US Government website on Identifying Misinformation

[Calcas]

I just came across this website from the US Department of State. It discusses everything from 911 conspiracy theories to stories on recent disinformation.

Poke around. There's a lot of info here.

On the topic of "How to identify misinformation" they list a number of items, one of which is:

Consider the source

Certain websites, publications, and individuals are known for spreading false stories, including:

* Aljazeera.com, a deceptive, look-alike website that has sought to fool people into thinking it is run by the Qatari satellite television station Al Jazeera
* Jihad Unspun, a website run by a Canadian woman who converted to Islam after the September 11 attacks when she became convinced that Osama bin Laden was right
* Islam Memo (Mafkarat-al-Islam), which spreads a great deal of disinformation about Iraq.

They should have included CIT. :eek:


http://usinfo.state.gov/media/misinformation.html

[MarkyX]

I just checked out Jihad Unspun and damn...I can't believe there are westerns out there that believe blowing children up is somehow a "struggle against the west"

[Alt+F4]

They should have included CIT.

Everyone already knows that the CIT is misinformation.

[~enigma~]

Everyone already knows that the CIT is misinformation.
Including CIT...

[dudalb]

I just checked out Jihad Unspun and damn...I can't believe there are westerns out there that believe blowing children up is somehow a "struggle against the west"


I am not surprised; you still have westerners who try to justify the mass murders and near genocide in the Ukraine by Stalin as being "part of the revolutionary struggle".

[Earthborn]

Apperently the US Department of State engages in a bit misinformation itself. aljazeera.com (http://aljazeera.com/) is not a look-alike site of aljazeera.net (http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/55ABE840-AC30-41D2-BDC9-06BBE2A36665.htm). The sites don't look like eachother at all.
Also, aljazeera.com hasn't sought to fool people. The site makes it clear (http://www.aljazeera.com/util/pages.php?pageid=1) it is not affiliated with the Qatari television station. The publisher's name already existed before there was an Al Jazeera television station.

It is true that aljazeera.com is far more biased and far more often blatantly wrong than Al Jazeera television. It is also true that lots of people were fooled into thinking one had something to do with the other. Fools mostly.

[GreNME]

Apperently the US Department of State engages in a bit misinformation itself.

Indeed. Not just with the aljazeera.com thing, either. It seems the site pretty much walks the administration line as far as being a source of information, which I find questionable at best, dangerously misleading at worst (like the DU information).

I really don't find this site to be all that reliable. Honestly, just the "consider the source" line had me skeptical, since that line of thinking isn't necessarily taking an objective stance in the first place.