Help Squelch Disinformation

[brunner]

Alright, I've been up since early yesterday doing this, and now that the campaign has released a statement indicating that Ron Paul is not yet invited, maybe someone can take over for a little while.

This is what I'm doing:
1) Watch this page and refresh it often. (Use this link if you don't find anything using the first one) We're watching for stories that say things like, "Ron Paul NOT excluded from Fox debate" or "Ron Paul, False News"
2) If it's a news site, find a contact link. If it's a blog, use the comment field. If it's a forum, register on the forum and post or appeal to the admin (I've had great success with the latter)
3) Politely offer a correction

Be sure to cover the following:

• There is indeed a forum on December 6.
• The "forum" is not the same event as the "brunch" that is happening earlier in the day.
• The campaign had been in touch with Fox and the NH GOP. The first press release from the campaign was not a false alarm.
• It's true that Ron Paul has not yet been invited.
• Cite the official release from the campaign.

If they reference the NolanChart.com post, point out that is has been retracted! (Well, just redacted, last I checked)
If they reference the WorldNetDaily post, point out that it was based on the NolanChart.com post, which has now been retracted.

Always be polite. Whatever you do, don't do anything stupid. If you let your emotions or exhaustion get to you even once, bad things could happen. If you're lucky, you might be the subject of a comical slander piece on a very low-profile blog that isn't taken seriously anyway on which the author later apologizes for being wrong, removes links to the slander piece, and offers to buy you a beer. If you're unlucky, you'll cause irrevocable damage in the form of a smear piece on a site that's taken seriously by the general public, causing embarrassment to yourself and the campaign. Be careful, seriously. (I don't mean to insult you. Most people here probably have more common sense than I do anyhow.)

Together we can squash the false information!

 

[IChooseLiberty]

I've been trying really hard but it gets frustrating. So many new people come and post the same disinfo It has slowed down but I think it'll continue.

 

[hueylong]

Just relax, please. This is part of what happens on the internet.

If people wouldn't freak out over every little post, and just let things develop -- it would be a lot less nerve-wracking.

Chill.

Huey

 

[brunner]

I've been trying really hard but it gets frustrating. So many new people come and post the same disinfo It has slowed down but I think it'll continue.

I've been able to get many, many blogs and forums to remove the incorrect information. It does work if you're polite and show that you're just trying to help.

 

[brunner]

Just relax, please. This is part of what happens on the internet.

If people wouldn't freak out over every little post, and just let things develop -- it would be a lot less nerve-wracking.

Chill.

Huey

Uhh, I'm not sure if you noticed this, but the spread of information on the internet is viral in nature. If it were one or two blogs, that would be no big deal, but just look at what happened after the NolanChart.com post - it spread to at least 50 other sites. That was prevented in many cases.

Don't participate if you're not interested, but I'd like people to have correct information.

 

[IChooseLiberty]

That's a good idea actually. Seek out the sources of the disinfo and get them to change it. I've just been defending against disinfo being posted here.

edit-Just checked nolancharts and they edited the orginal disinfo article!!!!!! SCore!!!! That's where all the second guessing was coming from.

 

[Xonox]

Ironicaly what we really need is for the MSM to mention it. That would put an end to all the disinfo in a flash. Otherwise we're going to be fighting it for a while still.

 

[brunner]

Ironicaly what we really need is for the MSM to mention it. That would put an end to all the disinfo in a flash. Otherwise we're going to be fighting it for a while still.

I tend to disagree. Many bloggers post and then forget about it. Most incorrect blog posts might lead to anywhere between 50 and 5000 mislead people, even after the story is corrected elsewhere. Remember these guys aren't subscribed to the same RSS feeds we are, and the average person takes little to no time to research or follow up on a story. Think about the behavior Digg users are known for...

 

[RiverRat]

I tend to disagree. Many bloggers post and then forget about it. Most incorrect blog posts might lead to anywhere between 50 and 5000 mislead people, even after the story is corrected elsewhere. Remember these guys aren't subscribed to the same RSS feeds we are, and the average person takes little to no time to research or follow up on a story. Think about the behavior Digg users are known for...

Well I can certainly attest to the behavior of Digg. When this story first broke it was definitely news and the Bury Brigade expended lots of energy trying to prevent it from getting out. They could not care less about the facts of the story; they knew it would galvanize Ron's supporters and they acted.

