So-Called “Fake News” Alternative Media Site Threatens Defamation Suit Against Washington Post

By Joseph Jankowski

Yves Smith, who’s website Naked Capitalism was featured on the “fake news” list produced by the shadowy PropOrNot organization, is threatening to go after The Washington Post with a defamation suit.

WaPo has cited the ProOrNot list in a report titled, “Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say.”

Smith wrote on Monday:

As the lawyers like to say, res ipsa loquitur. Please tweet and circulate this letter widely. You will notice that our attorney Jim Moody is a seasoned litigator who has won cases before the Supreme Court. He has considerable experience in First Amendment and defamation actions. Past high profile representations include Westomoreland v. CBS and defending Linda Tripp.

I also hope, particularly for those of you who don’t regularly visit Naked Capitalism, that you’ll check out our related pieces that give more color to how the fact the Washington Post was taken for a ride by inept propagandists, particularly our introduction to our spoof PropOrNot.org site, which uses the PropOrNot project as an example of sorely deficient propaganda and shows where it went wrong, or the humor site itself. Be sure not to miss its FAQ.

We have another post today that describes how the few things that are verifiable on the PropOrNot site don’t pan out, as in the organization is not simply a group of inept propagandists but also appears to deal solely in fabrications. If the site is flagrantly false with respect to things that can be checked, why pray tell did the Washington Post and its fellow useful idiots in the mainstream media validate and amplify its message? Strong claims demand strong proofs, yet the Post appeared content to give a megaphone to people who make stuff up with abandon. No wonder the members of PropOrNot hide as much as they can about what they are up to; more transparency would expose their work to be a tissue of lies.

Smtih has received the full endorsement of ZeroHedge.com who also made the hit list put together by PropOrNot.

From Zero Hedge:

We fully endorse Yves Smith’s efforts.

Additionally, we note that the only reason we haven’t followed up with a similar action is because i) the allegations were beyond laughable – we have rejected all of them on the record, and ii) there are simply too much other events taking place in what should otherwise be a quiet end to the year taking place to focus on what may be a lenghty, if gratifying, legal process.

The fake news narrative has been heavily pushed by mainstream media outlets in the wake of the Donald Trump victory in the Nov. 8 election.

The PropOrNot (Propaganda or Not) organization’s list of fake news sites was the second blacklist of alternative media venues to circulate the mainstream media in the month of November.

The first list was put together by a nobody liberal professor that teaches feminist media studies out of Merrimack College.

Those lists include many legitimate conservative and libertarian news sources like Zero Hedge, Infowars, Breitbart, World Net Daily, Activist Post and The Ron Paul Institute.

PropOrNot accuses the websites on it’s list of echoing Russian propaganda.

Also mentioned on the PropOrNot’s hit list is the long-running alternative news page The Daily Sheeple.

Melissa Dykes, who is a reporter for The Daily Sheeple, told Planet Free Will that The Washington Post has shown “a level of McCarthyism we haven’t witnessed in this country since the Cold War” by highlighting the PropOrNot list.

“In publishing unsubstantiated claims that the majority of the alternative media are now fronts for “a sophisticated Russian propaganda campaign” based solely on an arbitrary list posted on an anonymous and obviously biased website, the Washington Post has shown less due diligence in its reporting than the supposedly less credentialed alternative media it is rallying so hard against. It feels like we’ve suddenly jumped into a time machine, with WAPO displaying a level of McCarthyism we haven’t witnessed in this country since the Cold War. Ironically, the willingness of the so-called “real news” to regurgitate baseless pro-establishment propaganda is the pot calling the kettle black. Unfortunately repression and stifling dissent is nothing new, it’s just not the American way… and yet, here we are,” Dykes said.

“Insane, isn’t it?” She added.

Read Also: Our Response to Being Included on ProporNot’s McCarthyite Blacklist of Supposed “Russian Propagandists” Touted by WAPO as Written by “Experts”

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