How the Web Spreads and Amplifies Conspiracy Theories

It began earlier this year,when WISC-TV anchor Sarah Carlson, back on-air just four months after brain surgery, began garbling her words.  As she continued, her face grew taut and her words no more than gibberish before the director could switch to her alarmed co-anchor.

A few weeks later, entertainment correspondent Serene Branson was covering the Grammy Awards for the CBS-TV affiliate in Los Angeles.  The anchor threw her an easy question live on-air, but Branson didn’t get very far.

“Well, a very very heavy…bertation, tonight,” she stumbled. And like Carlson before, Branson’s words rapidly slid into nonsense before the director could switch to something else.

Then, during a live segment on Libya, Global News Toronto’s Mark McAllister became disoriented, struggling to make sounds that were even words.  And just last week, syndicated TV-judge Judith “Judge Judy” Sheindlin began speaking what was  called “nonsensical language” during a taping of her program.

That’s when the conspiracy theorists pounced. Read the rest of this entry »

The false rumor that President Barack Obama is Muslim has been getting a lot of attention recently, fueled in part by a new poll suggesting a growing number of Americans believe it to be true.

The rumor itself isn’t new – it’s been around since before Mr. Obama began his run for the Presidency. But it has been spreading rapidly lately – due in large measure to the Internet.

VOA’s Doug Bernard has a deeper look here.