EPISODE · Apr 18, 2026 · 18 MIN
The Attention Merchants of Democracy
from Signal & Noise · host Podcaster
While we debate Russian bots and misinformation, a more subtle threat to democratic discourse has emerged: the capture of local news ecosystems by political operatives posing as journalists. We examine how hundreds of seemingly legitimate local news sites are actually sophisticated influence operations, and why this matters more than the viral conspiracy theories everyone's talking about. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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What this episode covers
While we debate Russian bots and misinformation, a more subtle threat to democratic discourse has emerged: the capture of local news ecosystems by political operatives posing as journalists. We examine how hundreds of seemingly legitimate local news sites are actually sophisticated influence operations, and why this matters more than the viral conspiracy theories everyone's talking about.
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The Attention Merchants of Democracy
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