check your fact

crypto or just bogus mirror?

KOCH TUCKER INCUBATOR batasch

http://redgreenandblue.org/2023/03/15/climate-disinformation-daily-caller/

Climate disinformation is what the Daily Caller DOES | Red, Green, and Blue

Red, Green, and Blue

Related · Daily Caller has a fact checker! (But is now run by Koch-trained career disinformer Michael Bastasch) · No, Marc Morano, nobody wants a ' ...

as internal text messages _{prove}_ what most have _{long known}_ about _{Fox News}_ (that it’s a conservative propaganda machine posing as a news outlet), it’s important to remember that these days, Fox is hardly alone. While Murdoch’s Fox and Wall Street Journal are the unquestioned Big Leagues of right-wing disinformation, there’s a whole set of bush league outlets serving as training grounds.

By Climate Denier Roundup

The Tucker Carlson-founded Daily Caller is one of the primary examples of how Fox and the Koch-funded climate change counter-movement are intertwined.

Back when they were mostly Koch-funded, _{Koch-trained Michael Bastasch}_ was regularly running climate disinformation featuring Koch-funded climate deniers. These days, their funding has diversified a bit thanks to _{Carlson’s feud with Kochs}_, though giving the Daily Caller money still appears to increase the odds of the outlet _{writing favorable content about you}_.

But _{**Bastasch** returned}_ last year as Managing Editor of the Daily Caller’s _{non-profit tax dodge foundation}_, after a stint at Fox News writing for _{election-lie-spreader Laura Ingraham}_.

Since his return, we’ve been watching closely to note any changes, and at this point can say it definitely appears that Bastasch is using his position to spread climate disinformation through multiple channels at the Caller, not just the “Big Tent” opinion vertical _{we noted last week}_.

_{In the past}_, most of the Caller’s climate disinfo would come from just one or two employees who appeared to be tasked with turning press releases from Koch cronies into “news” as their job on the “energy” beat (like Thomas Catenacci, who now works for, _{you guessed it, Fox News}_).

But these days, attacks on climate change science, policy, and experts have become a feature of coverage across the website and its various staffers.

It really stood out between 5 and 7 p.m. last Wednesday, when the Daily Caller published a triple-play of climate disinfo: defending a fossil-fuel loving white supremacist, cherry-picking climate change from a US National security assessment, and attacked environmentalists organizing on TikTok to #StopWillow.

The first was from “news and commentary writer” Brianna Lyman, who provided _{a short write-up framed as criticism}_ of Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), who “accused one of the witnesses of being racist.” Who, you might ask? Well, despite the fact that ‘who/what/where/why/when’ is a basic tenet of journalism, Lyman didn’t identify the person at the center of the House committee meeting, and in fact, described Bush as “criticizing the oil industry before turning her attention toward an unidentified witness.”

Which is an absolutely astonishing thing for a supposed journalist to write, because Congressional _{hearings are very easy to look up}_. Alex Epstein, one of the “so-called ‘energy experts’” called by Republicans, is who Rep. Bush called “a philosopher who has previously espoused white supremacist views,” before Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) interjected to try and censor her by calling for the comment to be removed from the Congressional record.

But naming Epstein would require doing actual reporting, and apparently all Lyman did was watch a _{video clip of the hearing}_ (that she embedded in the story). If you’d like to see what real reporting of the hearing looks like, as opposed to someone running cover for a fellow traveler, _{Timothy Cama covered it for PoliticoPRO}_ and named _{Alex Epstein}_ right up front.

Roughly thirty-six minutes after Lyman’s article defending a racist was posted, the Daily ‘_{whoopsie we keep hiring racists}_‘ Caller published a piece on the US intelligence community’s Annual Threat Assessment. The headline of “reporter” Micaela Burrow’s coverage? “_{Intel Community Warns Fight Over Green Energy Tech Will Worsen Global Tensions.}_”

The 10-paragraph write-up quotes the assessment just twice to justify the story’s thrust that fighting climate change will somehow make the world more dangerous. That’s probably because the _{40-page assessment}_ only devotes 2 pages to climate, and then otherwise focuses on a bunch of things that the Daily Caller doesn’t spread disinfo about.

Finally, rounding out a very busy day for the Caller, “Associate Editor” Ailan Evans’ _{hit piece ran at 6:49}_, attacking the #StopWillow campaign on TikTok because one of the participating groups is funded by “a Swiss billionaire with a documented history of philanthropy and political donations, primarily to left-wing causes and candidates.” Though it’s dressed up as some sort of scandalous revelation, at no point does Evans attempt to explain how or why this is somehow bad.

