58 Comments

I wish we could staple this essay onto the foreheads of every Democrat to better deal with all the noise and crazy theories. I am taking your points into all my reading of the news. Thank you.

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Superglue or if there’ they appear to forget or go back to playing into the GOP’’s hands.

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December 30, 2022
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Asha explained her initial interest in the story, but the essay was about how to fight disinformation. The fact that the situation involved British royalty was not the point.

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December 28, 2022Edited
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To be fair, the Obamas HAD to go high. Anything less would be received as Angry Black People Threatening Innocent White People.

Those of us with active White Privilege cards, however, should get in the mud whenever necessary. I have a real taste for that, which is how I got permanently kicked off Twitter even BM (Before Musk).

If I ruled the DNC, I would look for others who share my enthusiasm and recruit them to be the rapid-response Go Low team. I can't think of a job that would be more fun.

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I think the “go low go high” thing works for specific situations but not all. For example during Ted Cruz’s daughter’s recent suicide attempt, I saw liberals on Twitter urge each other to only tweet supportive stuff even though Ted & his cronies had been awful when Paul Pelosi was attacked. We went high even if they had gone to lowest depths of hell. It’s partly why the younger crowd & many independents prefer libs. Situations like that speak to the soul of the party. Beyond me that, I believe we should fight fire with fire. They want to talk about crime in liberal cities, we counter with how much there is on their turf. McConnell wants to run a campaign saying if the voters choose one his men all will be better, we remind them of the fact that he’s been in charge of Kentucky for years & look what they have to show for it? 5th highest percentage of population living in poverty, highest cancer deaths with crap healthcare & their infrastructure isn’t great either.

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All five of the ways "to give truth an advantage in our own information ecosystem" you noted are excellent. Sign me up for any of those efforts and supporting Dems who are doing them.

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I did watch the Harry and Megan documentary and yes there is a lot of entitlement there. For me the takeaway was was the raw and real impact on the safety and mental wellbeing of those on the receiving end of the media and social media attacks. It’s easy to brush off the threats as the price of being famous, but through the reach of social media, ordinary people like poll workers and public servants are increasingly getting caught up in the carnage left behind by fights over political power and other controversial topics.

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I lasted 1:10. Even your spoiler alert undersold the extraordinary (full disclosure- I’ve worked in professional theatre for 40+years) shittyness (technical term) of that piece

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You have to watch it to the end. It’s so bad. 😂

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As I said, I’m a professional who at one time was the national pr/marketing director for a Broadway tour that was the 2nd highest grossing tour of the year. That was the worst piece of shit I’d ever seen on a stage. I have no doubt this is worse (just based on the 80 seconds I watched), but NO! I believe you and need no further proff

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Proof

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If you didn't see the last minute where Prince Chuck break dances, you didn't see the depth of depravity in that clip. Viewing the entire production would be painful -- like passing a kidney stone.

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I watched the H & M series last night (in one sitting). Of course I understand that it was created, presented and edited in a manner to highlight Harry and Megan’s POV. But in the end, I believed them. I like both of them as people (as much as I can from watching them onTV alone). They appear sincere and honest.

I had no idea how bad the media treated Megan, nor how Harry's family turned their backs on him. It appears the “institution” will sacrifice anything or anyone to survive. But is it any different from how the GOP refused to denounce Trump for all of his actions, lies, bad behavior? Anything to remain in power.

The Queen always stated that the preservation of the Monarchy was paramount, apparently more so than her own grandson. If true, that was terribly disappointing.

But I felt it had a happy ending. They truly seem to love each other, and they have surrounded themselves with friends and family who love them as well. I feel that they have come out better than William or Charles. Sure, William will be King, but at what cost? As someone who could care less about being King (I'd run from that responsibility!) I'd rather be Harry in LA, walking around barefoot with his smart, funny beautiful wife and kids. Doing as they wish, raising their kids as they will, not pretending for the sake of the institution. I wonder how Kate must sit up at night wishing for that freedom?

We know racist runs deep in this country for hundreds of years. The Monarchy truly lost a fantastic opportunity to modernize and become more relevant by having Megan join the Royal Family. Instead they will stick by their traditions and grow old (and moldy).

But for the sake of this class, I will say the series did a great job of meeting the smear campaign against Megan head on. But not by giving credence to the rumors, but by offering information to counter them. Well done!

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Excellent article. Re your point #2, and your comment about Michelle Obama, I have the same sentiments as you about her "when they go low, we go high" maxim, but she is looking at it from the perspective of a black woman in America; she could never have gotten away with going low at all. Even her slightly critical comment about being proud of America for the first time caused a great deal of scorn and derision. It really takes a privileged person (i.e., white, and in particular, white male) to pull off a tit-for-tat response. That is, someone like President Biden. It seems to me that he is (starting to) heed that advice of getting into the battle. Do you agree?

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I agree. Well said!

