I've noticed a lot of shares on my page coming from these two pages, IJR Red and IJR Blue lately. Have you seen them too on your feeds?
I thought it was kind of a peculiar way of running a news site...normally sites take on a single bias, but this one seems to cover "both sides" (as they say in linear politics). And since getting my mind blown by the Cambridge Analytica scandal (stop reading and Google that if you don't know what I'm talking about!), I'm inspired again to ask this question:
Who owns and who funds the media sources we consume?
Interestingly enough, a lot of shares came from friends who I wouldn't expect to share anything with the word "Red" on it, unless it was about communism (heyo!). But I digress...
I always try to "follow the money" so I started by Googling IJR Red, as that was the page I saw most of shared.
I arrived at this article: https://ijr.com/about
"Independent Journal Review (IJR) strives to connect communities across America through innovative and interactive storytelling, reporting, and commentary. Founded in 2012, IJR is part of the MEDIA GROUP OF AMERICA— a private holding company with investments in news, lifestyle, and engagement brands — that uses social media and mobile technology to inform, inspire, and impact."
OK I stop reading that, and now I google "Media Group of America". I see results for the WIki page for their founder Alex Skatell, private holding info from Bloomberg, and an article from 2015 about their funding from a "GOP Politico and investor". I open all three and read on.
I'm not going to overwhelm you with links or my own opinion, because I think everyone reading this should do their own damn research into the aforementioned question.
Who owns and funds the media you consume?
Do they have political or financial reasons to not tell you the truth or to shock you into sharing?
Because 95% of the news I see is fucking spun garbage, and is propaganda with a political purpose or fake news for the sake of ad revenue.
Everything from Fox News, to The New York Times, CNN, CBS, MSNBC, and most other 3-5 letter combinations that make up what seems like a giant web stemming from the propaganda room in the Ministry of Truth. You think NowThis or your neoliberal media giant is exempt? Fuck no.
So stop sharing their bullshit. Most of the news doesn't make sense anyways without historical context, or sociology, psychology, or the like.
And stop picking your favorite perspective on history and read the shit farthest from your personal belief. History is usually written by the colonizers, so put those fucking stock textbooks provided by your government away and get some shit written by the people. Look at artifacts, and find people that do research to seek truth.
Quit being so G-d damned easy to brainwash. I know you don't want to be brainwashed...but you are. I am too in ways I probably don't even know. Nobody is exempt...but we can fight back.
Just two days ago it was announced that 50M Facebook users were targeted during the 2016 elections by a group called Cambridge Analytica, which made up complex psychological profiles based on user data in order to serve the right kind of bullshit.
Psychological warfare and manipulation is a powerful thing. It works. Read up on that while you're at it so you can defend yourself from it.
How many of those Facebook survey apps are being used to harvest your data to give corporations and political groups access to your psychological profile?
Anyways, I'm digressing this fucking way and that fucking way, but I hope my point gets through. Next time you go to hit that share button, or read the news, go check out who is behind the companies.
Research the parent companies, the founders, owners, and investors. Read between the lines because that's where the real information lies.
Peace and love,
David