I will now dedicate this blog to write about the process of my final assignment for the media course. I will report weekly (actually more frequently than that, since I'm a bit behind :^) ) on what I've done for the project, including sources, inspiration and other info you might find interesting.
The subject for my final task is none other than the infamous conspiracy nut-job Alex Jones.
For those of you who don't know who he is, here is a brief glimpse into Alex Jones' mind offered by a Vox article from 2016:
The first time I had the pleasure of knowing he existed was when I stumbled upon a disastrous debate between Piers Morgan and Alex Jones. Jones had recently put up a petition that would have Piers Morgan deported from the United States. This was because Morgan is for stricter gun control in the United States (and the deportation part was because of Morgan's British origin). In the debate Jones would scream complete nonsense while a troubled Morgan was desperately trying to get a turn to speak. Basically the debate is a mindless rant about gun control and "mass murder pills" spewed over a soundtrack that goes "Alex! Alex! Alex! Alex, listen to me! Alex!"
Seeing that in 2013, I naively thought I wouldn't be hearing from this guy, as his mannerisms and arguments seemed so obviously absurd to me. But I was wrong. During that year it was estimated that he was making 10 million dollars a year through subscriptions, web and radio advertising, and sales (Seitz-Wald 2013). Even in October 2019, his fake-news website Infowars gathered 8,49 million visitors (SimilarWeb 2019). It would seem that people really do buy into his baloney. And that worries me.
So the reason I picked this subject is because I've been increasingly worried about the amount of misinformation in public discourse. I want to understand why people buy into this and is there anything actually helpful we can do about it.
For the practical element I will create a comic, where I tackle these questions:
The comic is not going to be neutral. I just disagree with Alex Jones and other rightwingers too much. But I will try to focus on the subject of Jones and the theme of misinformation on media, rather than arguing about any "left vs. right issues".
The weekly sketch is of an image that I absolutely want to include in the final comic: Alex Jones carving a pumpkin while talking about police surveillance. See the video here, and take notice how the camera zooms in on the severed head for no reason: Jones - Halloween (1997)
Sources for this post:
Vox: "Alex Jones, Pizzagate booster and America’s most famous conspiracy theorist, explained"
Salon: "Alex Jones: Conspiracy Inc."
SimilarWeb: "Infowars.com, October 2019 overview"
The subject for my final task is none other than the infamous conspiracy nut-job Alex Jones.
For those of you who don't know who he is, here is a brief glimpse into Alex Jones' mind offered by a Vox article from 2016:
"A partial list of things Jones believes include: The US government is secretly controlled by a shadowy international cabal called the New World Order. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is going to put Americans in concentration camps. The “Jewish mafia” controls Uber and American health care. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are literal demons — like, the kind that come from hell and smell like sulfur" (Beauchamp 2016).
The first time I had the pleasure of knowing he existed was when I stumbled upon a disastrous debate between Piers Morgan and Alex Jones. Jones had recently put up a petition that would have Piers Morgan deported from the United States. This was because Morgan is for stricter gun control in the United States (and the deportation part was because of Morgan's British origin). In the debate Jones would scream complete nonsense while a troubled Morgan was desperately trying to get a turn to speak. Basically the debate is a mindless rant about gun control and "mass murder pills" spewed over a soundtrack that goes "Alex! Alex! Alex! Alex, listen to me! Alex!"
Seeing that in 2013, I naively thought I wouldn't be hearing from this guy, as his mannerisms and arguments seemed so obviously absurd to me. But I was wrong. During that year it was estimated that he was making 10 million dollars a year through subscriptions, web and radio advertising, and sales (Seitz-Wald 2013). Even in October 2019, his fake-news website Infowars gathered 8,49 million visitors (SimilarWeb 2019). It would seem that people really do buy into his baloney. And that worries me.
So the reason I picked this subject is because I've been increasingly worried about the amount of misinformation in public discourse. I want to understand why people buy into this and is there anything actually helpful we can do about it.
For the practical element I will create a comic, where I tackle these questions:
- Who is Alex Jones and why does he have a following?
- How does Jones affect public discourse?
- Should Jones and other conspiracy theorists be allowed to have a platform at all, or would banning them be the same as limiting free speech?
The comic is not going to be neutral. I just disagree with Alex Jones and other rightwingers too much. But I will try to focus on the subject of Jones and the theme of misinformation on media, rather than arguing about any "left vs. right issues".
The weekly sketch is of an image that I absolutely want to include in the final comic: Alex Jones carving a pumpkin while talking about police surveillance. See the video here, and take notice how the camera zooms in on the severed head for no reason: Jones - Halloween (1997)
Sources for this post:
Vox: "Alex Jones, Pizzagate booster and America’s most famous conspiracy theorist, explained"
Salon: "Alex Jones: Conspiracy Inc."
SimilarWeb: "Infowars.com, October 2019 overview"
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