7 ms·

I wonder if the Buzzfeed/Vice/Huffington Post layoffs are related to the appropriations of the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act running out.

I wonder if the Buzzfeed/Vice/Huffington Post layoffs are related to the appropriations of the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act running out. The US government was subsidizing certain organizations to counter fake news to the tune of $20M. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Countering_Foreign_Propaganda_and_Disinformation_Act_of_2016.pdf&page=9 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Countering_F...

creaghpatr 8y ago
Section 1B seems especially pertinent to beats like (until recently) Buzzfeed's Charlie Warzel's who spent most of his research tracking far-right propaganda on YouTube and 4chan.
- CzechTech 8y ago
  More like anti far-left memesters.
hahla 8y ago
How do you keep abreast of these sort of appropriations that are passed?
- creaghpatr 8y ago
  I'm not sure, does anyone know? I'm guessing the appointed chairman referenced in the bill would be responsible for issuing grants and organizations would have had to apply. Maybe through a FOIA?
- oftenwrong 8y ago
  https://congress.gov/resources/display/content/Appropriations+for+Fiscal+Year+2019 https://congress.gov/resources/display/content/Appropriation... Also you can get notifications of updates via email or RSS: https://updates.loc.gov/accounts/USLOC/subscriber/new?topic_id=USLOC_152 https://updates.loc.gov/accounts/USLOC/subscriber/new?topic_... https://www.congress.gov/rss/appropriations.xml https://www.congress.gov/rss/appropriations.xml
  - protomyth 8y ago
    and remember to follow it to the end with https://www.federalregister.gov/ https://www.federalregister.gov/ to see the final regulations, grant requests, and final distributions
- black6 8y ago
  The Congressional Dish podcast[0] by Jen Briney is a fantastic resource, for those of us who don't want to watch committee hearings or read the scrawlings of Congress. She mixes in a bit of opinion, but she presents the facts and, since she uses the value-for-value model of listener support, she is not compromised by advertisers. 0: https://congressionaldish.com/ https://congressionaldish.com/
danso 8y ago
If I'm not mistaken, that money came under controversy because it was allocated but never spent: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/world/europe/state-department-russia-global-engagement-center.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/world/europe/state-depart... So how could it be related to any hiring or layoff trends in the media industry? And that's assuming this money was allowed to be used as direct subsidy to non-government news outlets.
- creaghpatr 8y ago
  You are confusing that with money that was originally allocated by the Pentagon, not S.3274 >And that's assuming this money was allowed to be used as direct subsidy to non-government news outlets. That is not an assumption, that is what the text of the bill explicitly states: >There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 $20,000,000 to support the Center and provide grants or contracts of financial support to civil society groups, journalists, nongovernmental organizations, federally funded research and development centers, private companies, or academic institutions for the following purposes: 17 (A) To support local independent media 18 who are best placed to refute foreign 19 disinformation and manipulation in their own 20 communities. 21 (B) To collect and store examples in print, 22 online, and social media, disinformation, misin23 formation, and propaganda directed at the 24 United States and its allies and partners. 1 (C) To analyze tactics, techniques, and 2 procedures of foreign government information 3 warfare with respect to disinformation, misin4 formation, and propaganda. 5 (D) To support efforts by the Center to 6 counter efforts by foreign governments to use 7 disinformation, misinformation, and propa8 ganda to influence the policies and social and 9 political stability of the United States and 10 United States allies and partners. It specifically specifies nongovernmental and private organizations in the text of the bill. And it's coincidental that these organizations just started laying off employees in bulk at the start of 2019.
  - danso 8y ago
    > You are confusing that with money that was originally allocated by the Pentagon, not S.3274 From the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countering_Foreign_Propaganda_and_Disinformation_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countering_Foreign_Propaganda_... > n the version of the bill incorporated into the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. Congress would ask the United States Secretary of State to collaborate with the United States Secretary of Defense and other relevant Federal agencies to create a Global Engagement Center (GEC) to fight against propaganda from foreign governments, and publicize the nature of ongoing foreign propaganda and disinformation operations against the U.S. and other countries Seems like the bill -- which was part of the National Defense Authorization Act -- itself said that the money should come from the Pentagon. So how am I conflating things? edit: Also worth noting that these organizations did not just start laying off people this year. Nearly every year, or two years, these organizations have big layoffs. Here's Buzzfeed from late 2017: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/buzzfeed-layoffs-restructuring.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/buzzfeed-layoffs-restructuri...
porpoisely 8y ago
$20 million is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Even for small organizations like buzzfeed, vice, huffpo. They were all "darlings" of a free and open internet and social media. They either started in the mid 2000s or had their growth in that era ( vice started in the 90s but their major growth occurred in the mid 2000s ). Without an open and free internet and social media, they would never have been created let alone thrived. Unfortunately for them, big media companies ( nytimes, cnn, wapo, etc ) that they compete against have won preferential status within social media and the wider internet. So they are now struggling to grow and even stay afloat. They only have themselves to blame so I have no sympathy for them. They are the ones who demanded that "authoritative sources" get preferential treatment on google news, google search, youtube, facebook, etc. If search results or the news feed aren't based on merit but human moderated "authoritative sources", then there is no room for buzzfeed, vice, huffpo. Whereas the nytimes, cnn, wapo, etc have structural advantages, name recognition and other broadcast avenues, these small companies are entirely internet/social media driven. You would have thought that they would have protected their turf rather than cheerleading nytimes, cnn, wapo, etc taking over their turf. But oddly enough, buzzfeed, vice, huffo, etc have been the greatest champions of a closed and moderated internet. Whereas I used to see buzzfeed, vice, huffpo articles/videos on youtube and google search on a regular basis. Now I hardly ever seen them. Instead, I see a lot of cnn, wapo, nytimes, etc results and recommends. I've never used facebook, but I'm guessing the same thing has happened there, just as happened with google news years back. Also, these layoffs are just a tip of the iceberg. They are laying off during a major economic growth, low unemployment and tons of easy cash floating around. Imagine the pain they are going to feel when the recession comes and money gets tight. But as I said, they only have themselves to blame. And it's only going to get worse as tech companies ( at their request ) only allow "authoritative sources".
partiallypro 8y ago
I think it has more to do with Facebook's recent algorithm change http://fortune.com/2018/01/12/facebook-news-feed-change/ http://fortune.com/2018/01/12/facebook-news-feed-change/
ataturk 8y ago
Countering so-called fake news by producing other fake news? Propagandists gonna propagandize.