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Harry and Meghan series was just plain truth, not any fluff, just honest truth telling. Some people can't wrap their heads around Harry and Meghan doing no wrong, unless you count meeting, falling in love, Meghan being mixed raced and Harry deciding to leave that island running for he and his family's emotional and physical well-being. Those of us with a brain saw the abuse against the couple play out in real time. We didn't really need to see the docu-series to know that - only the ones buying into the lies that was regurgitated time and time again only because the RF are a bunch of people with no particular gifts - just birth rights - no originality, just a need to be popular not for anything they have done of substance, they haven't - but just because of birth inheritance. If the RF would just out what compassion, empathy and self-awareness is. But they seem to be plastic people with no idea how dumb they look to the world constantly going after two people that left the country running, while coping their style and persona out of jealousy, hate and of course, racism. Oh well, May God continue to bless Harry and Meghan every day of their lives, they have hurt no one, just want to live their lives in peace, while helping to make the world a better place through their many philanthropic endeavors. Harry and Meghan - THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO THE WORLD.

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December 29, 2022
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Could you cite, maybe, just three of those lies?

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Fun and joking aside, I've been reading a book, Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown, and he talks about the fact that people tend to try and prove their theories instead of disprove them in the process of investigating claims. That's what what we're up against.

That book, by the way, is a good read and with checking out. He covers a great deal of material like hypnosis and neutral linguistic programming and the business about framing narratives is basically hypnotic process.

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I meant worth, instead of with but you get it.

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Unlike you, I doubt I was the target audience for this docu-series. I've been skeptical about this couple. However, I kept an open mind and watched the whole thing, and by episode 5 I was completely convinced by their thesis. The Bot Sentinel stuff horrified me. I am glad that you covered this angle so extensively. I did some articles reacting on parts of the series too, but mine was a more raw reaction, as I went, episode by episode. Yours actually takes an in-depth look at the whole thesis: the media war that this couple has chosen to battle head on instead of letting it beat them down. While I was not the target audience, they managed to win me over.

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One comment about what should count as journalism (from the 3rd Benckler quote). I subscribe to NewsGuard (newsguardtech.com). They rate the credibility of news and information websites and track online misinformation. Their ratings are based on nine journalistic criteria (that's here unless it's paywalled: https://www.newsguardtech.com/ratings/rating-process-criteria/).

Fox News scores a 69.5/100. Their low score is because they fail to gather and present information responsibly and do not regularly correct or clarify errors.

I think these nine criteria constitute what should count as journalism.

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Just FYI, I'm an anglophile too, and I'm an Irish-American and I know a lot about Irish history. I think they were even worse to my ancestors than they were to yours. Certainly a longer time period. They ruled Ireland for 800 years.

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Well, i just binged all 6 episodes of Harry and Megan. Asha, I’m glad I read today’s lesson before watching. I am not a fan of the British Monarchy, but admit I have watched every episode of “The Crown” and could not turn away from royal funerals or weddings.

My first venture working as an expat, I had several British colleagues. I quickly learned Yanks(US Americans) were not in general liked by Brits. I also learned Brits are night and day different from US Americans.

I say all that to say when Harry and Megan announced their engagement, I thought this will be a brutal massacre by the UK tabloid press. I had no idea.

I applaud the NetFlex Documentary and agree, Asha, the Monarchy is dysfunctional along with the rest of British society.

I was especially interested in episode 5 and the disinformation campaign targeting Megan.

Lessons learned will be needed to survive the anticipated GQP so-called hearings 🚫

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Ok, I literally couldn't stop watching that until I saw Charles breakdance and now I'm sending that video to everyone I know. 😂 😂 😂

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This piece helped me understand a little better why my distaste for how H&M (two people I don't know or actually care about) were treated by The System has dovetailed into an obsessive following of Russia's stupidly evil invasion of Ukraine and the Capitol Hillbillies of 1/6.

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"I left the series convinced that the British monarchy is a dysfunctional and exploitative institution that crushes dreams and breaks souls. (To be honest I already believed that from watching The Crown, but this sealed it.)"

Watching what happened to Diana Spencer in real time sealed it for me.

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In order for propaganda/disinformation to successfully take root, a target must be willing to accept the language utilized in the information stream. If one is unwilling to challenge the concept of “royalty” from the get go, then any discussion revolving around it, imo, is to follow Alice down her rabbit hole into fantasy land.

Trump's entry into the Presidential race was successful simply because very few people paused to examine the superlatives he utilized to describe himself. Much like “royalty” he postured and spoke as though he was in fact, “royal.” From his grand entrance down the escalator in Trump Tower to his claims of a unique intelligence, it was all a fantasy that began with an unexamined lie.

Fantasies can be fun and entertaining, particularly for children. However there also comes a time when we must “set aside our childish ways.” There is no better time than the present.

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Leaders of any stripe, position or title who first think of themselves and not those to whom they are responsible are loathsome, by definition . Most of the Royals have behaved badly and it's hard to imagine the entitled mindset that thinks it's permissible, for example, to pursue underage girls while one is concurrently a "Prince of the Monarchy." Similarly, Bill Clinton comes to mind. But he's gone; and so the Royals should also now disappear from public view. They are in fact shameful and have made themselves irrelevant. It's all quite sad, actually.

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