Critical Race Theory

[kalm]

Adam Gabbatt
@adamgabbatt
Wed 17 Nov 2021 05.00 EST
Rightwing operatives in the US are using a huge network of fake local news sites to target crucial state elections, with the sites publishing tens of thousands of conservative-skewed articles on politically charged subjects, many of them misleading or wrong, over the past 11 months.

An investigation by Popular Information, an online newsletter founded by journalist Judd Legum, found that in Virginia 28 sites, each purporting to be local news outlets and all owned by the same company, published almost 5,000 articles about critical race theory in schools.


CRT is an academic discipline that examines the ways in which racism operates in US laws and society. It is not taught in Virginia schools. But the idea of CRT has become an inflammatory call to arms, or at least to the ballot box, among the right wing.

The Virginia sites published the articles, many of which addressed spurious Republican claims about CRT threatening to dominate school curriculums, as the gubernatorial race in the state loomed.

Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, triumphed over Terry McAuliffe in the 3 November election, after he exploited concerns over teaching about race and promised to ban CRT from classrooms.

The Virginia “local news” sites, which include the Central Virginia Times and the Fredericksburg Leader, are run by Metric Media, an organization that operates more than 1,300 “community news sites” across the US and is linked to Locality Labs, both of which are overseen by Brian Timpone.

In 2020 the New York Times revealed that the two companies, along with others involved in publishing the sites, “have received at least $1.7m from Republican political campaigns and conservative groups”. The Times reported that conservative organizations were able to “order” articles from news websites owned by Metric Media and its affiliates attacking Democratic political candidates.

Metric Media and Brian Timpone did not respond to requests for comment.

Between January and November 2021, the 28 Virginia Metric Media sites published 4,657 articles about critical race theory in schools, Popular Information found.

Many of those stories were automated, referencing an online pledge to “refuse to lie to young people about US history and current events” – described by Metric Media as a pledge by educators to teach CRT. But there is no evidence on the website for the pledge that the people who have signed it are teachers.

Signees must list their city and state, and Metric Media appears to use an automated system to generate articles based on whether anyone has signed from a town or city covered by a Metric Media news outlet.

That system enables the Central Shenandoah News, which theoretically covers the area in north-west of Virginia, to run regular articles based on the same source. Last week, it ran the following two pieces:

No new teachers in Harrisonburg sign pledge on Nov. 2 to teach Critical Race Theory

No new teachers in Harrisonburg sign pledge on Nov. 1 to teach Critical Race Theory

The Central Shenandoah News has run the same version of the Harrisonburg article since August, including almost daily since the beginning of October. It has also regurgitated the format for nearby Staunton

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... m1a1VYecwU

[andy7171]

Adam Gabbatt
@adamgabbatt
Wed 17 Nov 2021 05.00 EST
Rightwing operatives in the US are using a huge network of fake local news sites to target crucial state elections, with the sites publishing tens of thousands of conservative-skewed articles on politically charged subjects, many of them misleading or wrong, over the past 11 months.

An investigation by Popular Information, an online newsletter founded by journalist Judd Legum, found that in Virginia 28 sites, each purporting to be local news outlets and all owned by the same company, published almost 5,000 articles about critical race theory in schools.


CRT is an academic discipline that examines the ways in which racism operates in US laws and society. It is not taught in Virginia schools. But the idea of CRT has become an inflammatory call to arms, or at least to the ballot box, among the right wing.

The Virginia sites published the articles, many of which addressed spurious Republican claims about CRT threatening to dominate school curriculums, as the gubernatorial race in the state loomed.

Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, triumphed over Terry McAuliffe in the 3 November election, after he exploited concerns over teaching about race and promised to ban CRT from classrooms.

The Virginia “local news” sites, which include the Central Virginia Times and the Fredericksburg Leader, are run by Metric Media, an organization that operates more than 1,300 “community news sites” across the US and is linked to Locality Labs, both of which are overseen by Brian Timpone.

