WR, we all lived through Russiagate, here on this board.
This looks about right: I have added a little emboldment for you. Extracted from the International Journal of Communication.
Russiagate, WikiLeaks, and the Political Economy of Posttruth News | Marmura | International Journal of Communication
Conclusion
In important respects, the attention given to Russiagate within the broader, new media environment exemplified the character of posttruth communication. Rumors and conspiracy theories emanating from myriad grassroots and alternative sources, as well as more serious criticism of the dominant Russiagate narrative, competed with official claims concerning the alleged machinations of Russia, Donald Trump, WikiLeaks, and others. At the same time, the behavior of major news organizations throughout 2016–17 followed a consistent pattern. The degree to which potential news stories or sources of information were treated as serious, or alternatively were ignored, condemned, or ridiculed, was not attributable to responsible journalistic assessments of their plausibility. Rather, it was primarily a reflection of political and commercial pressures and incentives. Consistent with the above, the facilitation of top-down propaganda and ongoing attempts on the part of major news networks to divide audience share along partisan lines should not be viewed as contradictory processes. Rather, they represent overlapping, strategic responses to market conditions at a time of growing distrust of the political and media establishments and accompanying processes of social fragmentation. |
