Issuepedia:Filing Room/to file/2021/Epoch Times
transcribed from my comment on a Nextdoor post
[paste] NBC News has now published at least five articles in just over a year that contain egregious factual errors about their competitor, The Epoch Times. NBC News has refused to correct many of these errors, which gives the appearance of it being intentional and agenda-driven. [/paste]
[citation needed]
I was able to find some sources for this "smear campaign" claim in Conservapedia (https://conservapedia.com/The_Epoch_Times):
- https://capitalresearch.org/article/nbc-news-fails-crc-fact-check-the-epoch-times-is-no-pro-trump-dark-money-operation/
- https://www.theepochtimes.com/why-nbc-msnbcs-reporting-on-the-epoch-times-is-textbook-fake-news_3051327.html
- https://www.theepochtimes.com/epoch-times-statement-in-response-to-nbc-facebook-stories_3053492.html
- https://www.wsj.com/articles/nbc-news-smears-a-competitor-11566947297 - opinion piece by Stephen Gregory, Epoch Times publisher
Two points raised in the above references, grabbed more or less at random:
- (ref 1) "NBC claimed the Epoch Times had “obfuscate[d] its connection to some $2 million worth of ads that promoted the president and conspiracy theories about his political enemies.”"
That links to this article as a source for NBC's claim: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/epoch-times-begins-hiding-its-connection-huge-pro-trump-ad-n1045416
The actual quote is:
[paste] The decision follows an NBC News report that The Epoch Times had shifted its spending on Facebook in the last month, seemingly in an effort to obfuscate its connection to some $2 million worth of ads that promoted the president and conspiracy theories about his political enemies. [/paste]
Note the word "seemingly", and the context of this claim. Unfortunately there's no link to the original report, but I found a link in a WaPo article (https://web.archive.org/web/20210203010651if_/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/08/23/facebook-bans-ads-epoch-times-violating-transparency-policies-with-pro-trump-ads/)
Here's the report: https://web.archive.org/web/20210202175054if_/https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/trump-qanon-impending-judgment-day-behind-facebook-fueled-rise-epoch-n1044121
I don't actually see the claim (about shifting spending and obfuscation) in there, but it's a long article and my partner wants me to stop spending so much time on politics...
That said, I recommend that article, as it explains a lot of what is worrisome about Falun Gong and its mouthpiece, The Epoch Times. Example: "Li has railed against what he called the wickedness of homosexuality, feminism and popular music while holding that he is a god-like figure who can levitate and walk through walls."
- (ref 4) "NBC labels our reporting on Spygate a “conspiracy theory,”" -- it is exactly that. The theory is bizarre nonsense from start to finish, with zero evidence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spygate_(conspiracy_theory)
[paste] The Epoch Times is a far-right[12] international multi-language newspaper and media company affiliated with the Falun Gong new religious movement, based in Midtown Manhattan.[17] [/paste] -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Epoch_Times
Wikipedia is not itself a source, but note how many sources there are for citations 12 and 17.
Conclusion: As with most right-wing apologetics, one finds on scratching the surface that it's actually much worse than you realized.
These people are absolutely unhinged and dangerous to democracy.