PragerU relies on a veneer of respectability to obscure its propagandist mission

[Demovictory9]

https://www.mediamatters.org/dennis-prager/prageru-relies-veneer-respectability-obscure-its-propagandist-mission

PragerU relies on a veneer of respectability to obscure its propagandist mission
WRITTEN BY PARKER MOLLOY

Despite the name, Prager University is not, to quote from the disclaimer pasted on the bottom of its homepage, “an accredited academic institution” -- nor does it “offer certifications or diplomas.”

Despite its claim that its videos are being “censored” by social media platforms, the site boasts that those same videos have racked up more than 2.45 billion views across YouTube and Facebook.

Despite -- once again, quoting from its homepage -- being “a place where you are free to learn,” it’s liable to leave you misinformed.


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No one article can truly encapsulate Prager’s decades of political commentary, but he did a pretty decent job summarizing his own worldview in a March column in the National Review. In the piece, he explained why he didn’t believe the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to disrupt the 2016 election:

But the biggest reason I never believed the Russian collusion charge was that the charge emanated from the left. And the Left lies about everything. Truth is a liberal value, and truth is a conservative value, but it has never been a left-wing value. People on the left say whatever advances their immediate agenda. Power is their moral lodestar; therefore, truth is always subservient to it.

…
No one article can truly encapsulate Prager’s decades of political commentary, but he did a pretty decent job summarizing his own worldview in a March column in the National Review. In the piece, he explained why he didn’t believe the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to disrupt the 2016 election:

But the biggest reason I never believed the Russian collusion charge was that the charge emanated from the left. And the Left lies about everything. Truth is a liberal value, and truth is a conservative value, but it has never been a left-wing value. People on the left say whatever advances their immediate agenda. Power is their moral lodestar; therefore, truth is always subservient to it.

If you always doubt a leftist claim, you will almost always be closer to the truth. I employed that rule in concluding the collusion story was a fraud, and it served me well.

There’s a big difference between critical thinking and reflexive contrarianism. A 2011 blog post shines further light on how Prager sees the world:

Ever since I attended college, I have been convinced that either “studies” confirm what common sense suggests or that they are mistaken. I realized this when I was presented with study after study showing that boys and girls were not inherently different from one another, and they acted differently only because of sexist upbringings.

To Prager, if evidence doesn’t support his existing beliefs, the evidence must be wrong

. This is instructive when it comes to understanding what kind of education one might get from a diet of PragerU videos.

[underpants]

1. 👀 I breezed through this a bit but it's good analysis. PragerU on Facebook is an interest of mine.

I know that Facebook ages me and that you wouldn't think Facebook would connect with the under 35 crowd... but...

It is a soft sell. No screaming. It goes back to the beginning of the right wing's "common sense" "matter of fact" propaganda core. They have seemingly benign (operatives) experts. They have some really annoying young guy with a Johnny Bravo hair do doing on campus interviews that are highly edited. Prager himself does "Fireside chats" and lets face it a fire is mesmerizing- you'll watch it and the words just filter into your brain. Prager uses the fire like Fox News uses soft core news porn and juuuust a bit above weirdo level camera angles.

Thanks for posting. I'll add this to PragerU posts on Facebook. Yes, I'm old.

[Jim__]

2. "And the Left lies about everything." And "the left" is whoever he proclaims it to be on any ...

... given day.

So, no matter who claims there was Russian collusion, Prager can just proclaim that's "the left."

[ck4829]

3. You know when you're debating politics and a right winger posts an *opinion* and ends it w "FACT"?

That's basically PragerU in a nutshell.

[Demovictory9]

4. that's how his radio show operates. He states his beliefs as fact

and seems confused that the majority no longer have the same beliefs as a 73 year old guy who grew up when his demographic ruled

[TheRealNorth]

5. I will occasionally get YouTube ads from these hucksters

So they spread a lot of disinformation on YouTube also.