But that’s the kind of training you get from the Daily Caller. Both Evans and current _{Fox Production Assistant}_ Kendall Tietz were _{2021 fellows}_ of the Daily Caller’s American Journalism Institute, where they train the next generation of political hacks to pretend to be journalists.

So next time you hear about some bizarre disinformation, rank political propaganda, or shameless defense of racism on Fox News, remember that it’s not an accident, they’retrainedto be that awful. There’s a whole farm league of conservative propaganda shops like the Daily Caller — the _{frack-backed}_ Daily Wire and _{Heritage}_‘s _{Daily Signal}_ come to mind — and while they’d all oppose a Universal Basic Income as socialism, they’re proof that as long as would-be-journalists are willing to play ball for the highest bidder, they’ll never want for work.

ref jun 2019

just the _{other day we talked about}_ how Tucker Carlson questioned who the climate culprits are on his Koch-funded Daily Caller website. So we’re reluctant to go back to that well quite so soon, but a new post on the Caller’s website cannot go without comment.

The _{story is a clip and rehash}_ of one of Carlson’s recent segments on his Fox News show, in which he attacks Koch Brothers and questions their undue influence over the Republican party. In the clip, Carlson hones in on criticisms that the Koch brothers are libertarian and that their philanthropic aims don’t reflect the wants and needs of everyday Republicans.

yes, you read that correctly. Tucker Carlson, whose Daily Caller_{**website received 84%**}_of its funding from the Kochs in 2016 and _{close to a million dollars in 2017}_, railed against the Kochs’ influence. Keep in mind the website with _{over a thousand Koch stories}_, few if any of which are anything but bootlicking.

That said, in 2017 Koch money only made up 38% of the Caller’s funding. Its trajectory does seem to be moving away from Koch money as its primary means of support. Perhaps the website really is trying to break free from the Koch’s funding, or at least dilute its funder pool so it’s not quite so obvious that they exist as a propaganda tool for the Kochs’ interests. It launched a subscription program back in April, inviting readers to become a “_{Daily Caller Patriot}_” offering access to special content and removing ads. The invitation includes a clip of Carlson talking about his crusade against “big tech” for “censoring” “conservatives” over the little tinsy matter of propagating hate speech that is radicalizing white terrorists.

And that’s a big part of Carlson’s new rant against the Kochs: targeting their upcoming work with the Anti-Defamation League to combat online hate speech. Since we know full well that the _{Daily Caller has quite a history}_ of “accidentally” propagating white nationalism, perhaps that’s why Carlson is stoking division between himself and his followers and his Koch funders. If they’re anti-hate speech, odds are they’ll follow the lead of all the advertisers who have pulled their support for Carlson’s Fox program.

So maybe this new change in heart in response to the Kochs pulling away from supporting the website, and Carlson is pulling the old “you can’t fire me because I quit.” Back _{in November of 2018}_, Washington Post columnist Radley Balko wrote that Koch officials told him that “the Kochs and their foundations more generally find the Daily Caller abhorrent, and feel the same way about Tucker Carlson. One added that he was particularly troubled by the way the site objectives women as clickbait.”

And while the Koch donors Balko spoke to made it clear they saw their investment in the Caller to be aimed at training new journalists with free-market ideology, the lead investigative journalist at the Caller, per Balko, “doesn't inspire confidence.” Balko, who had previously worked with the reporter, Richard Pollack, wrote that Pollack is “a Trump toady” who “doesn't understand libertarianism” and is “a crappy journalist” who “isn't particularly smart.” But Balko conceded that Pollack’s “most marketable skill seems to be the ability to fool people into believing he has marketable skills.”

The same could be said for Tucker Carlson, and maybe the Kochs have finally realized it. Because as a _{millionaire funded by billionaires}_, it’s hard to comprehend why else Carlson would turn on his former patrons.

https://www.mediamatters.org/daily-caller/daily-caller-receiving-money-trump-and-gop-groups-while-its-subsidiary-participates

Daily Caller has been receiving money from President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and other Republican candidates and organizations for email list rentals while its Check Your Fact division participates in Facebook’s fact-checking program.

The Daily Caller is a right-wing publication with a history of promoting false information and hiring or publishing white nationalists and other bigots. In 2019, Facebook began partnering with Check Your Fact for the social media giant’s fact-checking program. Popular Information's Jugg Legum documented in March how the Daily Caller used “its role as a Facebook fact-checker to boost Trump and discredit a mainstream media outlet, Politico.”

