cities throughout America that are broadcast out of SUDAN. Granted, a hell of a compound. But still. But when I was a kid, I would watch my glow in the dark Timex until it hit one o'clock. Then I would tip-toe into the den, climb up in front of the TV, turn it down low so no one would hear, and watch "equal time". Right before nightly signoff, which I think was God Bless America with a flag flying in the background.
But equal time, it was a damn hoot. See, the law said you have to give equal time, to counter opinions to those that the editorial staff elucidated, usually at the end of the local news broadcast, right before Walter Cronkite. But the station was able to choose the person representing the other side. You think they picked the best? Like I said, it was better than Saturday Night Live back in the day. It was like the crazy train done dropped off its passengers. But bringing that back would be a start. At least put some type of barrier in front of this bullshit.