News Site Editor’s Ties to Iran & Russia Highlight Complexity of Modern Misinformation

[Social Media]

 

Recent revelations about the financial ties of a prominent online news site editor to both Russian and Iranian government media outlets underscore the increasing complexity of misinformation campaigns as the U.S. approaches another critical election cycle. Hacked documents reveal payments from Iranian government-funded Press TV to a writer currently working as a Washington-based editor for Grayzone. This editor, Wyatt Reed, has also been associated with Russian state media, highlighting how overlapping foreign influences complicate the identification and tracing of disinformation.

 

Experts warn that this convergence signifies a more sophisticated stage of propaganda dissemination. Emerson Brooking of the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensics Research Lab points out that Reed's deep ties to Iranian state media and his current role at Grayzone—a site known for narrative laundering from Russia—illustrate the intricate web of foreign influence operations. These operations are increasingly hard to detect and combat, raising significant concerns about the integrity of the information landscape as the November election nears.

 

 

The Press TV documents, released in 2022 by hacktivist group Black Reward, received little initial attention. However, their significance is now clear: they show payments to Reed for contributions to Iranian programming while he was simultaneously working for Russia's Sputnik news outlet. This dual alignment raises red flags about the broader implications of such connections. Grayzone's content, which is highly critical of Iran's regional adversary Israel, and the presence of other contributors with ties to Russian media, further complicate the narrative.

 

The First Amendment protects free speech, including speech funded by foreign entities, but intelligence officials warn that American tolerance for foreign-paid information has made disinformation a critical threat to democracy. Foreign funding for ostensibly independent publications allows these countries to mask their propaganda efforts, evading the scrutiny and labeling typically applied to state-sponsored outlets.

Reed’s case is not isolated. Other Grayzone contributors, such as Mohamed Elmaazi and Jeremy Loffredo, also have histories with Russian state media. The payments to Reed from Press TV were made before specific U.S. sanctions against the Iranian outlet, yet attorneys highlight potential legal risks for journalists paid by sanctioned entities without proper waivers.

 

The complexity of these ties is further illustrated by the international dynamics of misinformation. The collaboration between Russian and Chinese media to spread disinformation, as seen in the Solomon Islands’ elections and coordinated narratives on various geopolitical issues, demonstrates the shared tactics and goals of these governments. This convergence makes attributing specific disinformation campaigns to any single country increasingly difficult.

 

 

Grayzone’s financial backing remains opaque, but its significant following on platforms like YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) shows its influence. The site’s founder, Max Blumenthal, and other contributors have histories in traditional journalism, which adds a veneer of credibility to their work despite the underlying misinformation. Their content, often critical of U.S. foreign policy and supportive of authoritarian regimes, mixes truth with misleading information, complicating efforts to debunk their narratives.

 

A recent example of Grayzone’s controversial reporting is an article by Blumenthal that distorts events surrounding the Israeli-Hamas conflict, accusing Israeli forces of attacks against their own citizens while portraying Hamas in a more favorable light. Such articles demonstrate how misinformation can manipulate facts to serve specific agendas.

 

The involvement of figures like Reed in multiple disinformation networks underscores the challenges facing democracies in safeguarding their information ecosystems. As foreign actors refine their strategies, the importance of critical media literacy and robust legal frameworks to address these threats becomes ever more apparent.

 

 

Credit: Washington Post 2024-06-04

 

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[Tug]

I’m sure there’s a few posters here that just gobble up this (grey zone site) wouldn’t surprise me on bit if they have their moles in fake Fox News pan and news max aka (spuews max) news

[0james0]

1 hour ago, Tug said:

I’m sure there’s a few posters here that just gobble up this (grey zone site) wouldn’t surprise me on bit if they have their moles in fake Fox News pan and news max aka (spuews max) news

Obviously you are the exact illustration of what you wrote, since you left out the your favorite spew news msnbc cnn bbc, it’s all bias bs no matter what outlet it comes from. 

[Gweiloman]

The complexity of these ties is further illustrated by the international dynamics of misinformation. The collaboration between Russian and Chinese media to spread disinformation, as seen in the Solomon Islands’ elections and coordinated narratives on various geopolitical issues, demonstrates the shared tactics and goals of these governments. This convergence makes attributing specific disinformation campaigns to any single country increasingly difficult.

 

I would say that Russian and Chinese media has a long way to go before they can even begin to compete with western media in terms of spreading misinformation and propaganda and outright lies.

[Purdey]

While I dislike censorship in a free society, I understand that every side has their own point of view. I would therefore encourage more fact check organizations that can prove their independence and base their comments on hard evidence. 

[stevenl]

9 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

The complexity of these ties is further illustrated by the international dynamics of misinformation. The collaboration between Russian and Chinese media to spread disinformation, as seen in the Solomon Islands’ elections and coordinated narratives on various geopolitical issues, demonstrates the shared tactics and goals of these governments. This convergence makes attributing specific disinformation campaigns to any single country increasingly difficult.

 

I would say that Russian and Chinese media has a long way to go before they can even begin to compete with western media in terms of spreading misinformation and propaganda and outright lies.

All Russian and Chinese media do is spreading propaganda. Any deviation from the official line and they disappear.

[John Drake]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

All Russian and Chinese media do is spreading propaganda. Any deviation from the official line and they disappear.

 

And look who helps spread their views.

 

Quote

After the respected Khao Sod and Matichon Group inked a content sharing deal with Xinhua, other Thai news outlets followed suit. By November 2019, as Khao Sod itself reported, outlets including Thai state broadcaster NBT, the publication Manager Online, a mass market outlet with a smaller following than Khao Sod, and Voice Online, the website of one the most progressive, toughest television stations in Thailand, had signed deals with Xinhua.       https://www.cfr.org/blog/thailands-press-warms-chinese-state-media

 

[stevenl]

52 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

And look who helps spread their views.

 

 

Nothing to do with my post.