Though evidence that Russia hacked the election continues to evade them, it seems that nothing will stop the media from analyzing & reporting the story, anyway. With no real information, however, our stubbornly determined news-outlets — like CNN & the Washington Post — are increasingly having to rely on their writers’ imaginations, which seem to be nearly as empty as their boxes of evidence. Despite being repeatedly called out by actual journalists, the Washington Post continues to spread panic & confusion by printing misinformation, including false claims that the anonymous creators of a McCarthyesque media-blacklist were qualified experts & a false story that the Russian government had just hacked our electric grid (which it didn’t).

CNN’s strategy, on the other hand, has been a bit subtler…

Almost Evidence

On January 6th, CNN published a vague article about “new information” that had surfaced, assuring readers that faceless, unnamed officials now possessed “increased confidence that Russia carried out the hack and did so, in part, to help Trump win.” Now, if CNN’s report is accurate, we know that more than one official is feeling confidant somewhere — but should readers feel more confidant, now? In a word — no.

The first thing responsible news-gatherers ought to notice about CNN’s article is that no sources to any new information are cited — there are references & links to other CNN articles (which also don’t cite any sources) but the “new information” appears to only exist in the article itself. That’s a big red-flag but perhaps I’m being too hard on them — let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and take a look at the new evidence. We’ll even assume that their source is a genuine “official” who can’t be named for good reasons — now, let’s take a look at why the US intelligence community is feeling so confident…

How US Intelligence Knows Russian Hackers Meddled in the Election

CNN’s new information appears to be a handful of Russian communications that were intercepted by US intelligence — that sounds juicy, doesn’t it? Now, things are getting interesting! But what exactly was in the intercepted communications? A candid conversation between Russian officials about cyber warfare? An admission of past guilt, perhaps, or even part of their plans to hack more of our elections in the future?

Here’s what CNN has for us:

“Included in that new information were intercepted conversations of Russian officials expressing happiness at Trump’s win. Another official described some of the messages as congratulatory.”

Apparently, the cause of “intelligence” officials’ certainty that Russia hacked our elections is that intercepted communications show that, when Donald Trump won them, they were happy. And some messages were “congratulatory.”

Huh. Imagine that.

How is this news ?

If anyone who paid attention to the elections is surprised by these geniuses’ bombshell report, that would be news. Of course, Russians are happy Trump won — the other candidate wanted to slap their country with sanctions & string NATO military-bases like beads along their entire border to assert US dominance! Since Trump played nice with Russia, Russian officials were happy when he won — nothing unusual there. The headline should have read, “BREAKING: US Intelligence Discovers Cause & Effect!”

But wait — it’s worse. A bit further into the article, we find this gem:

“Officials reiterated that there is no single intercepted communication that qualifies as a ‘smoking gun’ on Russia’s intention to benefit Trump’s candidacy or to claim credit for doing so.”

Wow. The anonymous sources even took the time to emphasize that the intercepted communications were not really evidence — and that’s what CNN calls “new information” & “evidence.”

CNN Thinks the Public is Stupid

( & I Hope They’re Wrong )

This article is not the only one of it’s kind — as I mentioned earlier (& as I’ve documented in previous articles), CNN is just one of many “news” outlets who are spewing trash-articles that contain no evidence or new information. To be perfectly clear, I am not claiming that what these clowns are publishing is right, wrong, accurate, or inaccurate — in fact, some potential evidence was just released in an intelligence report & I’ll be looking at that, tonight. Right now, however, I am pointing out that nobody — not me, not you, or anyone — can verify whether these kinds of articles are true or not. Which is basically the definition of fake news.

As a society, we must hold our press accountable and the only way to do that is by demanding evidence! If we don’t — if we become a culture that passively digests whatever news is handed to us — if evidence doesn’t matter, that’s game-over for journalism. That’s why we need create a cultural environment where asking questions is the norm — because real journalism thrives when stories are challenged…

In solidarity,

John Laurits

Recent Articles by John Laurits

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Recent Polls Say Nobody Else Trusts the Media, Either (12/30)

US Elections, “Populism,” & the Growing Frustration w/ Capitalism (12/23)

Return of the Blacklist: What’s Next — Book Burning? (12/15)

Counter-Propaganda Bill Quietly Creates US Propaganda Factory (12/11)

#DAPL Easement Denied & What That Means (12/4)

Real News or Fake News: Who Gets to Decide? (11/20)

Math Says Clinton Defeated Herself — Not Third-Parties (11/11)

The Land Beneath the Pipeline (11/8)

The US Media is as Guilty as the Police at Standing Rock (10/31)

US Claims Russia is Influencing the Election by Telling the Truth? (10/12)

How the 1% Rigged the Debates Against 3rd-Parties (9/20)

How Both Parties Ignore the Majority (9/14)



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