Thursday, July 6, 2017

Self-Righteous Wanna Be Journalist Mark Belling Loses All Credibility


                                                       

By Ted Kraig 

Members of the Radio-Active campaign's monitoring team listened in to Mark Belling’s broadcast on Monday, June 26, and heard a gem of a Belling rant.

In that broadcast, Belling read and commented at length on an article originally published on June 21, but reposted on Alex Jones's prominent fake-news site Infowars the day of Belling's rant. Belling claimed he found the article in “a prominent online magazine” called Medusa that he asserted is “widely read in the radical feminist world.” The article, which Belling claimed would be “interesting to the people at Berkeley and in Hollywood,” reads like an overwrought conservative caricature of a race conscious, politically correct feminist. Something one might find in a right-wing version of The Onion. Typical headlines such as "Are Canker Sores Sexist? " "Make Masturbation Illegal for Men," Childhood Toys Are RACIST," and "Why Free-Bleeding Is an Essential part of Feminism" lead us to believe that Belling is referencing an outrageous fake-news clickbait blog for right-wing media to use to lure in less than savvy readers. (It turns out that's exactly what it is.) And it worked! Belling bit, pouncing on the fake news story without checking its legitimacy and falling for an online example of Poe's Law to buttress his flimsy attack on liberals' sanity.

The “crazy” article includes statements like “white families stand in the way of equality and justice,” “the white family must be destroyed,” and ended with the proposed solution that “white women should be encouraged to abort their white children.” Throughout his dramatic reading of the article, Belling interspersed commentary like “see the seething hatred of white people” and “people like these get jobs at American universities.”

Belling’s point? People on the left are “crazy” and ideas like the ones expressed in the online article will ultimately become mainstream liberal positions, promulgated by his named enemies of purportedly rational conservative thought: “universities," "Hollywood,” and "the liberal media.” According to Belling, this is how tolerance for gay marriage, transgender people, and Islam started, as crazy extreme positions ultimately adopted by the liberal elite. In stark contrast, conservatives are positioned by propagandists like Belling to have “common sense” and use “logic” in determining their values and beliefs.

The problem with Belling’s rant? A simple web search revealed that Medusa is anything but a “prominent online magazine,” apparently having gone bust in 2013, and the article was most likely written by a conservative satirist posing as a “radical feminist.”

It’s especially ironic that we caught Belling being so comically loose with his sources, given that he frequently claims to operate with higher journalistic standards than the rest of the media. The very next day, June 27, Belling ranted against Fox 6 and the entire local television news media as “hack organizations not interested in the truth,” operating with a “political agenda,” and “not reporting, but propagandizing.”

Why does it matter that conservative squawkers like Belling go this low? This is just one glaring example of the kind of propaganda coming from Belling and his fellow right wingers on the radio for fifteen hours a day every day. The stories they tell are often misleading if not completely baseless. And they’re often mean and hateful, characterizing political opponents as crazy, ruthless, and bigoted.

We would not be so concerned about such blather (and would not have created Radio-Active) if we weren’t convinced that the lies and mean propaganda have real and dire consequences for our communities.

According to the Washington Post, a recent poll found that among Republicans 84% believe Trump is doing a great job as President. We think they feel this way despite all evidence because they are tuned into Fox News and the many dozens of local conservative radio hosts like Belling who routinely tell them things like: concerns about Congress’ repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act are exaggerated liberal hysteria, and suspicions of Russian interference into our Presidential elections with possible Trump campaign collusion have been found to be entirely baseless and were drummed up by ruthless left-wing Trump haters.


A very large segment of our community listens to hosts like Belling and believes they are credible. It is high time that we convince them to reconsider the credibility of their sources.

6 comments:

  1. It's about time that Belling be exposed for what he is - a charlatan who has preyed on the city of milwaukee for years. Do not trust this monster. Belling himself has admited to be an expert and being a con man. The sooner this ass is gone the better.

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  2. Your sources are just as weak as what you claim belling is doing.

    1) your first reddit post doesn't say what you think is sayin
    2) your wordpress blog you use as proof is as fact-less as you claim belling to be. They even conclude "Well, since to some of us it’s indistinguishable in the main from other sites that are Control-Left, yes, it fooled me—and others. "

    So even people on the left were fooled into thinking its true. Which actually helps proves bellings point about the radical left.

    Theres more wrong with your rage-hate piece. But I doubt your actually interested in facts, vs actively working to shut down anyone that doesn't follow liberal group think.

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    Replies
    1. Craig provided plenty of sources that question the validity of Belling's reference. The fact that the domain traces back to a right wing site proves the point. The article was written by a right winger or someone spewing out fake news to provide bait for people like you who eat this stuff up. Belling bit and he bit hard on BS. Apparently you bit also.

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    2. Perhaps you believe that Canker Sores are Sexist? How about the Free Bleeding post? Hmm?

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    3. Craigs sources aren't any sources. They have no proof, and are working on speculation.

      I quoted one of those sources as saying the original post was believable as being something the control-left would think and that they themselves were fooled by it, but they think the site might be a joke but themselves aren't sure.

      Furthermore. Craig is lying about Bellings point in presenting this piece. Belling was using it as an example of extreme left wing thought that the center left never denies.

      So far Craig, nor any of you have disagreed with the original article. You just jumped right into typical attacking the messenger mode.

      Maybe you really agree with the fact that white woman should have abortions and help raise black babies.

      This radioactive post complains about Belling calling the left hatefull, yet this site did not condemn Kathy Griffin cutting of Trumps head or the left have a play kill Trump.

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    4. Once again you do not address the facts presented. You talk in generalities. Take each hyperlink and do try to prove Craig is wrong. Disagree with the article? Medusa is a hoax. The article is a hoax. It is written by some right wing organization that is baiting people like Belling. He bit. Prove otherwise.

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