Cambridge Analytica Calls It Quits

Cambridge Analytica and its British parent company SCL Elections are shutting down, according to a company statement. Cambridge Analytica is under attack for the shabby Facebook data mining operation and FB-based targeted advertising effort it mounted on behalf of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, and SCL has been under pressure for its pro-Brexit disinformation campaign, and is the subject of investigations by UK prosecutors and Parliamentary committees.

Cambridge Analytica was set up by UK-based SCL to advance the fiction that foreign citizens weren’t engaged in US federal election work, and was funded by the conservative Mercer family. Steve Bannon, who claimed he thought up the company’s name, was a Vice President. In addition to its UK operations, SCL worked on election campaigns in a number of other countries.

Ironically, the firm blames “the siege of media coverage,” fake news and negative publicity, for driving it out of business.

More:

“Cambridge Analytica closing operations in wake of scandals,” Khorri Atkinson, Axios

“Cambridge Analytica is shutting down,” Emily Stewart, Vox

“Cambridge Analytica Files for Bankruptcy After Misuse of Facebook Data,” By Nicholas Confessore and Matthew Rosenberg, New York Times

“Cambridge Analytica: Facebook data-harvest firm to shut,” BBC News

“Cambridge Analytica and parent SCL Elections shutting down,” Reuters

“Cambridge Analytica Parent Company Ceases Operations,” Matt Shuham, TPM Livewire

Update:

“Cambridge Analytica dismantled for good? Nope: It just changed its name to Emerdata,”  Shaun Nichols, The Register

“The Cambridge Analytica power players set up a mysterious new data firm — and they could use it for a ‘Blackwater-style’ rebrand,” Shona Ghosh and Jake Kanter, Business Insider

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‘Local’ News: Sinclair’s Soldiers in Trump’s War on Media

Nearly 200 TV stations across America are owned by a single company, the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Headquartered in the Baltimore area, the firm is owned by the conservative Smith brothers (no, not them), David, Frederick, J. Duncan, and Robert. Sinclair Broadcast HQ forced local news anchors at its stations to read a script echoing Donald Trump’s dismissal of major media as ‘fake.’ Videos from Think Progress and Deadspin (above) capture the scope of this truly phony ‘local’ editorial item. Right-wing rival Fox News said the Sinclair TV anchors “looked like hostage victims.”

Sinclair’s $3.9 billion deal to buy an additional 42 TV stations from Tribune Media is awaiting FCC and antitrust review. If approved, Sinclair broadcasts could reach 72% of American households.

More:

“How America’s Largest Local TV Owner Turned Its News Anchors Into Soldiers In Trump’s War On The Media,” Timothy Burke, Deadspin

“As Sinclair’s sound-alike anchors draw criticism for ‘fake news’ promos, Trump praises broadcaster.” Paul Farhi, Washington Post

“CNN: Local Sinclair Staff Trash Must-Run ‘Propaganda’ Segments,” Matt Shuham, TPM Livewire

“Sinclair Chairman Claims Entire Print Media Has ‘No Credibility,’” Olivia Nuzzi, New York Magazine

“Sinclair-owned TV station chooses not to air media bias promo,” Avery Anapol, The Hill

“Public Shaming Won’t Stop Sinclair,” April Glaser, Slate

“The nation’s biggest conservative broadcaster is putting words in its anchors’ mouths. Critics blame the FCC.” Brian Fung, Washington Post

Related:

“Local news hurt by broadcast media conglomerate,” Chloe Reichel, Journalist’s Resource

“Sinclair says asking news directors for PAC contributions isn’t a conflict of interest,” Al Tompkins, Poynter

Update:

“‘It borders on a regulatory fraud,” Margaret Harding McGill, Politico

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Salman Rushdie: The White House Weaponizes ‘Fake News’

In April, author Salman Rushdie was a panelist at A Dangerous Moment: Shades of Red and Blue, hosted by The Ethics Centre and sponsored by The Guardian.

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The Post-Truth Presidency

Editors of the Oxford English Dictionary has chosen the “2016 Word of the Year”: Post-truth.”

post-truth (adjective) — Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief:

‘in this era of post-truth politics, it’s easy to cherry-pick data and come to whatever conclusion you desire’
‘some commentators have observed that we are living in a post-truth age’

That dictionary’s definition of “Truth”: “That which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.” So what could negate that? George Orwell reflected on that in 1942:

“A British and a German historian would disagree deeply on many things, even on fundamentals, but there would still be that body of, as it were, neutral fact on which neither would seriously challenge the other. It is just this common basis of agreement, with its implication that human beings are all one species of animal, that totalitarianism destroys.” — George Orwell, “Looking Back on the Spanish War.”

So we know what causes the phenomenon, this “War on Reality,” and now there’s a name for it.

h/t: Gideon Lichfield

More:

“Trump Team Explains They Were Campaigning Against Facts, Not Just Clinton,” Margaret Hartmann, New York Magazine

“The post-truth world of the Trump administration is scarier than you think,” Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post

Related:

“How Do You Avoid Sounding Elitist in a Post-Truth Era?” Nancy LeTourneau, Washington Monthly

“Merriam-Webster’s plea: There’s still time to prevent ‘fascism’ from becoming word of the year,” Ben Guarino, Washington Post

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