1984: Thread

[grarpamp]

10 Ways Information-Shapers Have Infiltrated Our Institutions
by Sharyl Attkisson

https://www.theepochtimes.com/10-ways-information-shapers-have-infiltrated-our-institutions_4444496.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/mypillows-lost-partnerships-kohls-bed-bath-beyond-problems-2021-1
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31183822/mlb-moving-all-star-game-atlanta-georgia-voting-law
https://www.si.com/college/2022/03/03/lia-thomas-penn-swimmer-transgender-woman-daily-cover
https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/suspension
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/04/cdc-data-suggests-vaccinated-dont-carry-cant-spread-virus.html
https://fullmeasure.news/news/cover-story/cdc-investigation
https://fullmeasure.news/news/cover-story/science-wars
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/30/schiff-asks-tech-firms-to-follow-facebooks-lead-on-misinformation.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10760907/Biden-starts-Disinformation-Board-led-Russia-expert-called-Hunters-laptop-Trump-product.html
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/01/25/colleges-update-systems-include-preferred-pronouns-names
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/02/us/virginia-teacher-says-wrongfully-fired-student-wrong-pronouns-trnd/index.html
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/29/fbi-lawyer-trump-russia-probe-email-463750
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276
https://theweek.com/supreme-court/1009458/stephen-breyer-reportedly-wasnt-too-happy-his-retirement-news-leaked-today

Few matters are so important as the integrity of the information we
receive and the recent degradation in its reliability.
Fencing surrounds the Supreme Court in Washington on May 2, 2022.
(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The recent leak of a Supreme Court draft related to the landmark Roe
v. Wade abortion case underscores how corrupted so many of our
important institutions have become by those dedicated to shaping
public opinion in a sometimes-dishonest way.

Nearly every facet of our American institutions has been infiltrated
by activists, corporate and political propagandists, and even
criminals.

Here are 10 key institutions that have been successfully infiltrated
by information-shapers:
Bed Bath & Beyond store in Los Angeles, on April 10, 2013. (Kevork
Djansezian/Getty Images)
1. Corporations

High-profile corporations increasingly do business, or withhold
business, on the basis of political considerations in an effort to
sway public opinion.

Additionally, they take part in removing the ability of some people
they disagree with to sell products, conduct bank transactions, or
otherwise operate their businesses. One recent example is retailers,
including Kohl’s and Bed, Bath & Beyond, banning popular “My Pillow”
products from the company owned by conservative and ardent Trump
supporter Mike Lindell.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred answers questions
during an MLB owner’s meeting at the Waldorf Astoria, in Orlando,
Fla., on Feb. 10, 2022. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
2. Sports

Sports organizations have stepped into the political realm to try to
force some views and censor or punish those who take opposing
viewpoints. One recent example is Major League Baseball stripping the
All-Star Game from Atlanta over a Georgia law designed to strengthen
election integrity following a troubled and error-riddled 2020
election.

Sports institutions also are involved in trying to sway public
discourse on the issue of males competing as females on girls’ and
women’s teams, such as the swimmer born as Will Thomas who switched
names to Lia Thomas and joined the women’s team at the University of
Pennsylvania, setting numerous women’s records.
Facebook, Google, and Twitter logos are seen in this combination photo
from Reuters files. (Reuters)
3. Big Tech

Big Tech’s well-known fake fact checks, censorship, and disinformation
have manipulated the information landscape in a more dramatic and
chilling way than most any other factor. The biggest example is Big
Tech’s censorship of arguably the most important political figure of
our time: Donald Trump.

Recent major examples of the sector fostering disinformation include
amplifying claims that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian
disinformation and censoring stories about it; repeatedly backing
false information related to COVID-19, while censoring accurate
information or legitimate scientific views; and falsely labeling the
COVID-19 lab origin story as a conspiracy theory.
A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
headquarters in Atlanta on Sept. 30, 2014. (Tami Chappell/Reuters)
4. Public Health Agencies

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public
health agencies have increasingly departed from the realm of public
interest and science in order to advance false narratives and
disinformation. Recent examples include the head of CDC, Dr. Rochelle
Walensky, falsely claiming that people who are vaccinated don’t carry
and can’t spread COVID-19; and the agency knowingly putting out
disinformation that falsely claimed original studies showed the
vaccine’s benefit for people who’d already had COVID-19.

