美国国家公共电台 NPR--Group aiming to defund disinformation tries to drain Fox News of online advertising

Group aiming to defund disinformation tries to drain Fox News of online advertising¹

Transcript²

A nonprofit aiming to defund disinformation online that has taken money out of the pockets of several prominent far-right websites now has its sights set on its most formidable target yet: Fox News.

The group, Check My Ads, is hoping the success it has had in stripping advertising dollars from right-wing provocateurs including Steve Bannon, Glenn Beck and Dan Bongino will give it momentum³ as it attempts to confront a powerful media empire.

On Thursday, the outfit⁴ announced a new campaign directed at Fox's website and its popular YouTube channel calling on the public to pressure online ad exchanges to stop doing business with Fox. It comes just as the House committee investigating the Capitol riots kicks off a series of hearings focused on violence that unfolded on Jan. 6.

Former marketer Claire Atkin, who co-founded Check My Ads, argues that Fox "encouraged and supported" the attack on the Capitol.

"Advertisers have said over and over again, 'We don't want to fund violence,' so it's shocking that Fox News is still receiving these ad dollars," she said.

Mikel Ellcessor, the group's chief operating officer, points to Fox News star Tucker Carlson's sympathetic portrayal⁵ of the Capitol rioters and Carlson's documentary series "Patriot⁶ Purge," which promoted conspiracy⁷ theories about Jan. 6, falsely suggesting the violence was instigated⁸ by left-wing activists¹⁰ and calling the rioters "political prisoners."

"What happens on Fox News television helps fund all of their digital properties," he said. "You don't get to claim that your hands are free and clean when you put a dollar into the Fox News operation."

In a statement, Fox News dismissed the campaign as an effort at censorship, saying "There's no greater threat to democracy than the effort to silence free speech."

The network said it takes pride in "featuring more dissenting¹¹ viewpoints on the major issues facing the country than our cable news competitors."

The push by the left-leaning activists comes amid growing calls from online advertising watchers for there to be more transparency and accountability in the complex industry that is digital advertising, an ever-growing segment of the economy in which an estimated $521 billion was spent last year.

Exposing the "ATM of the disinformation economy"

Instead of calling for a consumer boycott¹², Check My Ads took a novel approach: apply public pressure on the hidden engines of the online advertising world: ad exchanges.

The exchanges, operated by companies like Google and Verizon but also a collection of smaller firms, are kind of the middlemen between a company trying to place an ad and a website.

Often the exchanges have content rules that say they will not place ads on sites that promotes the overthrow¹³ of the government or glorifies¹⁴ violence.

When the group pointed¹⁵ out to exchanges that some sites they are doing business with violate their own rules, the exchanges acted. An exchange called Freewheel dropped Steve Bannon's Real America's Voice; another exchange called OpenX blocked Glenn Beck's the Blaze; Google severed¹⁶ ties with Dan Bongino's website. In all, the group estimates that the campaign has cut off millions of dollars from sites spreading disinformation.

"Ad exchanges have set a line, they set a standard for how their publishers should operate. We are just saying, 'You need to uphold your own standard,'" said Atkin, who says her group is going after the "ATM of the disinformation economy."

The shadowy world of online ad exchanges

Websites peddling¹⁷ disinformation generate more than $2 billion in advertising revenue each year, according to an analysis by NewsGuard and ComScore.

Check My Ads says their goal is not just to take that money out of circulation, but to shed new light on just how the shadowy world of online advertising operates.

Some 90% of online ads are generated through an automated¹⁸ process, as opposed to being directly placed by a company.

Industry insiders call this system "programmatic advertising," which basically means it is automated by computer software, according to Joshua Lowcock, an executive at the marketing¹⁹ and media agency UM.

"It's like a stock exchange," Lowcock said. "When you visit a website, there are multiple advertisers bidding on you in a real-time auction²⁰."

How it works: Exchanges strike deals with publishers and put together massive lists of websites on which it can place advertising. The exchanges also hammer out contracts with companies hoping to reach a desired audience. Every time someone visits a site, in the matter of a millisecond, there are competing bids for your attention taking place on an ad exchange and the winner serves up an ad to you.

Problems arise, however, when a company's ad appears in surprising places, which is not uncommon²¹.

"You may be unaware²² of where your messages are showing up and what content your brand is living next to," said Jon Klein, the former president of CNN who now works in digital media. "It's the nightmare of most responsible marketers."

Exchanges also tend to have content guidelines. Google, which operates the largest ad exchange, has rules that state it does not place ads on sites that make claims that are "demonstrably false," or could "undermine participation²⁴ or trust in an electoral or democratic process."

Lowcock said an exchange's inventory²⁵ of websites is so vast and always growing that enforcing its rules is sometimes impossible.

"Often what we find is that when an exchange signs up a publisher, it adheres to the exchange's own monetization policy, but after it's approved it will never be reviewed again," he said.

Ellcessor of Check My Ads argues that if exchanges were following their own guidelines, they would ban Fox News' online empire.

"Now all we're doing is we're saying, 'why is Fox News, and specifically Fox News.com getting a pass?'" he said.

Taking on Fox News is an uphill battle

Convincing ad exchanges to blacklist Fox, the nation's top-rated cable news network, will be an uphill battle. For one thing, it may be hard to prove that Fox News itself is doing anything that explicitly²⁶ violates the exchanges' rules.

Former CNN executive Klein said Fox News has mastered the art of going right up to the edge of a line with its boundary-pushing and often inflammatory programming.

Another factor will be that the corporations that control the major exchanges may be hesitant to isolate²⁷ Fox, fearing a backlash from conservatives.

Even if the campaign is successful, it would not come anywhere close to kneecapping Fox. About 95% of Fox's profits come from its cable division, so sacrificing online ads would barely put a dent²³ in the company financially.

But Check My Ads staffers remain optimistic, saying the campaign is about more than depriving Fox of money. They maintain it is also focused on attacking Fox's legitimacy²⁸ and stirring a larger advertising-wide conversation about who is financially supporting Fox, said the group's cofounder Nandini Jammi, who was also behind the social media activist⁹ organization Sleeping Giants.

"We can do more than just complain and be sad and tweet and share with each other that we're sad about where Fox News has taken us as a country," Jammi said. "We can actually fight back."

1 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

4 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

5 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

6 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

7 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

8 instigated   

v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government has instigated a programme of economic reform. 政府已实施了经济改革方案。
• He instigated the revolt. 他策动了这次叛乱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

12 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

13 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

14 glorifies   

赞美( glorify的第三人称单数 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣

参考例句：

• He denies that the movie glorifies violence. 他否认这部影片美化暴力。
• This magazine in no way glorifies gangs. 这本杂志绝对没有美化混混们。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 peddling   

忙于琐事的，无关紧要的

参考例句：

• He worked as a door-to-door salesman peddling cloths and brushes. 他的工作是上门推销抹布和刷子。
• "If he doesn't like peddling, why doesn't he practice law? "要是他不高兴卖柴火，干吗不当律师呢？

18 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

19 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

20 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

21 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

22 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

23 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

24 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

25 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

26 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

27 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

28 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。