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Meta, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok failed to deliver on their promises to put reforms in place to curb misinformation, disinformation and hate speech on their platforms, according to a report called “Empty Promises” compiled by FreePress.
Members of a coalition of more than 60 civil and consumer rights groups met with executives of the social media companies and presented 15 priority reforms to implement ahead of the midterm elections to fight amplification of hate and lies.
The effort was all for naught.
“The platforms’ promises of improvement amount to little more than public-relations exercises in a dysfunctional system where changes to policies can’t be checked comprehensively for accuracy and real-world impact," says the report. "The companies provide just enough information to seem credible but their reporting lacks the context needed to give external stakeholders a full picture.”
Disinformation and misinformation are as bad today as they were during the 2020 election.
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| View full chart above found in Empty Promises report |
WSJ Takes Cheap Shot at RS. Rolling Stone magazine ran an exclusive bombshell report on Oct. 23 about how Donald Trump and his cronies plan to challenge the midterm election results in Philadelphia and elsewhere in Pennsylvania.
It reported that Trump told his legal advisors to “prepare scorched-earth tactics” to challenge the tally as a “dress rehearsal” for his potential run for president in 2024.
The article received major pick-up in the Washington Post, Variety and Daily Beast.
The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 27 ran an op-ed by Stephen Moore, former president of the Club for Growth and economist for FreedomWorks, that hit the RS for a “history of making reckless and defamatory accusations."
In 2019, RS ran a profile of Moore in which it claimed he owed the IRS $75K in taxes when he actually overpaid on taxes dating back to 2014.
In Moore’s broadside, RS, which was “once a fun pop-culture magazine, has evolved into a dreary leftist propaganda outlet.”
That same dreary propaganda outlet is warning Americans about Trump’s bid to steal another election.
Sign of these troubled times… Ketchum has launched a trauma-informed consultancy to support clients dealing with traumatic events.
Jim Joseph, Ketchum US CEO, cited the pandemic and non-stop and disturbing news about acts of violence against marginalized communities, as well as women’s and LGBTQ+ rights as some of the issues that companies, governments and communities are struggling with.
“Ketchum is the first major communications agency to take a stand to not only become trauma-informed as a workforce, but also to implement trauma-informed perspectives into communications planning and programming to affect client outcomes,” said Katharine Manning, a member of the firm’s trauma team.
The Omnicom-owned firm in September picked up agency of record duties for The Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
Who would have guessed? Russia Today is not a legit media outlet but rather a shady Kremlin propaganda tool that is spreading dis/misinformation in the US... Nippon Steel's takeover of US Steel is the best outcome to the United Steelworkers Union... Hats off to Wesleyan University president Michael Roth for putting welcome mat out for protesters... Trump campaign memo banning talking to reporters gets leaked.
Are American Airlines, Delta and United boycotting Israel? Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres thinks so... Fossil fuels face a bright future in the world's 2050 energy mix as long as Big Oil continues its drill, baby, drill strategy... Klarna, a buy now, pay later company, expects its widespread use of AI will allow it to cut staff in half. AI also will wreak havoc among the ranks of PR people.
Omnicom sets up umbrella organization to house creative heavyweights BBDO, DDB and TBWA, setting them up for cost-cutting... Business Roundtable claims success as its landmark Purpose statement celebrates its fifth anniversary... Lowe's home improvement chain is the latest company to ditch DEI guidelines.
Billy Bean, 
Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham would make a great spokesperson for "Republicans for Harris."...Getting ready for the Trump Restoration, Ballard Partners opens for business in Riyadh...Stagwell's Mark Penn anticipates "an active political season that has been energized even further by recent developments.” Really, Mark?
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Oct. 28, 2022, by Joe Honick
We are re-living a combination of the times created separately by the Hitler regime with much American industrial, Wall Street and even major collegiate cooperation and Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford...plus the Joe McCarthy era "fertilized" by the evil genius of Roy Cohn who mentored Donald J. Trump in his attack tactics toward anyone who raised questions and/or opposition of any kind.
The contemporary structure of the ultra right, with unidentified or unidentifiable collusion of sophisticated communication firms and media (some readily identifiable) that has become so powerful that actions like the ultimate assault on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, would have been unthinkable before.
What complicates all of the vulgar tactics, methods and language today could not be accomplished without heavily financed communications operations whose affiliations remain hidden but are blended into the current political campaigns that are unashamedly loaded with combinations of racism, anti-Semitism that seem to have "sold" well with apparently unlimited financial backing.
We once exposed the name of the American firm helping the Russians years ago. It's important similar revelations must be made soon as to what firms are fueling the filth we see today, using Mein Kampf methods so effectively.
Space limitations make it difficult to start that ball rolling here, but, given all the pleas for more ethical PR and associated action, time and shyster legal actions are retarding it.