Another example is National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials Drs.
Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci privately working with the media to
smear and discredit highly credentialed scientists who disagreed with
the lockdown approach to COVID-19.
Fences and barriers surround the U.S. Capitol after being reinstalled
ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address before a
Joint Session of Congress in Washington on Feb. 27, 2022. (Pete
Marovich/Getty Images)
5. Congress

Members of Congress in both parties have gotten caught taking part in
questionable information-shaping and manipulation, particularly when
it comes to pharmaceutical-related material. One recent example is
members of Congress unilaterally writing letters to or contacting Big
Tech in order to get certain topics or scientific studies and
discussions controversialized or banned.

Some of the members of Congress who are engaged in the efforts are the
same ones responsible for their own high-profile disinformation
campaigns. A recent example of that is Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.),
who repeatedly pushed false and misleading information on the
Trump–Russia narrative, lobbying Big Tech to censor certain
information related to COVID-19.
A general view of the White House in Washington, on Oct. 2, 2021. (Al
Drago/Reuters)
6. The Executive Branch

Having lost the most powerful tool in its arsenal to shape
information, the executive branch has now formed its own
extra-Constitutional agency to serve that function: the Disinformation
Governance Board. The named head of the board, Nina Jankowicz, has
widely furthered disinformation in the past.
The NBC News logo in Las Vegas, on Feb. 18, 2020. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
7. The Media

With blogs and quasi-news outlets such as Axios, Slate, Daily Kos,
Huffington Post, Vox, Salon, Talking Points Memo, and Rolling Stone
joining more traditional partisan outlets such as the Los Angeles
Times, Politico, MSNBC, NBC, The Washington Post, CNN, and The New
York Times in dominating the information landscape—while their
conservative equivalents are controversialized—the media has proven to
rank close to Big Tech in terms of their influence in further
misinformation.
A classroom in Tustin, Calif., on March 10, 2021. (John Fredricks/The
Epoch Times)
8. Academia and Public Schools

America’s colleges and universities have taken increasingly
heavy-handed roles in terms of squelching free speech and free thought
(when it leans against progressive or radical views), in exchange for
a managed environment where only carefully filtered views are allowed,
and specific language, expressions, and behavior are mandated.

Many public school systems have grown stronger in efforts to install
social engineering and political ideology in teachings and policies.
Recent examples include policies involving the use of pronouns when
referring to transgender students, and the instruction of critical
race theory.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) logo is pictured on a wall in New York
on Dec. 5, 2013. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)
9. Dept. of Justice, FBI, and Other Intel Agencies

The very agencies that should remain furthest above the fray with
clean hands have found themselves repeatedly muddied involving major
investigations and their political influence efforts. One recent
example is the criminal conviction of FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith,
who falsified a document in order to spy on Trump campaign associate
Carter Page. Though multiple people would have known about the
crime—possibly participating, and staying silent—only Clinesmith was
charged.

He was only charged with a relatively minor crime in relation to the
significance, and avoided any prison time. Meanwhile, the agency
hasn’t offered any apology or redress to Page. Other examples include
the Department of Justice targeting school parents as possible
terrorists, and lopsided prosecution efforts regarding the Jan. 6,
2021, Capitol breach, compared to many more violent events and crimes.

Additionally, intel operators have taken major roles both in front of
the camera and behind the scenes to try to shape public opinion using
false information and propaganda. One recent example is the “more than
50 former intelligence officials” who “signed a letter casting doubt
on the provenance” of an accurate New York Post story about the Hunter
Biden laptop.
The Supreme Court in Washington on Sept. 21, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The
Epoch Times)
10. The Supreme Court

Whether it’s the leak to multiple press outlets about Justice Stephen
Breyer’s impending retirement or the more problematic new leak of the
Roe v. Wade abortion draft, information-shapers have infiltrated the
highest court in the land.