Investigative Reporter Gabe Kaminsky recently discovered that multiple conservative news outlets have been added to a blacklist for the political content they share.
Kaminsky, who works for the Washington Examiner, highlighted his recent series on the “disinformation” label with Spectator’s Ben Domenech on a new episode of the podcast “The District.” The two focused on the British think tank Global Disinformation Index.
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“These companies are compiling blacklists that are non-public, and they are basically feeding them to these advertising companies, like the Microsoft owned Xandr,” Kaminsky said. “We found out that we are on this list, because we allegedly are peddling what they determine to be disinformation.”
Kaminsky said the advertising companies are now going to the GDI or other companies and asking who they should “defund” over disinformation.
“What they believe to be disinformation, not shockingly, are things they do not agree with,” Kaminsky said. “Things like conservative websites, and many of which are opinion websites such as the American Conservative, and even places like the Federalist.”
Kaminsky discovered in his investigation into the websites, that the American Spectator, Newsmax, One America News, the Blaze, the Daily Wire, RealClearPolitics, Reason, and the New York Post were also on the list.
The Washington Examiner and Newsmax were not on a list of 10 riskiest websites, but were listed on a separate exclusion list, according to Kaminsky, which affects both sites ability to purchase ads.
The 10 websites GDI determines are the 10 “least risky,” skew to the left outside of the Wall Street Journal. These outlets consist of NPR, ProPublica, the Associated Press, Insider, the New York Times, USA Today, the Washington Post, Buzzfeed News, and HuffPost, according to a 27-page GDI memo.
The podcast also reflected on the evolving term of disinformation. Domenech noted that the term of misinformation or disinformation in the past, meant scams or rip offs. But on the list, it meant publications and outlets that the other side disagreed with.
“Part of GDI’s purpose is to fight fraud and global disinformation about things that are maybe happening in Russia with the war, or things going on in the Middle East” Kaminsky said. “But that’s very separate than them deciding to overtly censor domestic outlets that are often peddling very mainstream opinions.”
Kaminsky added that the U.S. discussion on transgender identities and other mainstream issues should be open for debate without getting censored.
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Domenech hosted other recent guests on the District, including the Washington Examiner’s Becket Adams, to talk about a recent trip to Davos. The District also did an interview with Christopher Miller, who served as the acting secretary of defense under former President Donald Trump, who talked about the Chinese spy balloon.
