Trump-Russia and Citizen Journalism

Many citizen journalists are spending their days and nights trying to uncover evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. And some of these investigators are using Twitter as their primary platform for doing their research and publicizing their findings. These public investigations can certainly help uncover the truth, but they can also be dangerous.

Two prolific investigative Tweeters, Louise Mensch and Claude Taylor, encapsulate this trend. They’ve built an almost cult-like following, with dozens of followers viciously attacking anyone who casts doubt on their claims. There is a familiar pattern: Mensch or Taylor will tweet an outrageous allegation which, if true, would undoubtedly result in indictments for many in the White House; soon, someone else will bring forward a specific piece of evidence disproving the claim; then Mensch and Taylor’s followers will accuse the party pooper of being uninformed, biased, jealous and finally, in cahoots with Putin himself. Finally, the criticizer will be blocked, purifying the echo chamber even more and setting the scene for the next baseless allegation.

This cycle happens over and over again. By the end of the cycle, the original allegation is totally forgotten by those blind followers who are oh so thirsty for evidence of a conspiracy, and they’ve moved on to an even more outrageous claim that will also soon be disproved. Mensch and Taylor, meanwhile, become further intoxicated with the power of their tweets. They defend their credibility by pointing to the number of their twitter followers, which is ironic because they only amassed those followers because of their outrageous claims. It’s not an overstatement to say that millions of Americans are desperately hoping to find incontrovertible proof of collusion between the Russian government and President Trump. For these Americans, impeachment isn’t sufficient; Trump, his family, the campaign heads and even certain members of Congress deserve long-term incarceration as their just desert. Never mind that this is fantasy.

Why is this happening? For conspiracy theorists and their followers, there are simultaneously so many obvious signs of collusion, but, paradoxically, just not enough for the rest of the world to see and appreciate. We’ve seen it over and over again, from the Kennedy assassination, to 9/11, to Assad’s recent gassing of Syrian civilians. There are those who prefer for an alternative reality to be true, one that justifies their political views and precisely fits their ideological lens. So in order to promote their alternative reality, they’ll believe and latch on to almost anything, even if it entails ignoring reality. Arguing with this kind of believer is like arguing with a religious zealot. But the rest of us should remember that our energy is better served seeking the truth in an open-minded manner, one that is receptive to any number of potential outcomes.

Citizen journalism is vital and should be encouraged, particularly as the traditional media is losing credibility. But we must be mindful that these citizen journalists may be charlatans at worst, and lack accountability at best. We must be skeptical in the face of their allegations, and vigilant in our own search for the truth. After all, we’re all familiar with the famous charlatan who made a career out of Tweeting outrageously false allegations without supporting evidence: he’s now president.