In 2020 the New York Times revealed that the two companies, along with others involved in publishing the sites, “have received at least $1.7m from Republican political campaigns and conservative groups”. The Times reported that conservative organizations were able to “order” articles from news websites owned by Metric Media and its affiliates attacking Democratic political candidates.

Metric Media and Brian Timpone did not respond to requests for comment.

Between January and November 2021, the 28 Virginia Metric Media sites published 4,657 articles about critical race theory in schools, Popular Information found.

Many of those stories were automated, referencing an online pledge to “refuse to lie to young people about US history and current events” – described by Metric Media as a pledge by educators to teach CRT. But there is no evidence on the website for the pledge that the people who have signed it are teachers.

Signees must list their city and state, and Metric Media appears to use an automated system to generate articles based on whether anyone has signed from a town or city covered by a Metric Media news outlet.

That system enables the Central Shenandoah News, which theoretically covers the area in north-west of Virginia, to run regular articles based on the same source. Last week, it ran the following two pieces:

No new teachers in Harrisonburg sign pledge on Nov. 2 to teach Critical Race Theory

No new teachers in Harrisonburg sign pledge on Nov. 1 to teach Critical Race Theory

The Central Shenandoah News has run the same version of the Harrisonburg article since August, including almost daily since the beginning of October. It has also regurgitated the format for nearby Staunton

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... m1a1VYecwU

So are you saying CRT within public schools is non existent?

[kalm]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... m1a1VYecwU

So are you saying CRT within public schools is non existent?

No. I posted article. It’s reasonable to be suspicious of this critical controversy.

[GannonFan]

So are you saying CRT within public schools is non existent?

No. I posted article. It’s reasonable to be suspicious of this critical controversy.

Well, it's also reasonable to be suspicious of people being suspicious in the first place, which of course begets people being suspicious of the additional suspicious people. Quite the rabbit hole.

[kalm]

No. I posted article. It’s reasonable to be suspicious of this critical controversy.

Well, it's also reasonable to be suspicious of people being suspicious in the first place, which of course begets people being suspicious of the additional suspicious people. Quite the rabbit hole.

Or you can just be suspicious of everything. I think many of us here are.

[andy7171]

Well, it's also reasonable to be suspicious of people being suspicious in the first place, which of course begets people being suspicious of the additional suspicious people. Quite the rabbit hole.

Or you can just be suspicious of everything. I think many of us here are.

I'm suspicious of people who are overly suspicious of everything, mostly for the sole purpose of being suspicious. Thus, here we are.

[GannonFan]

Or you can just be suspicious of everything. I think many of us here are.

I'm suspicious of people who are overly suspicious of everything, mostly for the sole purpose of being suspicious. Thus, here we are.

I don't have the time nor energy to be suspicious of everything. I need to pick and choose.

[kalm]

Or you can just be suspicious of everything. I think many of us here are.

I'm suspicious of people who are overly suspicious of everything, mostly for the sole purpose of being suspicious. Thus, here we are.

I most suspicious of people who judge others for being suspicious. What do they know?

[kalm]

I'm suspicious of people who are overly suspicious of everything, mostly for the sole purpose of being suspicious. Thus, here we are.

I don't have the time nor energy to be suspicious of everything. I need to pick and choose.

People who lack suspicion interest are especially suspicious.

[89Hen]

So are you saying CRT within public schools is non existent?

No. I posted article. It’s reasonable to be suspicious of this critical controversy.

Andy, kalm is lying in this thread. It's very clear he does not believe CRT exists in schools other than colleges.

[kalm]

No. I posted article. It’s reasonable to be suspicious of this critical controversy.

Andy, kalm is lying in this thread. It's very clear he does not believe CRT exists in schools other than colleges.

I simply don’t know. I’m suspicious. Sorry that frustrates you.

[andy7171]

No. I posted article. It’s reasonable to be suspicious of this critical controversy.

Andy, kalm is lying in this thread. It's very clear he does not believe CRT exists in schools other than colleges.

I have come to believe everything kalmy types is a lie.