The issue with blogs is that some bloggers take their job/hobby very seriously and protect their reputations as a valid news outlet (even if it isn't mainstream) and some just shoot from the hip with whatever emotion their keyboard is currently loaded with. The former are a God send to those that know the MSM is a whitewash and the latter are simply entertainment at best. You have to find out who cares about their reputation and give them more credit and that takes time or the word of another that has already gained your trust. The MSM doesn't want this to happen at all so they will be countering any attempts we make to do just that. They consider any professional journalist credible and anyone else not. This is an attempt at protecting their revenue stream more than anything. Until an acceptable alternative comes along we will just have to use our best judgment with a little help from our personal web of trust to determine who is, and who is not, credible.

 

[Micahyah]

thanks for doing this

 

[brunner]

Okay, guys, this link could possibly exclude things, but almost all of it is misinformation. Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[liberty_Forever]

Great post Brunner! I hope you got some sleep!

I think the best strategy is to
1) correct misinformation on the Internet blogs, and
2) continue to spread the facts.

Primary Sources: AP wire from Dec 27th, the latest article from Baltimore Sun, and the story from Fox Affiliate KPTM.

We need to spread the word to the MSM. It's already leaking out, all we need to do is give it a little push. Cyclone did a fantastic job getting television coverage from a friendly and independent Fox affiliate. Let's keep this up. If America realizes Thompson was invited but Paul was not, this will backfire big time on Fox News. Here is contact information of Fox. Also contact other media outlets.

Also, Don't forget to organize for primaries! ie. Letter Writing, Donations, Talk to Family/Friends/Co-workers, Join Local Meetup

 

[brunner]

Great post Brunner! I hope you got some sleep!

Thanks, and I did. The OP was from before I crashed this morning.

Thanks in advance for anyone's help!

 

[RiverRat]

That is very true. And once this hits the #RonPaul IRC channels then that is hundreds of people that then go to their favorite blogs and echo the information (accurate or not, they do try for accurate though) and most things in #RonPaul hit RonPaulRadio.com fairly quickly. Then throw in the meetup groups, I mean Ron Paul only has 90,000 of them (89,151 as of this post) so that isn't that many.

I think the point that Chris Brunner is trying to make is that we need to make an effort to squelch the bad information and get the good information out lest we loose our credibility. So I don't think relax is the right approach to take. Just my opinion.

 

[RiverRat]

Ok Brunner, here is the latest load of crap:
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/ABC_Fox_Cutting_Low_Polling_Candidates_Out_of_Debates
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/ABC_Fox_Cutting_Low_Polling_Candidates_Out_of_Debates_2
And the actual article:
http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pa...ale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

I buried both as lame/dup because I'm so pissed at Faux. I suggest you guys do the same.

I have started another IRC channel on Froonode to help combat these things:
##RonPaul-RSS and it tends to get news stories only minutes after publication. Everyone is free to join the channel and just idle and wait for my bots to post links to the new stories. We have managed to bury quite a few of the inaccurate stories and prevent the Bury Brigade from burying the good ones, or at least make it harder on them.

They are claiming that they don't have room for him yet they have room for Dead broke Fred who isn't polling any better than Dr. Paul. Go figure.

Come join the fight guys,

 

[RiverRat]

And here is another example of disinformation going wild:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=776515

 

[Heather in WI]

Blimp!

 

[RiverRat]

"Every member of the State ought diligently to read and to study the constitution of his country ... by knowing their rights, they will sooner perceive when they are violated and be the better prepared to defend and assert them."
~Chief-Justice John Jay, 1777

What an excellent quote. Here is one of my favorites from John Jay:
"The jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy."
John Jay, 1st Chief Justice, United States supreme Court, 1789, in Georgia vs. Brailsford, 1794

Everybody should remember that one when they have to sit on a jury and judge a pot smoker that the police feel like screwing. You have the right to judge the law to be a bad one and acquit the defendant, end of story. The judges will never tell a juror that, they will forbid a lawyer from telling a jury that and they would probably loose their cool if you tried to tell the jury that but it has never been reevaluated by SCOTUS and is still valid. It is affectionately called Jury Nullification Tell the judge to put that in his pipe and smoke it.