No, InfoWars… You will no longer foist conspiracies onto audiences that somehow cannot separate truth from intentional lies.
No, InfoWars… You will now bring the funny.
Your purpose will be to incite laughter, not hate.
@theonion.com / @bencollins.bsky.social
Is there hope for the future of American #journalism? There just might be, but you gotta leave Washington DC/New York/Los Angeles to find the hope...
The stress of this weekend is at Sword of Damocles levels. The answer? Watch The Masters.
#TheMasters #Masters #Hungary #Elections #Iran #Inflation
Want to know the secret to #RegimeChange? It takes many years, many many billions of dollars, thousands of people, and you have no idea if it will succeed. I spent a career working in places where the U.S. wanted Regime Change. It's Texas Hold 'Em, playing for a massive pot, and no guarantee to win.
Unpopular Truth?: Media is what you deal with when you already have power, not trying to get into power. A post-election luxury, not a pre-election necessity. Am I completely off base?
"We're going to win so much, you may even get tired of winning…" What happens when the winning stops? With 6 weeks before polling day in Hungary, will American foreign policy cut and run from an autocratic brother-in-arms when the writing on the wall says a Viktor Orbán defeat is the likely outcome?
Tired of the political debates around #disinformation? Do the arguments about fact checking make you want to turn off CNN and turn on Survivor? Have you had enough of the Post-Truth era? Want no more of all the hullaballoo around whether or not we trust news? Try the “Existential Threat Model”.
Has the domination of social media as preferred communication simply made everyone… even me… ruled by the politics of anger? With all the polls released over the past two days before the State of the Union, are we left with nothing more than “I’m Mad As Hell, And I’m Not Gonna Take This Anymore!”
Media Is A Business. For years, my friends at #USAID and the international development industry looked to media as “a safeguard for democracy” or “critical for governance” or “a counter to totalitarian regimes”. None of those goals are possible unless news outlets have a business model that works.
Does this article surprise me? Well... Once, during my two years in Juba, the Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting turned to me, chuckled a bit, and said, "Oh Sinclair... We want to be democratic... but not TOO democratic..." Surprised?... Sadly no...
What scares me today? What puts chills down my spine during an election year?: 50 million Americans have limited to no access to local news. Check out what Local News really means...
What a time to be a journalist. Camera time, column inches, and reporting resources dedicated to fact checking Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl...
Any analysis that begins by describing a “bromance” cannot end well. For those with a deep connection to Cold War history, theses insights would have George Kennan turning somersaults in his grave.
How do autocrats manipulate #elections? Threaten and prosecute the media outlets that don’t magnify our own #propaganda. Welcome the sources of #disinformation that conform to our government narratives. The authoritarian playbook from the Balkans to South East Asia...
Content Moderation is possibly the most important issue facing communities, families, social media users around the world. If you are not thinking about Section 230… but if you care about voting and election choices… you might want to be thinking, and talking, about Section 230.
Mark This Date: March 21. First Day of Spring? No. The day that Foreign Influence might change the course of European and American politics? Very possible. Friends help friends. Especially to keep the totalitarian club together.
It really was not that long ago that America was the champion of what the internet and news media could bring to those regions devastated by crisis. Who remembers those days?
The Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office recommends the mayor should face a fine without a trial. Without a trial.
What do autocrats do when losing in pre-election polls? Claim elections are unfair, demonize vulnerable groups, and target opposition with legal prosecution.
The Secretary of State is the son of Cuban immigrants, once a supporter of international development in the Senate. America formerly invested as much as $270 million annually into journalism and media outlets to counter authoritarian suppression of independent news. That assistance no longer exists.
Once again, national news outlets took a critical event and prioritized sensationalism over accurate reporting. While witness videos document horrific situations – thank goodness – reporters from CNN, FOX, MSNOW, and other networks made exaggeration the norm. Check out my take...
#Disinformation like a drug. Target the young. Offer it free. Create a community of users around the product. Build the consumer base to expand demand. If the results were not so devastating, the irony would be overwhelming.
First Rule of Fight Club: “You do not talk about Fight Club.” Second Rule of Fight Club: “You DO NOT talk about Fight Club.” Want to spread #propaganda and #disinformation in the lead up to consequential #elections? New Rule: “Join Fight Club. Talk early. Talk often. Talk across digital platforms.”
Here is the problem with American politics and American journalism in 17 seconds. A nearly 90-minute monologue saturated with political #disinformation begs for the best in #journalism to fact-check statements spoken from the White House podium. And we get this...
New Game Show: Guess This Country!
Where can you find “State propaganda smears, AI-generated fakes, doctored videos, potential staged incidents, blackmail, and exploiting the rigged electoral system. They will mobilize everything because they have so much to lose”?
Finish this sentence: “When you have friends like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, Alternative for Germany co-leader Alice Weidel, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who needs ___________!”
You ever have a bad week? Throw on top of that your first week on the job? In a new 2026 when trust in institutions has been thrashed by public statements disproven in real time by evidence… Who really had a bad week?
CBS News.
A monumentally classic fail of a first week.
In a week where public declarations battle for narrative supremacy from Venezuela to Minneapolis, the fight to impose opinion-forming communication on audiences is proving to impact lives – with potentially horrific consequences. Lest we forget, public outreach was developed as a force for good..
Less than one week into 2026, want to hear some unpopular takes from how a new policy of Regime Change may create a new world, here at home and abroad? Check out my latest…
#RegimeChange #Venezuela