Check Your Fact states on its “about us” page that it is “a for-profit subsidiary wholly owned by The Daily Caller, Inc. Majority owners of The Daily Caller, Inc. are co-founder and publisher Neil Patel and co-founder Tucker Carlson. The Daily Caller’s fact-checking team is funded by The Daily Caller’s general news budget, as well as revenue generated through advertising.” (Carlson sold his stake in the Daily Caller last month.)

Will Ragland, the research director for Center for American Progress Action, tweeted today:

After that tweet, Media Matters found that The Daily Caller has sent dozens of sponsored emailssince 2016 that were “paid for by Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint fundraising committee authorized by and composed of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and the Republican National Committee.”

The Daily Caller has also received $40,213.75 so far this year from the National Republican Senatorial Committee for list rentals, according to Federal Election Commission records. It has also received $18,171.40 so far this year from the National Republican Congressional Committee for list rentals, according to FEC records.

The Daily Caller has sent numerous other sponsored emails for various Republicans this year. Those emails include Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) reelection campaign; Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) reelection campaign; Bikers for the President political action committee; and the Senate Conservatives Fund.

The Washington Post and the Center for Media and Democracy wrote in 2017 about how The Daily Caller has received money from the Trump campaign for list rentals.

Here are four recent examples of The Daily Caller’s sponsored emails for the Trump Make America Great Again Committee: [screenshots]

https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/mark-zuckerberg-spread-misinformation-about-facebooks-fact-checking-program-during-his

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave a false answer when asked during a congressional hearing about a division of right-wing website The Daily Caller being involved in Facebook’s fact-checking efforts.

Zuckerberg deflected Facebook’s responsibility by suggesting an outside entity is in charge of which organizations Facebook uses as fact-checkers. But that isn’t true: Who gets to fact-check on Facebook is decided by Facebook. Additionally, reporting has shown that a Facebook executive previously agitated for The Daily Caller’s inclusion in the fact-checking project.

Zuckerberg appeared before the House Financial Services Committee on October 23 to testify about Facebook’s efforts to launch a new cryptocurrency, how Facebook has been used to post ads that violate federal housing discrimination laws, and other topics related to the company. One of those topics was Facebook’s fact-checking project, which has been maligned for its ineffectiveness.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) asked Zuckerberg why a division of The Daily Caller is included in the Facebook fact-checking project given the publication is “well-documented with ties to white supremacists.” Zuckerberg demurred on the question of Facebook’s role, and instead claimed, “We actually don’t appoint the independent fact-checkers, they go through an independent organization called the Independent Fact-Checking Network that has a rigorous standard for who they allow to serve as a fact-checker.” That is false. Facebook requires its partners to be accredited by the organization, which is actually called the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), but it is Facebook, not IFCN, who decides which organizations Facebook uses in its fact-checking project.

[vid?]

As explained by Vox, “IFCN certification is a necessary condition for partnering with Facebook, but once a site is certified, it’s up to Facebook to decide whether to partner with it. There are currently 62 organizations with IFCN certification globally, but Facebook only partners with six in the United States.”

Judd Legum, who publishes the Popular Information newsletter, asked IFCN about Zuckerberg’s response to Ocasio-Cortez’ question. IFCN Director Baybars Örsek confirmed that Zuckerberg’s claim that IFCN appoints Facebook fact-checkers was false:

Zuckerberg repeated this falsehood during a follow-up question after Ocasio-Cortez asked, “So you would say that white supremacist-tied publications meet a rigorous standard for fact-checking?” Again, Zuckerberg falsely claimed that IFCN, not Facebook, was “assessing that standard” for inclusion in Facebook’s fact-checking project.

In fact, a Facebook executive previously attempted to ensure that The Daily Caller’s fact-checking division, which is called Check Your Fact, was included in Facebook’s fact-checking project. According to The Wall Street Journal, Facebook executive and former George W. Bush administration official Joel Kaplan started pushing for it to be included in the summer of 2018. But other executives at Facebook were opposed to its inclusion because of falsehoods promoted by The Daily Caller, and debate over the matter ended when Check Your Fact lost its IFCN accreditation in November 2018. But in April, after Check Your Fact regained its IFCN accreditation, it was named as a Facebook fact-checking partner.

In order to be recertified, Check Your Fact had to comply with disclosure requirements about the source of its funding. That disclosure indicated that Check Your Fact is funded via the bigoted Daily Caller's general operating budget, the website's own ad revenue, and a $100,000 grant from The Daily Caller News Foundation that was provided by the right-wing Searle Freedom Trust foundation.