[kalm]

Andy, kalm is lying in this thread. It's very clear he does not believe CRT exists in schools other than colleges.

I have come to believe everything kalmy types is a lie.

Nah…kalm is just a revolutionary…

[UNI88]

I have come to believe everything kalmy types is a lie.

Nah…kalm is just Boxer…

FYP

[kalm]

Nah…kalm is just Boxer…

FYP

This is quite true ^^^^^

[89Hen]

Andy, kalm is lying in this thread. It's very clear he does not believe CRT exists in schools other than colleges.

I simply don’t know. I’m suspicious. Sorry that frustrates you.

I'm suspicious you're genuine. You only post things that say no CRT in schools.

[kalm]

I simply don’t know. I’m suspicious. Sorry that frustrates you.

I'm suspicious you're genuine. You only post things that say no CRT in schools.

Don’t you have teachers in the family? Is it being taught in their schools?

[89Hen]

I'm suspicious you're genuine. You only post things that say no CRT in schools.

Don’t you have teachers in the family? Is it being taught in their schools?

My daughter teaches special ed to severely autistic students. She does not teach CRT.

[andy7171]

So that fella in Texas who threatened to come back with 1000 armed friends to defend teaching CRT was just making shit up?

[kalm]

So that fella in Texas who threatened to come back with 1000 armed friends to defend teaching CRT was just making shit up?

Sounds legit. Link?

[UNI88]

So that fella in Texas who threatened to come back with 1000 armed friends to defend teaching CRT was just making shit up?

Sounds legit. Link?

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/20 ... rt-oppone/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fort-w ... tened-them

https://nypost.com/2021/11/15/texas-crt ... -soldiers/

Hmmm, I wonder why CNN or CNBC didn't cover it?

[kalm]

Sounds legit. Link?

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/20 ... rt-oppone/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fort-w ... tened-them

https://nypost.com/2021/11/15/texas-crt ... -soldiers/

Hmmm, I wonder why CNN or CNBC didn't cover it?

Ok…so that’s one. Any other evidence it’s being taught in schools and whether what’s being taught is accurate? You’d think there’d be tons of teachers and admins opposed to it who could deliver the goods.

[UNI88]

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/20 ... rt-oppone/

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fort-w ... tened-them

https://nypost.com/2021/11/15/texas-crt ... -soldiers/

Hmmm, I wonder why CNN or CNBC didn't cover it?

Ok…so that’s one. Any other evidence it’s being taught in schools and whether what’s being taught is accurate? You’d think there’d be tons of teachers and admins opposed to it who could deliver the goods.

No I don't have evidence and to be honest I don't think it's being taught in it's entirety in a large number of schools. I do think that elements of it are being taught and that the object is not to help teach students how to think but to teach them what to think.

I also think that the crap that the Loudon County schools are pulling in trying to shield their curriculum from FOIA requests is enough to raise questions and justify concerns about CRT like teaching efforts.

But you don't want to talk about Loudon and FOIA requests, you're acting like JSO and BDK and trying to limit the focus of the discussion so you can feel like you won the debate.

[CID1990]

So we’ve got Squealer (JSO) and Boxer (klam)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kalm]

Ok…so that’s one. Any other evidence it’s being taught in schools and whether what’s being taught is accurate? You’d think there’d be tons of teachers and admins opposed to it who could deliver the goods.

No I don't have evidence and to be honest I don't think it's being taught in it's entirety in a large number of schools. I do think that elements of it are being taught and that the object is not to help teach students how to think but to teach them what to think.

I also think that the crap that the Loudon County schools are pulling in trying to shield their curriculum from FOIA requests is enough to raise questions and justify concerns about CRT like teaching efforts.

But you don't want to talk about Loudon and FOIA requests, you're acting like JSO and BDK and trying to limit the focus of the discussion so you can feel like you won the debate.

What’s there to say about Loudoun? I agree it’s problematic. I’m not trying to win anything…just trying to figure out if it deserves all the attention and whether not the outcry is organic.