House Republicans unveil a new 2014 strategy: Repurposing press releases on a fake news site

[applegrove]

House Republicans unveil a new 2014 strategy: Repurposing press releases on a fake news site

By Philip Bump at the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/08/13/house-republicans-unveil-a-new-2014-strategy-repurposing-press-releases-on-a-fake-news-site/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost

"SNIP.............................



Why bother noting things that don't exist? Because each of those "Update" Web sites was created by the National Republican Campaign Committee. They are meant to look like a real news site but really are intended to attack a Democrat who is running for Congress.

Before you wonder how we can say with such certainty that the sites are intended to mislead, we offer our evidence. Picking Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) as our example, here's the "Long Island Update" article on the congressman.

..........

It has that header at the top of the page, implying it's a news site. It has a headline and photo. It has a timestamp. It has an author — always "Geoff." It has a list of the "Most Popular" links, and, sometimes, the "Most Viewed," which is usually an ad promoting the candidate's opponent. It is "Filed under" the name of the race involved, and the URL for each ends with "update70," "update71" or "update72," implying that there are more stories on the site than there are. At the bottom of the page, that same header again, and then a bunch of white space, and then, finally, an acknowledgement that the site is paid for by the NRCC.

The National Journal reported on the sites Tuesday, pointing out that the NRCC is buying ads on Google for people searching for Democratic candidates to redirect them to these fake news sites. Nor did the NRCC seem to be terribly concerned about the implications of misleading visitors.



...............................SNIP"

[Thinkingabout]

1. Do you think they took a clue from FAUX?

[applegrove]

2. They need to get the faux experience on to the intertubes. Because there are leaks

of good information getting to the base. Like about inequality and fat cats getting away with the financial crash.