creaghpatr 8y ago

Section 1B seems especially pertinent to beats like (until recently) Buzzfeed's Charlie Warzel's who spent most of his research tracking far-right propaganda on YouTube and 4chan.

CzechTech 8y ago
More like anti far-left memesters.

hahla 8y ago

How do you keep abreast of these sort of appropriations that are passed?

creaghpatr 8y ago
I'm not sure, does anyone know? I'm guessing the appointed chairman referenced in the bill would be responsible for issuing grants and organizations would have had to apply. Maybe through a FOIA?
oftenwrong 8y ago
https://congress.gov/resources/display/content/Appropriations+for+Fiscal+Year+2019 https://congress.gov/resources/display/content/Appropriation... Also you can get notifications of updates via email or RSS: https://updates.loc.gov/accounts/USLOC/subscriber/new?topic_id=USLOC_152 https://updates.loc.gov/accounts/USLOC/subscriber/new?topic_... https://www.congress.gov/rss/appropriations.xml https://www.congress.gov/rss/appropriations.xml
- protomyth 8y ago
  and remember to follow it to the end with https://www.federalregister.gov/ https://www.federalregister.gov/ to see the final regulations, grant requests, and final distributions
black6 8y ago
The Congressional Dish podcast[0] by Jen Briney is a fantastic resource, for those of us who don't want to watch committee hearings or read the scrawlings of Congress. She mixes in a bit of opinion, but she presents the facts and, since she uses the value-for-value model of listener support, she is not compromised by advertisers. 0: https://congressionaldish.com/ https://congressionaldish.com/

danso 8y ago

If I'm not mistaken, that money came under controversy because it was allocated but never spent: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/world/europe/state-department-russia-global-engagement-center.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/world/europe/state-depart... So how could it be related to any hiring or layoff trends in the media industry? And that's assuming this money was allowed to be used as direct subsidy to non-government news outlets.

