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metaset({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","entry":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$blogger":"http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008","xmlns$georss":"http://www.georss.org/georss","xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7030318226622508810.page-5803170571439357584"},"published":{"$t":"2016-11-25T12:35:00.000-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-11-25T12:35:00.093-05:00"},"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The YYYcampaignYYY"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"The YYYcampaignYYY is an effort to crowdsource identifying Russian propaganda outlets and sympathizers. To participate, when you see a social-media account, commenter, or outlet echoing Russian propaganda themes, highlight it with YYYs accordingly!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nDoing so is intended to encourage critical thinking about the sources people get their information from and share with others, while highlighting probable Russian propaganda outlets for further investigation and analysis.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nPlease take care when using YYYs, because many people who get their news from Russian propaganda outlets are completely unaware that their beliefs directly correspond with, and have been shaped by, Russian strategic messaging. However, in an important sense it does not matter whether they are being knowingly directed and paid by Russian intelligence officers (although some of them undoubtably are), or whether they even knew they were echoing Russian propaganda before being called out: If they continue to do so, for whatever reasons, their willingness to uncritically echo Russian propaganda makes them a tool of the Russian state. The term \"\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Useful_idiot\"\u003Euseful idiot\u003C\/a\u003E\" often applies, and calling them out is justified, appropriate, and valuable. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nHence, the YYYs.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe YYYcampaignYYY\u0026nbsp;is the crowdsourced application of \"manual analysis\", which is what we call the remarkably easy-to-do process of methodically checking to see whether a particular social-media account, commenter, or outlet qualifies as Russian propaganda, and calling it out it if it does. Anyone can join this campaign, and we hope you will do so.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ch2\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EManually Identifying YYYRussian PropagandaYYY\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\nIn order to usefully identify and expose Russian propaganda, avoid false positives and McCarthyism, and effectively encourage others to get their news from more reliable sources, we recommend using the following steps, or Checks, when performing manual analysis of potential propaganda outlets and using YYYs to highlight it:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003E1) \u003C\/b\u003ECheck to see whether the social-media account\/commenter\/outlet\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Econsistently\u0026nbsp;cites\u0026nbsp;obvious Russian propaganda outlets\u003C\/i\u003E such as Russia Today\/rt.com, the Russian defense ministry, and other official Russian spokespeople.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003E2) \u003C\/b\u003ECheck to see whether the social-media account\/commenter\/outlet \u003Ci\u003Ehas a history of\u0026nbsp;reusing text directly from obvious Russian propaganda outlets, especially without attribution\u003C\/i\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003E3) \u003C\/b\u003ECheck to see whether the social-media account\/commenter\/outlet\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Ehas a history of generally echoing \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/articles\/2015\/10\/04\/russia-s-propaganda-blitzkrieg.html\"\u003Ethe Russian propaganda \"line\"\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E by using\u0026nbsp;themes,\u0026nbsp;arguments, talking points, images, and other content similar to those used by obvious Russian propaganda outlets. These themes include:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EHow wonderful, powerful, innocent, and righteous Russia and Russia's friends are: Putin, Donald Trump, Bashar al-Assad, Syria, Iran, China, radical political parties in the US and Europe, etc. Investigate this by searching for mentions of, for example, \"russia\", on their site by Googling for \"site:whateversite.com russia\", and seeing what comes up.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EHow terrible, weak, aggressive, and corrupt the the opponents of Russia and their friends are: The US, Obama, Hillary Clinton, the EU, Angela Merkel, NATO, Ukraine, Jewish people, US allies, the \"mainstream media\", and democrats, the center-right or center-left, and\u0026nbsp;moderates of all stripes.\u0026nbsp;Investigate this by searching for mentions of, for example, \"NATO\", on their site by Googling for \"site:whateversite.com NATO\" and seeing what comes up.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EAn obvious bias towards Russia and Russian-backed policy in foreign affairs, including:\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EHow fantastic Brexit and Ukrainian\/Georgian separatism is, but how terrible Chechen\u0026nbsp;separatists are,\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EHow advanced Russian technology is, and how dangerous Western technology is,\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EHow great it is when Western secrets get exposed, but how terrible it is when Russian ones do,\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EHow militarily powerful Russia and their friends are, and how weak and craven Russia's enemies and their friends are, etc.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EHow dangerous standing up to Russia would be: It would inevitably result in \"World War 3\", nuclear devastation, etc, and regardless of who shot first or is bombing civilians where now, would be the West's fault. Russian propaganda \u003Ci\u003Enever\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;suggests it would just\u0026nbsp;result in a Cold War 2 and Russia's eventual peaceful defeat, like the last time.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EPre-emptive discouragement of critical analysis: Assertions about them \"having the truth\", or the need to \"wake up the sheeple\", or how the \"mainstream media\" can't be trusted.