Are people really that dumb to eat whatever shit the media throws at them?

It’s not news that news is a propaganda machine - for imperial projects, for moguls, for whoever pays the light bill. What still surprises me is how fast we eat it, even with the entire internet in our pocket.

When I saw WhatsApp and Twitter scream that DPRK banned laughing for 10 days, I assumed it was satire. Then “respectable” outlets ran it straight, sourced to an anonymous voice on…

Radio Free Asia. Which is part of the U.S. state media complex (rebranded as USAGM). Anonymous sourcing from an adversary’s state‑funded broadcaster about the adversary - this is Propaganda 101.

For the unfamiliar: RFA sat under the Broadcasting Board of Governors, since rebranded as USAGM. This umbrella also covers Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Marti, Alhurra, etc. The budget is public, the mission is not exactly neutral.

Back to the “ban.” The RFA piece quotes an anonymous source claiming even funerals must wait - corpses held for days. DPRK is opaque and authoritarian; also, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This had neither. But it had reach - because it flatters a familiar story.

So no, it’s not surprising that U.S. outlets laundered an RFA anecdote into gospel, and Indian media copy‑pasted it for clicks. Be mad at the pipeline, but be smarter than the feed. Minimal hygiene:

• Who benefits from you believing this?
• What is the original source? Can you read it? Is it primary?
• Are other independent outlets corroborating, or are they all quoting the same wire?
• Does the claim require evidence the source cannot plausibly have?

If the answer is “state media says so, anonymously,” treat it like a forwarded WhatsApp from your loudest uncle.