Steve Bannon’s podcast is the best spreader of misinformation, study finds

Some liberal podcasters or their guests have also shared false or unsubstantiated statements, including statements by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York on child poverty or immigration, which fact-checkers facts have qualified as “false” or “mostly false”.

But Dr Wirtschafter said conservative shows far outrank liberal shows in sharing misleading information. Many podcast hosts, she said, have taken advantage of pandemic fears to captivate anxious Americans. A list of anti-vaccination activists and armchair experts have pushed baseless theories about the coronavirus and Covid-19 vaccines. They said Covid could be treated or cured using ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine, two existing drugs, despite evidence that they were not effective.

“What we find is that everyone is a health expert, all because they saw a study,” Dr. Wirtschafter said.

Mr. Bannon, for example, frequently solicited evidence during guest interviews, expressing an apparent search for the truth. But, as excerpts from these interviews show, he often gave his guests the last word, rarely endorsed opposing viewpoints, and rarely warned his audience to wait for more information.

“Maybe there is nuance or debate in the conversation,” Dr. Wirtschafter said, but Mr. Bannon leaves listeners with the stark impression that officials and institutions are “totally lying to you,” he said. -she adds.

“I would agree with that characterization of the world,” Natalie Winters, co-host and editor of “War Room,” said in an interview. She added that the show’s goal was to “go against traditional narratives, to provide counterpoint to them.”

Mr Bannon appeared confused in an episode after Steve Kirsch, a tech mogul and founder of the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation, an anti-vaccine group, said it was unclear what was there. inside the vaccine.