Talk:Project Veritas

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Q1: Why does this article describe Project Veritas negatively?

A1: Wikipedia's aim is not to ensure articles are neither overtly positive or negative, but to ensure articles are written based on what reliable sources say; the neutral point of view policy defines neutrality as representing fairly, proportionately, and, as far as possible, without editorial bias, all the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic. This means that if many reliable sources have a negative opinion of a subject, the article will most likely be negative. Since most reliable sources describe Project Veritas negatively, this article also describes Project Veritas negatively.

Q2: Why does this article say that Project Veritas is far-right?

A2: The "far-right" descriptor is amply and reliably sourced. Over a dozen independent and reliable sources describe Project Veritas as a far-right organization. Please see these references for details.

Q3: Why does this article say that Project Veritas is an "activist group"?

A3: The "activist" descriptor is based on many multiple independent and reliable sources. These sources describe Project Veritas as an activist organization or a group of activists. Please see these references for details.

Q4: Why does this article say that Project Veritas edited videos "deceptively"?

A4: The "deceptive" phrasing is cited to many multiple high-quality reliable sources. More than a dozen independent and reliable sources describe Project Veritas editing its videos in a "deceptive", "misleading", or "manipulative" manner. Please see these references for details.

Q5: But what if the sources are biased?

A5: Reliable sources are, according to Wikipedia:Reliable sources § Biased or opinionated sources, not required to be neutral, unbiased, or objective. If you have reliable sources that express contrary points of view or refute any statements in this article, please feel free to discuss them here. If you are unsure if a source is reliable, you can check to see if it is listed at Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Perennial sources § Sources or search the archives of Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard to see if its reliability has been discussed in the past.

Q6: Shouldn't this article avoid using as sources media outlets against which Project Veritas has published exposés?

A6: Some editors have made the argument that, because Project Veritas has targeted various news outlets (such as The Washington Post, CNN, and NPR) in its operations, those news outlets should be considered unreliable with respect to Project Veritas due to conflict of interest. A 2020 discussion at Wikipedia talk:Verifiability found that disqualification of sources based on alleged conflicts of interest such as this did not have community consensus.

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Expose CNN

So one of CNN executives admitted on video they are propaganda and has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people. Yet no mention here yet? That's kinda big. I would say it is notable and reliable information, being that it has been seen by soon to be millions of people, and came directly from the guys mouth on video.Airpeka (talk) 14:09, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Given how they operate I would rather wait till we see third-party analysis of what was actually said by whom and in what context.Slatersteven (talk) 14:23, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You mean have a court hearing where CNN is sued, takes the stand and a jury decides? Sounds good to me. Maybe we should get some class action stuff started.Airpeka (talk) 15:09, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

No I mean where an RS is given access to the full, unedited, video and then has an analysis of what is in fact actually said in response to what.Slatersteven (talk) 15:18, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Airpeka, what are the multiple RS which document this? Please provide them so we know what you're talking about. For curiosity's sake, please provide the PV source as well. -- Valjean (talk) 14:43, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Has this been reported in any reliable sources yet? (And no, Project Veritas is not a reliable source.) I don't see it. Saxones288 (talk) 23:55, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

There's none of your "reliable sources" (read: only left wing sources) because project veritas is exposing their far-left agenda. There is a clear conflict of interest.

New York Times is citing this Wikipedia article in their lawsuit. So you are actually influencing actual lawsuits by spreading lies about project veritas here. User:Sal at PV come help your company from slander dude. 2605:B100:D10:5DD6:F5E8:9044:9D5D:4D2C (talk) 00:04, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

See? You can't even talk here without getting reverted, if you say something local censors don't like. They will just whine about their "reliable sources", which is just an arbitrary demand to make writing non defamatory things about PV and other organizations impossible. And also to make criticism of CNN and other progressive media impossible, since they are those "reliable sources" and of course they won't inform about themselves being exposed for manipulating the public discourse and the election. THese people don't accept a video of CCN leadership saying they manipulated the election, just because PV made it. But would accept it, if CNN reposted it, (since it is about them). And they don't even see this as weird in their doublethink. And now they also erase dissenting people from talk pages to create impression that their opinion is the only existing one. Kinda like when Twitter purged Keefe for that CNN gig.Vojtaruzek (talk) 00:28, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

If you do not want to follow the verifiability policy, which states that "All material in Wikipedia mainspace, including everything in articles, lists and captions, must be verifiable" and that "verifiability means other people using the encyclopedia can check that the information comes from a reliable source", then Wikipedia is not a good fit for your contributions. One of these alternative outlets may be a better fit. There are conservative sources that are considered reliable on Wikipedia. However, as a disinformation outlet, Project Veritas is not one of them. — Newslinger talk 03:20, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

So basically CNN said that Veritas saying CNN lied are lies. Move along, nothing to see here. But when police say they don't think police did anything wrong, we should make an article about it. 2601:602:9200:1310:1566:8AD6:E36B:6609 (talk) 06:57, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Reliable sources, including high-quality academic sources, confirm that Project Veritas has repeatedly propagated disinformation (including fake news) in its videos and operations. See the sources cited in Special:Permalink/1018085423 § cite note-disinformation-14 for details. — Newslinger talk 07:02, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

CNN is not the only source we use.Slatersteven (talk) 08:35, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 16 April 2021

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1- Project Veritas’ purpose is NOT Disinformation. They show videos of people actually talking, unlike our MSM that ask the public to trust “Sources”.

