Relevance to Pizzagate - someone who shall remain nameless is pushing the fake news agenda in a public college, and SPECIFICALLY discussing on message boards with students the incident at Comet Ping Pong with the hired crisis actor, calling the sex trafficking scandal a conspiracy theory and fake news, with the hired crisis actor incident being proof to him how dangerous fake news is. See below. (I wonder if this curriculum was dreamed up by him, or if it is being circulated to other colleges.)

First...

PUBLIC SCHOOL BRAINWASHING

One of my children told me that the his elementary school had President's Day trivia this year in which one of the questions was about HILLARY CLINTON (implying that they wanted students to think of her as a President of the U.S. or at least revere her as such) and when he mentioned to his friends that that was wrong to have a question about her related to President's Day, everyone around him started talking about how much better she is than Trump. (He couldn't remember what the question was.)

My son's junior high school is pushing the fake news agenda, making him read factcheck.org, a project of the Annenburg Foundation...

I could be mistaken, but my memory tells me that I have heard The Annenburg Foundation many times announced as a sponsor of NPR back in the day when I listened to NPR on the way to work every day. Factcheck.org has the following financial disclosure on their website:

Financial Disclosure:

Fiscal Year 2017, Second Quarter (three months ending December 31, 2016)

Annenberg Foundation: $165,855.41

Individual donors: $109,777.04

During this three-month period, we received 1,013 gifts from individual donors, the largest of which was $20,000. The average individual donation was $108.50, and half of our individual donations were $50 or less.

The individual donors who gave $1,000 or more:

Bessie Rattner Foundation, Glendale, New York: $20,000

Richard Heller, Media, Pennsylvania: $10,000

Paul Spraos, New York, New York: $5,000

David J. Spector, New York, New York: $2,500

Steven Kunkel, Fairfax, California: $1,800

Rebecca Johnson, Pittsford, New York: $1,000

Barry Knight, West Palm Beach, Florida: $1,000

Helen Ross, Carefree, Arizona: $1,000

Susan D. Woolf, Seattle, Washington: $1,000

Fiscal Year 2017, First Quarter (three months ending September 30, 2016)

Annenberg Foundation: $161,030

Individual donors: $34,597

During this three-month period, we received a total of 158 gifts from individual donors, the largest of which was $25,000. The average individual donation was $219, and half of our individual donations were $25 or less.

The individual donors who gave $1,000 or more:

Luke Evnin and Deann Wright, San Francisco, California: $25,000

First Dollar Foundation, San Francisco, California: $1,000

Allen Stenger, Alamogordo, New Mexico: $1,000

Fiscal Year 2016 (12 months ending June 30, 2016)

Annenberg Foundation: $684,121.12

Stanton Foundation: $150,000

Individual donors: $72,012

During this 12-month period, we received a total of 1,154 gifts from individual donors, the largest of which was $5,000. The average individual donation was $62.35, and half of our individual donations were $25 or less.

In addition, we received a $150,000 grant from the Stanton Foundation to continue SciCheck and underwrite our undergraduate fellowship program.

The individual donors who gave $1,000 or more:

Paul Spraos, New York, New York: $5,000

Diane Deshong, Beverly Hills, California: $2,000

First Dollar Foundation, San Francisco, California: $2,000

George H. Rogers, Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Florida: $1,000

...

COLLEGE

Here is an actual "Fake News" Assignment handed out to college students by a college professor - yes people, this is the way our public schools of higher education are passing propaganda onto the students with the main goal being to brainwash millenials.

Fake News Versus Real News

At this point in the semester, we're starting to think about source material for our essays. Indeed, for your next two essays you will integrate source material. But before we get into the nuts and bolts of documenting sources, we need to start with the basics: like separating fact from fiction.

When students first begin researching a topic for an essay, they invariably start by "googling" the topic on the Web and then searching the results for information. But how do you know the information you're getting is accurate? Well, you can begin by narrowing your focus to academic sources. (More on that in a later module). But in this instance, when the World Wide Web is your playground, how do you determine what's fake and what's real?

Frankly, fake news is a problem today, and without sounding hyperbolic, many academics, politicians, and business leaders believe it's a legitimate threat to democracy. The problem becomes particularly acute when those in power begin citing sources that are inaccurate or just deliberately false. So what's a citizen to do? Well, the responsibility falls to you to ferret out falsehoods. You can choose to be an informed citizen or a stooge.

To that end, the three articles below will help you put fake news into context. The first illustrates where some fake news originates. (Hint: the reporter's findings might surprise you). The second article provides some tools for self-checking your news sources, and the last article delves into the topic of why certain people are duped by fake news stories.

After reading the articles, you will write a 300-word discussion post.

Here are the articles:

We Tracked Down a Fake-News Creator in the Suburbs. Here's What We found.

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/11/23/503146770/npr-finds-the-head-of-a-covert-fake-news-operation-in-the-suburbs (Links to an external site.)

Fake or Real? How to Self-Check the News and Get the Facts

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/05/503581220/fake-or-real-how-to-self-check-the-news-and-get-the-facts (Links to an external site.)

Is Education Tied to Conspiracy Theory Beliefs?

http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/12/05/504388777/educations-tie-to-conspiracy-theory-belief (Links to an external site.)

For this assignment, you will write an initial 200-word discussion post; the post can be in response to one of the questions below, two of the questions, or all three. You will then write a 100-word post in response to one of your classmates. (That's 300 words total).

I don't have to remind you that civility matters in your responses. In today's contentious political environment, fake news carries with it some passionate political views. Be mindful and respectful.

1.) In the first article, the reporter tracked down a fake news writer. What surprised you, if anything, about the business of fake news? The article offers suggestions to curtail the spread of fake news, such as limiting access to advertising dollars. Do you think that's a good idea? Why or why not? In general, how might we limit the proliferation of fake news?

2.) From where do you get your news? How do you know the news you're getting is accurate? The second article outlines steps anybody can take to ferret out fake news. What other suggestions do you have for unmasking fake news?

3.) The third article delves into the psychology of human behavior as it relates to conspiracy theories. Specifically, the article poses a question in its title: "Is Education Tied to Conspiracy Theory Belief?" Did the author answer this question to your satisfaction? What do you think? Is education tied to conspiracy theory belief?