Zuckerberg’s testimony about the project misled Congress and made clear that he may not even be aware of the basic logistics of how Facebook’s fact-checking operation works.

(Disclosure: In March 2018, Check Your Fact fact-checked a claim that I made about the National Rifle Association, rating the claim “true.”)

https://www.ecowatch.com/facebook-factchecking-science-climate-denial-2635927165.html

no lnx twits

CLIMATE DENIER

Facebook Hires Koch-Funded Climate Deniers for 'Fact-Checking'

Oil Change International Apr. 30, 2019 10:10AM EST BUSINESS

Isriya Paireepairit / Flickr

By Andy Rowell

It may not come as a surprise that leading climate denier Donald Trump has made more than 10,000 false or misleading claims since he became president, according to fact-checkers at the Washington Post.

As the Post reports, Trump's "tsunami of untruths just keeps looming larger and larger."

Much of this tsunami of untruths will get reposted on Facebook as fact. Those hoping that Facebook will accurately check Trump's statements and clean up the torrent of fake news on its platform will have to think again, especially if you are concerned about climate change.

In what can only be described as verging on the bizarre, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has given the contract to fight fake news to an organization that pushes fake news on climate change.

According to reports in Think Progress and Grist, Facebook has announced that it was teaming up with CheckYourFact.com, which is an offshoot of the anti-science media site, The Daily Caller.

The CheckYourFact website brags that: "Our mission is a non-partisan one. We're loyal to neither people nor parties — only the truth. And while the fact-checking industry continues to grow, there are still countless assertions that go unchecked. We exist to fill in the gaps."

In fact, the opposite seems to be true. As Think Progress outlines:

The Daily Caller, which has published misinformation about climate science for years, was co-founded by the science-denying Fox News host Tucker Carlson and is backed by major conservative donors, including Charles and David Koch, the billionaire fossil fuel barons who are the single biggest funders of climate science misinformation.

Think Progress includes a link back to 2015, when a peer-reviewed paper from scientists at Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute was published in the journal Nature Geoscience. The Daily Caller tried to twist the research to argue that "global warming is nothing new."

It is hardly surprising that leading climate scientists and academics are outspoken about the Facebook fact-check tie up.

One of the world's leading climatologists, professor Michael Mann, whose own work has been distorted by The Daily Caller, told Think Progress: "It is appalling that Facebook has teamed up with a Koch-funded organization that promotes climate change denial. Facebook must disassociate itself from this organization."

Mann also tweeted:

Michael E. Mann

@MichaelEMann

"The Koch brothers are funding @Facebook’s newest fact-checking partner" by Paola Rosa-Aquino (@prosaaquino) for @Grist:https://grist.org/article/the-koch-brothers-are-funding-facebooks-newest-fact-checking-partner/ …

2:55 PM - Apr 29, 2019

Twitter Ads info and privacy

The Koch brothers are funding Facebook’s newest fact-checking partner

Is Facebook trying to solve its fake news problem by partnering with … climate deniers?

grist.org

Environmental sociologist, professor Robert Brulle, who is an authority on the climate denial network, asked, "Why they are partnering with an organization that is part of the right wing echo chamber?" He added that: "Facebook should cancel this contract."

But as both websites point out this is not the first time Facebook has joined forces with a climate denial website: In the fall of 2017, Facebook named the right-wing, partisan Weekly Standard as a fact-checking partner.

Last year, Tessa Lyons, a product manager for Facebook wrote about the company's actions on Fake News:

False news is a money maker for spammers and a weapon of state actors and agitators around the world … Misinformation is bad for our community and bad for our business. It's why we're investing significant time and resources to fight it.

Fighting fake news with more fake news is a sure recipe for disaster. Especially during a climate emergency.

EcoWatch

@EcoWatch

@Greenpeace Calls BS After Trump Cites 'Paid Lobbyist' Masquerading as Co-Founder to Peddle Climate Denial @greenpeaceusa @AOC #GreenNewDeal http://bit.ly/2Ty5bfd

Greenpeace Calls BS After Trump Cites 'Paid Lobbyist' Masquerading as Co-Founder to Peddle Climate...

"Patrick Moore was not a co-founder of Greenpeace. He does not represent Greenpeace," the group wrote.

ecowatch.com

See EcoWatch's other Tweets

Reposted with permission from our media associate Oil Change International.