In the last couple weeks, two disastrous events have occurred, capturing Americans’ attention—and imaginations.
On March 22, gunmen killed over one hundred concert-goers at Crocus City Hall near Moscow.
A week later, on March 29, a cargo ship crashed into a support of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, collapsing the entire thing.
With both events, everyone rushed to “have a take,” from false flag terrorism, to globalist plots to destroy American infrastructure.
On this email list, we’ve been learning together how to disseminate propaganda in search of the truth.
One major lesson that I’ve learned from the guys at antiwar.com is that when you’re reporting on emerging events, you should stick to the facts and not be pressured to mix in opinion, especially when the facts are emerging, unclear, incomplete, or contradictory.
For instance, when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, I watched live camera footage from Ukraine. I followed the news in real time, almost all night.
I really felt like I had something I wanted to say about it.
The observation I made (publicly) was that it seemed like the invasion really was a limited “special military operation” as opposed to a full scale, total war scenario, like the Western media was portraying it.
To this day, I still think about how I felt like I had to have a “take” as opposed to just witnessing an event, or even dispassionately relaying reports.
I could have easily been wrong, or things could have developed differently.
When news broke of the Crocus City Hall attack and the Baltimore Bridge incident, so many influencers and media personalities were wildly speculating without any facts. Many framed their wild speculation as analysis.
Of course, capturing people’s imaginations is much more popular than striving for integrity. Narrative is powerful and popular. When wielded for nefarious purposes, or clout, it can be incredibly harmful or disruptive.
I cover narrative in Chapter I of my forthcoming eBook “Slay Propaganda Like A Lawyer” cause it’s the most important.
The truth is, sometimes things happen in the world that we don’t immediately understand. In key moments, we are just along for the ride.
And that’s OK.
I am not saying never to speak out, but a certain respect is owed for our human imperfections. This respect is something I am developing right there with you.
My buddy Dave DeCamp put out this tweet that inspired this article. Go give him a follow.
https://twitter.com/DecampDave/status/1771270803889201330?s=19
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