PhD. discovers conservatives are ACTUALLY saying whatever they want on podcasts and REEE (thread)

Conservatives … saying whatever they want?! OH NOEZ!

Not WHATEVER they want.

Really?!

WHATEVER they want!

How can this be?!

You know the face you make when you look to see where your DoorDasher is and you see they’re going the wrong direction and they’ve already picked up your food? Yeah, just made that face. Seems this PhD. spent a long time collecting data about conservatives saying whatever they want on podcasts.

Can’t make this up.

Out today, my new report for @BrookingsInst sheds light on the opaque medium of podcasting, where in the words of one prominent host "you can say whatever you want." https://t.co/P5NpGd9dAI

— Valerie Wirtschafter (@vwirtschafter) February 9, 2023

Now, she claims this study was done over 36k shows from across the political spectrum.

This report represents the first systematic, overarching assessment of more than 36,000 shows from across the political spectrum pic.twitter.com/JHWOeBCmKY

— Valerie Wirtschafter (@vwirtschafter) February 9, 2023

But it’s interesting how she only seems to focus on mean ol’ conservatives saying whatever they want.

Drawing on thousands of external fact checks & a dictionary of key terms, the research evaluated that 1 out of every 20 episodes & 70% of all shows have shared at least one unsubstantiated or false claim, with some shows sharing far more than others. pic.twitter.com/j7zwVC1ML7

— Valerie Wirtschafter (@vwirtschafter) February 9, 2023

Which external fact-checks did she use?

Which dictionary?

Wanna bet it was PolitiFact or Snopes?

Due to the extremely conservative nature of the research design, this is likely an undercount of unsubstantiated and false claims across the medium.

— Valerie Wirtschafter (@vwirtschafter) February 9, 2023

And the COVID-19 pandemic, where claims tied to alternative treatments and prevention were far more common than all other types of claims and key moments seemed to drive the spread of unsubstantiated and false claims. pic.twitter.com/zjlQmO8pnW

— Valerie Wirtschafter (@vwirtschafter) February 9, 2023

We’ve seen firsthand what the government and public health were doing with messaging, narrative, and media … did it ever occur to this doctor that maybe these ‘false claims’ were conservatives trying to get the TRUTH out there?

Nah.

This research was conducted over nearly a two year period and inspired by a passing tweet conversation. I am happy to answer any and all questions about design, methodology and analysis. https://t.co/P5SHfObMtF

— Valerie Wirtschafter (@vwirtschafter) February 9, 2023

Two years doing this.

Holy cow, did someone pay for this?

Yay academia. *eye roll*

Thank you to the @BrookingsInst for giving this research agenda a home. And thank you to @stuartathompson for adding so much to this research with his article today: https://t.co/WRdtAtTe0S

— Valerie Wirtschafter (@vwirtschafter) February 9, 2023

The Guardian.

Because of course.

Also, for those interested in where the title comes from, it is a play on the first known coining of the term "podcast" — a Guardian article titled "Audible Revolution": https://t.co/DUQqWRJk4K

— Valerie Wirtschafter (@vwirtschafter) February 9, 2023

Guess how her data is going over?

Tell me you don't understand correlation vs causation without saying "I don't understand correlation vs causation".

The more than government illegally conspired to spread their lies about COVID-19, the more people tried to push the truth out.

— Neal Orr (@neal_orr) February 9, 2023

Where is your sense of humor?@michaeljknowles, @tedcruz, @benfergusonshow pic.twitter.com/zSnkNwpIT8

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 9, 2023

Psh, sense of humor?! NEVER.

The horrific thought of people being able to say whatever they want. Break out the smelling salts.

— PizzaCzar (@PizzaWanchovies) February 9, 2023

Terrifying.

Hahaha, you’re not off to a good start here. See below: https://t.co/9qV91Pcd46

— Rick Roth (@Killaroth) February 9, 2023

Oops.

Free speech is a nightmare for you, isn't it?

I can recommend some countries that don't allow it, if you like.

One-way ticket only, please.

— Ultra Silky Calvin 🇺🇸🐶🏒 🎶 (@shoveitjack) February 9, 2023

I'd love to see a deep dive on Don Lemon's unsubstantiated claims

— Cassie Miller (@alilpolitical) February 9, 2023

Yeah, we notice these deep dives ever really only go one way, and then when the Right does their own deep dive we see garbage like this.

She spent two years collecting this data.

Wow.

Wait. Wait. Wait.
Are you serious?
People can…gasp…say things?
And those things can be…gulp…whatever they want? pic.twitter.com/natnrN1Kt8

— Chris Tsotsoros (@ctsotsoros) February 9, 2023

Wow so sorry you can’t control every written or spoken word

— Tripp (@cbomar_3) February 9, 2023

https://twitter.com/JenWoodruff79/status/1623753745879162880?s=20&t=wT9P2FC88QethpDqoXBcaw

Ruh-roh, there’s someone else saying whatever they want.

Better write that down.

Brookings Institute expert is simply horrified at the notion of people saying whatever they want, without her permission. https://t.co/ENuHGGKNdL

— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) February 9, 2023

The nerve.

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