# Washington Post: Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 25, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945 "2016-11-25T03:41:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![pleks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@pleks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pleks)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/221 "2016-12-12T11:08:35Z")
Fake news, white nationalism, Russian interference are the new talking points. And sure, it will keep the mindless Democratic hive brains happy, but they won’t help them win the Rust Belt any more than the speech Hillary delivered about a cartoon frog a few months ago. But getting back to the topic of fake journalism… Did you know that Trump’s meltdown was nearly complete on October 9th, 2016? Brian Beutler of New Republic [sure did](https://newrepublic.com/article/137654/donald-trumps-meltdown-nearly-complete) It’s a good thing you didn’t, though, cause then you’d totally not be surprised by Brian Beuter of New Republic, declaring on November 16th that [Trump’s meltdown begins](https://newrepublic.com/article/138781/trump-meltdown-begins) Slate, however, was not content with letting New Republic rest on its laurels of ultra-left progressive propaganda and declared that Election college is an instrument of (you guessed it) [white supremacy, sexism, racism, transphobia, ageism, classism, heterosexism, able-bodeism, and other even more unspeakable things](http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/11/11/the_electoral_college_is_an_instrument_of_white_supremacy_and_sexism.html) And you could almost believe Slate (just the same way you could almost believe the polling numbers that **Budget Player Cadet** so naively trusted), if it wasn’t for that small matter of Slate [praising Electoral college 4 years ago](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/view_from_chicago/2012/11/defending_the_electoral_college.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/222 "2016-12-12T11:16:32Z")
> [@pleks](#): > > Fake news, white nationalism, Russian interference are the new talking points. And sure, it will keep the mindless Democratic hive brains happy, but they won’t help them win the Rust Belt any more than the speech Hillary delivered about a cartoon frog a few months ago. > > But getting back to the topic of fake journalism… > > Did you know that Trump’s meltdown was nearly complete on October 9th, 2016? Brian Beutler of New Republic [sure did](https://newrepublic.com/article/137654/donald-trumps-meltdown-nearly-complete) > > It’s a good thing you didn’t, though, cause then you’d totally not be surprised by Brian Beuter of New Republic, declaring on November 16th that [Trump’s meltdown begins](https://newrepublic.com/article/138781/trump-meltdown-begins) > Slate, however, was not content with letting New Republic rest on its laurels of ultra-left progressive propaganda and declared that Election college is an instrument of (you guessed it) [white supremacy, sexism, racism, transphobia, ageism, classism, heterosexism, able-bodeism, and other even more unspeakable things](http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/11/11/the_electoral_college_is_an_instrument_of_white_supremacy_and_sexism.html) > > And you could almost believe Slate (just the same way you could almost believe the polling numbers that **Budget Player Cadet** so naively trusted), if it wasn’t for that small matter of Slate [praising Electoral college 4 years ago](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/view_from_chicago/2012/11/defending_the_electoral_college.html) Him winning doesn’t mean he didn’t melt-down. It means that he was elected anyway. Trump is an interesting president, and most people aren’t political. They hear nonstop negative things about Hillary, and they know Trump from his public persona, it’s not amazing that the stupids got out the vote for him. Also, a meltdown isn’t fake news, it’s subjective opinion journalism. Fake news is like Pizzagate, or stuff saying the Clinton Foundation is a scam. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/223 "2016-12-12T11:46:00Z")
This effort to three-headed-monkey the term “fake news” is fascinating. Is the theory that if the phrase is tossed at enough people who write for large media organizations, everyone will forget that the term really refers to insane conspiracy theories about child-sex-rings in pizza restaurants? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/224 "2016-12-12T12:18:14Z")
Just one question … Did this fake news have any commercial’s or advertising associated with it? ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/225 "2016-12-12T13:15:29Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Greg Miller, one f the reporters on the story, won a Pulitzer for his reporting on the Snowden story. I would bet you anything the basis of your rejection is more about your views of Russia than your views of any media outlet. This is sloppy as hell and not in line with the tone of the rest of the piece: "“Intelligence agencies do not have specific intelligence showing officials in the Kremlin ‘directing’ the identified individuals to pass the Democratic emails to WikiLeaks, a second senior US official said. Those actors, according to the official, were ‘one step’ removed from the Russian government, rather than government employees.” ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/226 "2016-12-12T13:38:34Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Question: If it is indisputably proven that Russia tried to assist Trump, but that neither Trump nor the GOP had a hand in it - in other words, Russia was freelancing - then what exactly would be the legal consequences for Trump and the GOP? Shouldn’t be any, right? > > If James has a rivalry with Alex, but a friend of James hurls a Molotov Cocktail into Alex’s house - without any request from James and not at James’ behest - then James shouldn’t be on the hook for any legal charges, right? Trump [literally](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-putin-no-relationship-226282) stood up on a stage and requested that the Russians hack the DNC emails. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/227 "2016-12-12T13:49:28Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Trump [literally](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-putin-no-relationship-226282) stood up on a stage and requested that the Russians hack the DNC emails. No he was talking about the hastily deleted personal emails of HRC, not the DNC emails. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/228 "2016-12-12T14:04:31Z")
Wow, that is _so_ much better. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/229 "2016-12-12T14:04:46Z")
Not to worry, folks. The infallible and all knowing John Bolton himself says the whole thing is a false flag operation run by the Obama administration. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/230 "2016-12-12T14:32:35Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Also, a meltdown isn’t fake news, it’s subjective opinion journalism. Fake news is like Pizzagate, or stuff saying the Clinton Foundation is a scam. I know the rest of the world is lumping Pizzagate in with the fake news, but it’s not. Pizzagate is a grassroots conspiracy theory, same as people who think the moon landing was a hoax. The people pushing it believe it to be true, and it’s based on evidence – flimsy, nonsensical evidence, a house built out of toothpicks, but there are toothpicks. Fake news is garbage pulled from thin air for monetary gain. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/231 "2016-12-12T14:32:58Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > No he was talking about the hastily deleted personal emails of HRC, not the DNC emails. OK. But, a distinction without a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/232 "2016-12-12T15:28:07Z")
[McConnell](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/mcconnell-backs-congressional-investigation-into-russian-interference-232504) now backing investigations. Nobody wants to be on the wrong side of this thing. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/233 "2016-12-12T16:24:31Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > OK. But, a distinction without a difference. I see a significant difference there. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/234 "2016-12-12T16:32:37Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Why not? Can’t let the military or intelligence agencies run the country out of fear. That post was mostly in jest. “wouldn’t be prudent…”. But if you were president elect, would you go out of your way to piss off the CIA? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/235 "2016-12-12T16:33:28Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I see a significant difference there. In terms of publicly asking a foreign nation to hack into your opponent’s emails and publicize them, implying they’ll receive rich rewards for doing so, there’s a significant difference which sort of emails are involved? I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/236 "2016-12-12T17:33:13Z")
It may very well have been in jest, or it may have only been a throw-away line to pump up the room. Have any of you actually listened to one of his campaign speeches? That’s essentially the entire content of his stump speech: he wanders from topic to topic, feeling out the crowd for what pumps them up. That one hit the mark, so he went further. Of course, this is the same guy who tweets: _Unless you catch “hackers” in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. Why wasn’t this brought up before election?_ It was “brought up”. He brought it up. The man is a wonder for the ages. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/237 "2016-12-12T18:03:23Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > It may very well have been in jest, or it may have only been a throw-away line to pump up the room. Have any of you actually listened to one of his campaign speeches? That’s essentially the entire content of his stump speech: he wanders from topic to topic, feeling out the crowd for what pumps them up. That one hit the mark, so he went further. If I tell my buddy, “Hey, it sure would be great for all of us if someone murdered Tim,” I’m not sure it matters that I was joking when my buddy murders Tim. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/238 "2016-12-12T18:28:20Z")
Now if these email were leaked by an anonymous source to the NYT or WashPo well that’d be great journalism. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/239 "2016-12-12T19:05:16Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Now if these email were leaked by an anonymous source to the NYT or WashPo well that’d be great journalism. If the NYT or WashPo received data from both the RNC and DNC and chose to only release the damaging DNC data explicitly to elect the Republican candidate, your equivalence would not be false. But, alas, that’s not what happened, so it is. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/240 "2016-12-12T19:10:35Z")
Not so sure on that one, my impression was that the Pubbie stuff wasn’t released to anyone. I am open to citation, but that is my understanding as I type. The DNC stuff was pertinent because it was about stiffing Bernie. What would the RNC stuff reveal? That they didn’t want Trump? We already know that, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=13)