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EHyperbolic alarmism, anti-Western conspiracist insinuations, \"Eurasianism\", racism, gold-standard nuttery and attacks on the US dollar, 9\/11-trutherism, anti-Semitism,\u0026nbsp;anti-\"globalism\",\u0026nbsp;anti-vax\/anti-GMO paranoia, and generally ridiculous over-the-top assertions, which cites Russian propaganda outlets as \"evidence\".\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\nPlease review our \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.propornot.com\/p\/frequently-asked-questions.html\"\u003EFrequently Asked Questions\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and our \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.propornot.com\/p\/reference-articles.html\"\u003EReference Articles\u003C\/a\u003E for more background.\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003E4) \u003C\/b\u003ECheck to see whether the social-media account\/commenter\/outlet \u003Ci\u003Ehas a history of echoing the Russian propaganda \"line\" in weird ways:\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EDo they have propaganda-like content that\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Ementions Russia in a positive light for no clear reason\u003C\/i\u003E?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EDo they have\u0026nbsp;propaganda-like content\u0026nbsp;that \u003Ci\u003Erandomly extols Russia and belittles the US\u003C\/i\u003E?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EDo they have propaganda-like content \u003Ci\u003Eunrelated to the purported focus of their branding\u003C\/i\u003E?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EDoes the \u003Ci\u003Etiming\u003C\/i\u003E of their propaganda-like content\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Ecoincide with or closely follow similar content on known Russian propaganda outlets\u003C\/i\u003E?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003E5) \u003C\/b\u003ECheck to see whether the social-media account\/commenter\/outlet \u003Ci\u003Elacks the hallmarks of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cjc-online.ca\/index.php\/journal\/article\/view\/1743\/1855\"\u003Egood actual journalism\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E: Are the stories factual? Are the facts placed in appropriate context? Do the headlines match the content? Are the agendas of the sources clearly disclosed? Are there good explanations? Does it bring clarity to complicated issues? Is there an absence of hype?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003E6) \u003C\/b\u003ECheck to see whether the social-media account\/commenter\/outlet\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Ehas been called out by other fact-checkers, journalists, debunkers, etc, already\u003C\/i\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003E7) \u003C\/b\u003ECheck to see whether the social-media account\/commenter\/outlet\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Esteadfastly avoids coherently proposing constructive solutions to anything\u003C\/i\u003E. The point of propaganda isn't just to get people worked up--it's also to create a sense of decision paralysis, and fear of a complex and seemingly frightening world. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003E8)\u003C\/b\u003E Given all that, check to see whether the social-media account\/commenter\/outlet\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Equalifies under our definition of propaganda\u003C\/i\u003E:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote class=\"tr_bq\"\u003E\nA systematic form of persuasion that attempts to influence the emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of specified target audiences for political, ideological, and religious purposes, through the controlled transmission of deceptive, selectively-omitting, and one-sided messages (which may or may not be factual) via mass and direct media channels.\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\nAs an example of how this all can work, check out our example post about this: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.propornot.com\/2016\/10\/an-example-of-manual-propaganda_31.html\"\u003EHangTheBankers.com\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Ch2\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EJoin the YYYcampaignYYY\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\nIf you come across a social-media account, commenter, or outlet that satisfies those checks, thus qualifying as a bona-fide Russian propaganda outlet, what can be done? For one, you can help highlight it. When you see a story posted from it on social media, that we've already analyzed and debunked, surround the name of it in YYYs, and, as kindly as possible, push back against the person who posted it with a link to this page. Then, come \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.propornot.com\/p\/contact.html\"\u003Etell us, at PropOrNot\u003C\/a\u003E, about it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIf it's not in our database, or if you have any questions about an unknown outlet, tell us about it and we will investigate. There's a lot we haven't uncovered yet, and we have sophisticated analytical tools at our disposal. Contact us on Twitter, at\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/propornot\"\u003E@PropOrNot\u003C\/a\u003E, or on\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Propaganda-Or-Not-933658713423154\"\u003EFacebook\u003C\/a\u003E, on by email at (our domain)@gmail.com, or on Reddit at\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/PropOrNot\/\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/PropOrNot\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFinally, please review our\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.propornot.com\/p\/frequently-asked-questions.html\"\u003EFrequently Asked Questions\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and our\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.propornot.com\/p\/reference-articles.html\"\u003EReference Articles\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;for more context and information, and follow the instructions at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.propornot.com\/p\/get-involved.html\"\u003EGet Involved!\u003C\/a\u003E if you want to help."},"link":[{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/7030318226622508810\/pages\/default\/5803170571439357584"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/7030318226622508810\/pages\/default\/5803170571439357584"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.propornot.com\/p\/the-yyycampaignyyy.html","title":"The YYYcampaignYYY"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"X"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/16401174395512306547"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}]}});