2- Project Veritas is NOT a Far-Right Organization. They actually expose the Right Wing Politicians and news outlets just the same.

3- (Personal attack removed)... you are hurting your image and driving it into the ground. 173.2.161.24 (talk) 01:00, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. — Newslinger talk 01:06, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia has for quite sometime been excellent at creating and using the 'broken feedback loop' method. unfortunately for them this is no longer and invisible hand. Project Veritas Wall of shame shows how successful they have been in their endeavors to expose the lies and falsities of those organisations that they have been stacked up against. Wiki is losing trust by the day here, and now that we have one of the founders explaining this problem within it on Tim Pool, it is obvious for all to see. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.161.166.80 (talk) 05:06, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You may be interested in the high-quality academic publications cited in this article. Here is a sample:

Despite seething antipathy toward journalism, Veritas assays to coopt the prestige of the profession and to penetrate its mainstream discourses (as flagged in the epigram). While the status of professional journalism has absorbed blows in recent decades, it retains the greatest reach for news discourse. In this view, Veritas seeks the prize of the mainstream's approval and its vestigial prestige that O'Keefe otherwise dismisses. Hence, "Project Veritas journalist" title cards in its videos tendentiously assert Veritas personnel's qualifications to mainstream specifications. Despite its bids for professional authority, Veritas manifestly defies the letter and the spirit of journalism ethics.

Goss, Brian Michael (March 12, 2018). "Veritable Flak Mill". Journalism Studies. 19 (4): 548–563. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2017.1375388. ISSN 1461-670X. S2CID 149185981.

In November 2017, for example, the right-wing disinformation outfit Project Veritas tried to trip up the Washington Post, offering the Post a fake informant who told the Post that Roy Moore had impregnated her when she was a teenager. The sting operation was intended to undermine the credibility of the Post’s reporting on Roy Moore's alleged pursuit and harassment of teens when he was a 30-something-year-old. Rather than jumping at the opportunity to develop the Moore story, the Washington Post's reporters followed the professional model—checked out the source, assessed her credibility, and ultimately detected and outed the attempt at manipulation. Mainstream media editors and journalists must understand that they are under a sustained attack, sometimes as premeditated and elaborate as this sting, usually more humdrum.

Benkler, Yochai; Faris, Rob; Roberts, Hal (October 2018). "What Can Men Do Against Such Reckless Hate?". Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation and Radicalization in American Politics. Oxford University Press. p. 358. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190923624.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-092362-4. OCLC 1045162158. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.

False information can make movements defend the accuracy of their own claims and materials because of doubt sowed by countermovements and governments (Tufekci 2017). For instance, Project Veritas, an alt-right group, has a track record of attacking movements through misleading editing of videos and through fabricated 'sting' operations (Benkler et al. 2018).

Tumber, Howard; Waisbord, Silvio (March 24, 2021). The Routledge Companion to Media Disinformation and Populism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-34678-7. Retrieved 19 March 2021 – via Google Books.

An additional example of the growing spread of fake news financed by billionaires is Project Veritas, an organization run by James O'Keefe that specializes in operations against the media (e.g., recently against the Washington Post and the New York Times). According to the Washington Post, relying on documents fielded with the International Revenue Service, Project Veritas received $1.7 million in 2017 from charity associated with the Koch brothers. Furthermore, other contributors to Project Veritas in recent years include Gravitas Maximus LLC, an organization controlled by the Mercer family.

Cagé, Julia (February 11, 2021). "From Philanthropy to Democracy: Rethinking Governance and Funding of High-Quality News in the Digital Age". In Bernholz, Lucy; Landemore, Hélène; Reich, Rob (eds.). Digital Technology and Democratic Theory. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-74860-3. Retrieved 27 March 2021 – via Google Books.

Key is if—and it is a big if—it is possible to verify the truth of the material through supporting documentation, including notes and raw footage, and expert or independent analysis, and the forthrightness of the editing of the report, tape, or transcript. In the end, these considerations, I think, matter more than the impetus for its creation. In the Ron Schiller instance, these standards were not met before the video got wide mainstream play. Although Project Veritas described the footage as "largely the raw video" redacted only in one brief section to ensure the safety of an NPR correspondent overseas, analysis by others (interestingly, the most impressive was done by fellow conservatives at Glenn Beck’s The Blaze) pinpointed instances of highly selective editing of the two-hour hidden camera taping—discrediting it, even though the slanted finesses did not concern the key comments that forced the two Schillers out.

Kroeger, Brooke (August 31, 2012). "Watchdog". Undercover Reporting: The Truth About Deception. Northwestern University Press. pp. 249–254. ISBN 978-0-8101-2619-0. JSTOR j.ctt22727sf.17. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020 – via JSTOR.

— Newslinger talk 05:36, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

CNN 2021 expose

Why all the hedging on this video expose? The content has now been reported widely by outlets including Newsweek and ABC News (especially after O'Keefe was suspended by Twitter for posting the videos), and the identity of the CNN employee is also verified. Wikipedia seems to be perfectly fine with posting possibly defamatory statements about other public figures and companies, so I don't understand the reluctance about CNN. Pkeets (talk) 14:54, 16 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]