creaghpatr 8y ago
You are confusing that with money that was originally allocated by the Pentagon, not S.3274 >And that's assuming this money was allowed to be used as direct subsidy to non-government news outlets. That is not an assumption, that is what the text of the bill explicitly states: >There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 $20,000,000 to support the Center and provide grants or contracts of financial support to civil society groups, journalists, nongovernmental organizations, federally funded research and development centers, private companies, or academic institutions for the following purposes: 17 (A) To support local independent media 18 who are best placed to refute foreign 19 disinformation and manipulation in their own 20 communities. 21 (B) To collect and store examples in print, 22 online, and social media, disinformation, misin23 formation, and propaganda directed at the 24 United States and its allies and partners. 1 (C) To analyze tactics, techniques, and 2 procedures of foreign government information 3 warfare with respect to disinformation, misin4 formation, and propaganda. 5 (D) To support efforts by the Center to 6 counter efforts by foreign governments to use 7 disinformation, misinformation, and propa8 ganda to influence the policies and social and 9 political stability of the United States and 10 United States allies and partners. It specifically specifies nongovernmental and private organizations in the text of the bill. And it's coincidental that these organizations just started laying off employees in bulk at the start of 2019.
- danso 8y ago
  > You are confusing that with money that was originally allocated by the Pentagon, not S.3274 From the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countering_Foreign_Propaganda_and_Disinformation_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countering_Foreign_Propaganda_... > n the version of the bill incorporated into the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. Congress would ask the United States Secretary of State to collaborate with the United States Secretary of Defense and other relevant Federal agencies to create a Global Engagement Center (GEC) to fight against propaganda from foreign governments, and publicize the nature of ongoing foreign propaganda and disinformation operations against the U.S. and other countries Seems like the bill -- which was part of the National Defense Authorization Act -- itself said that the money should come from the Pentagon. So how am I conflating things? edit: Also worth noting that these organizations did not just start laying off people this year. Nearly every year, or two years, these organizations have big layoffs. Here's Buzzfeed from late 2017: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/buzzfeed-layoffs-restructuring.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/29/buzzfeed-layoffs-restructuri...

porpoisely 8y ago

$20 million is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Even for small organizations like buzzfeed, vice, huffpo. They were all "darlings" of a free and open internet and social media. They either started in the mid 2000s or had their growth in that era ( vice started in the 90s but their major growth occurred in the mid 2000s ). Without an open and free internet and social media, they would never have been created let alone thrived. Unfortunately for them, big media companies ( nytimes, cnn, wapo, etc ) that they compete against have won preferential status within social media and the wider internet. So they are now struggling to grow and even stay afloat. They only have themselves to blame so I have no sympathy for them. They are the ones who demanded that "authoritative sources" get preferential treatment on google news, google search, youtube, facebook, etc. If search results or the news feed aren't based on merit but human moderated "authoritative sources", then there is no room for buzzfeed, vice, huffpo. Whereas the nytimes, cnn, wapo, etc have structural advantages, name recognition and other broadcast avenues, these small companies are entirely internet/social media driven. You would have thought that they would have protected their turf rather than cheerleading nytimes, cnn, wapo, etc taking over their turf. But oddly enough, buzzfeed, vice, huffo, etc have been the greatest champions of a closed and moderated internet. Whereas I used to see buzzfeed, vice, huffpo articles/videos on youtube and google search on a regular basis. Now I hardly ever seen them. Instead, I see a lot of cnn, wapo, nytimes, etc results and recommends. I've never used facebook, but I'm guessing the same thing has happened there, just as happened with google news years back. Also, these layoffs are just a tip of the iceberg. They are laying off during a major economic growth, low unemployment and tons of easy cash floating around. Imagine the pain they are going to feel when the recession comes and money gets tight. But as I said, they only have themselves to blame. And it's only going to get worse as tech companies ( at their request ) only allow "authoritative sources".

partiallypro 8y ago

I think it has more to do with Facebook's recent algorithm change http://fortune.com/2018/01/12/facebook-news-feed-change/ http://fortune.com/2018/01/12/facebook-news-feed-change/

ataturk 8y ago

Countering so-called fake news by producing other fake news? Propagandists gonna propagandize.