Port: Election conspiracy theorists buy North Dakota newspaper

MINOT, N.D. — The plight of the newspaper business, particularly that of the smaller publications serving the agricultural elements of our state, has been miserable.

With out the native newspaper, who’s masking the county fee conferences? And the town council conferences? And the park boards and the college boards and all the opposite sorts of meat-and potatoes journalism that’s concurrently prosaic and deeply very important to the well being of our communities?

After we get information that somebody is stepping in to personal and function considered one of these deeply vital establishments, we ought to be completely satisfied.

Normally.

However the information {that a} Trump-aligned speak radio firm — one which traffics in election conspiracy theories, amongst different weird catechisms of the QAnon crowd — is shopping for a 114-year-old rural newspaper must alarm right-thinking North Dakotans.

Flag Household Media is

shopping for the McKenzie County Farmer

, an vital publication within the coronary heart of North Dakota’s oil nation. It is best to care about that.

Flag Household Media is a Fargo-based firm during which long-time speak radio host Scott Hennen (a former employer of mine) is a accomplice.

It is onerous to say whether or not Hennen really believes a number of the goofier issues he broadcasts, or if he is simply saying what he is paid to say. The road on Hennen in political circles is that he is coin-operated. Drop 1 / 4 in, and he’ll say what you need.

And anybody who has listened to Flag Household Media broadcasting is aware of simply what number of checks they have been cashing from the likes of pillow impresario turned election conspiracy demagogue Mike Lindell.

However does it matter if folks like Hennen work at undermining American democracy for revenue or misguided perception? The top consequence is similar.

And here is the factor: Election conspiracy theories, as odious and divorced from actuality as they’re, aren’t even probably the most obnoxious factor Flag Household Media promotes.

Not so way back an FFM host named Dennis Lindahl — who broadcasts the morning present on their Tioga station, who was seen

at a rally for erstwhile U.S. Senate candidate Rick Becker

calling for the demise penalty for federal bureaucrats, who’s

going through accusations of “belligerent” and “unprofessional” conduct

at his day job on the Metropolis of Tioga —

was urging his viewers to consider what quantities to egregious Russian propaganda

.

Lindahl alleged that help for Ukraine was fading after proof surfaced on social media of

a Ukrainian “Nazi” battalion beating and raping Russian girls

.

Lindahl claimed that leaked FBI data proved that the U.S. authorities had funded a Ukranian neo-Nazi group that, in flip, orchestrated the infamous

“Unite the Proper” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia

.

These have been only a few of tons of of phony-baloney claims Lindahl was delivering to his viewers.

Flag Household Media is seemingly high-quality broadcasting that type of content material to the general public.

And now they’ll personal a newspaper.

Typically individuals who work in speak radio (as I did, for years) get a move on overwrought, factually inaccurate content material. They’ve an excuse, we’re alleged to consider. They’re shock jocks. It is simply leisure.

Newspapers, as a medium, are alleged to be completely different. Extra severe. Staid.

Solely, I do not consider that. If you happen to work within the information media, whether or not your job is straight information reporting or on the opinion aspect, or each as is usually the case for me, your work ought to be rooted in reality.

There’s nothing flawed with being provocative. Or humorous. And even entertaining. However the purpose of the endeavor, whether or not you are working in textual content or video or simply audio, ought to be to provide the general public a larger understanding of the world round them. One which displays actuality.

Flag Household Media would not do this.

They promote lies and falsehoods and conspiracies.

And now they personal a newspaper.