Here’s a look back at this week in science, with stories you don’t want to miss. Behind the scenes of junk news production In this week’s installment of our PBS NewsHour series on Junk News, we introduced you to Cyrus Massoumi, prolific publisher of junk news. Cyrus is a gifted marketer with a passion for […]
A Junk News Pioneer – with Cyrus Massoumi, Part 2
Russian actors may have run an online disinformation campaign during the 2016 US presidential elections, but they likely learned their tactics from Americans. As part of our investigation, PBS NewsHour series producer Cameron Hickey tracked down one of these junk news pioneers, Cyrus Massoumi. He runs liberal and conservative junk news sites, which have millions […]
Online anger is gold to this junk news pioneer
Meet one of the Internet’s most prolific distributors of hyper-partisan fare. From California, Cyrus Massoumi caters to both liberals and conservatives, serving up political grist through various Facebook pages. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien profiles a leading purveyor of junk news who has hit the jackpot exploiting the trend toward tribalism. This is the second of […]
A Junk News Pioneer – with Cyrus Massoumi, Part 1
Russian actors may have run an organized online disinformation campaign during the 2016 US presidential elections, but they likely learned their clickbait tactics from Americans. In our ongoing investigation of junk news for the PBS NewsHour, series producer Cameron Hickey managed to track down one of these pioneers of junk news, Cyrus Massoumi. He […]