This is why the corporate press rushes out misinformation. Same reason they pushed a flat-out lie about Officer Sicknick being killed by 1/6 protesters. They know that the lie will stick in the minds of some % of the population, and that’s why they do it.
They know that the initial emotional imprint is the thing that sticks w/people the most. They lied about Sicknick’s death to imprint extreme outrage, knowing that after they walk it back, the outrage will remain even if the facts that caused it dissipate. Propaganda 101.
When something like the Waukesha massacre occurs, they know there’s a risk people will get an emotional imprint harmful to the narrative. They rush out something, anything - they purposely pollute the information environment - knowing that later corrections will not matter.
On 1/6, turns out that groups infiltrated by the FBI were the prime movers of the riot. Turns out police started firing flash bangs & gas w/o provocation. Turns out they were pushing protesters off high ledges, and the only deaths were protesters, some killed by police.
They pushed a flat out lie about a cop being beaten to death with a fire extinguisher - a lie which could’ve been disconfirmed by the cop’s family or coroner - simply to change the emotional valence in the critical early period when attitudes were forming about the event.
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