PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE:  This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

A recent major story in The Atlantic gave me, not just pause, but the instinct to throw up.  For latter reason, I have hesitated to write about the issue for several weeks and, of course, I do not have any specific, individual source that would provide confirmation.

That said, no surprise that I proceed anyway.

Here is a quick summary of the multiple-billion-dollar disinformation campaign produced in a solid, though unsettling, piece of journalism by The Atlantic writer, McKay Coppins:

“One day last fall, I sat down to create a new Facebook account. I picked a forgettable name, snapped a profile pic with my face obscured, and clicked ‘Like’ on the official pages of Donald Trump and his re-election campaign.

“Facebook’s algorithm prodded me to follow Ann Coulter, Fox Business, and a variety of fan pages with names like ‘In Trump We Trust.’  I complied.  I also gave my cell phone number to the Trump campaign, and joined a handful of private Facebook groups for MAGA diehards, one of which required an application that seemed designed to screen out interlopers.

“The president’s re-election campaign was then in the midst of a multimillion-dollar ad blitz aimed at shaping Americans’ understanding of the recently launched impeachment proceedings. Thousands of micro-targeted ads had flooded the Internet, portraying Trump as a heroic reformer cracking down on foreign corruption while Democrats plotted a coup.

“That this narrative bore little resemblance to reality seemed only to accelerate its spread.  Right-wing websites amplified every claim. Pro-Trump forums teemed with conspiracy theories.  An alternate information ecosystem was taking shape around the biggest news story in the country, and I wanted to see it from the inside.”

The story went on at length to report Coppins’ conclusion — a huge, multiple-billion dollar disinformation campaign was under way to get Trump re-elected.

Facts in Trump campaign materials?  No.

Accuracy in those materials?  No.

Context in those materials?  No.

And, the most troubling fact is that it all will be intentional.  Deception is the goal.  Motivated directly by Trump for his own ends, what his campaign will be doing will make the “dirty tricks” of the Nixon era look pale by comparison.

In terms of disinformation, we got a first-hand look at an example in a story for the Washington Post by Alex Leary wrote under this headline:

Twitter Labels Video Re-tweeted by Trump as ‘Manipulated Media’

The social network’s move, applying a new rule for first time, fuels fight with conservatives over free speech

Twitter, Inc., Leary wrote, is trying to apply new rules against misinformation to a video circulated by one of Trump’s top aides showing Joe Biden at a campaign rally saying, “We can only re-elect Donald Trump.”

Biden used those words, but the video, which was re-tweeted Saturday by Trump, omitted what the leading Democrat presidential contender said in full.

What he said was this:  “We can only re-elect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad.”

Twitter applied the label “manipulated media” to the bottom of the video, part of a new policy to combat misleading altered media on its platform.

According to the Post reporter, “Twitter’s new rules state that users ‘may not deceptively share synthetic or manipulated media that are likely to cause harm.’  The company may also ‘label tweets containing synthetic and manipulated media to help people understand the media’s authenticity and to provide additional context.’”

Predictably, the White House responded that nothing was wrong with the post and that “it had not been manipulated. “

Apart from the general disinformation issue, the recent feud over the
Twitter ad illustrates another round in a fight over what constitutes free speech.  The Trump band believes free speech is what he says it is, no matter the accuracy or the context.

Others long for accuracy and context.

For me, the best approach, to avoid at least some of the disinformation – including that promulgated by Trump and his sycophants — is to avoid looking at political advertising and focus instead on quality journalism.

Such as that practiced by the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and The Atlantic – and there are others.

Read information from various sources such as these and make up your own mind about events shaping this country, be those related to political campaigns, the workings of government, or, at the moment, the coronavirus outbreak.