Being a participant in the information war is, for most people, limited to snarky comments left on social media or, for the more hardcore among us, purchasing nutraceuticals to help support a favorite podcaster. This article, however, collects four obscure techniques, three of which require little or no expense. They are ideal for the budget-conscious and are, at the same time, cutting-edge. You can re-watch an episode of Mission Impossible to put yourself in the correct frame of mind. Incidentally, the techniques we'll describe were all employed in Western New York State, a contender for being the belly of the beast.
THE INFILTRATOR
When a city councilor attempted to fight a socialist uprising in his small city of Geneva, New York, and was interviewed by UncoverDC about the situation, he recalled the origin of his political awakening. He said he'd been very liberal earlier in life and, due to that, had become an infiltrator in conservative circles. He hoped to expose their crimes. Things didn't work out as planned. Councilor William Pealer said,
"The main reason I'm a Republican since college is because I was far more liberal then than I am now, and I bought into this lie that the Republican Party was filled with white supremacists, the KKK, radical conservatives, and Christian radicals.
I bought into that, so I joined the Republican Party so that I could root them out! And you know what I found? Nothing! It was a lie! It was a bunch of Boy Scouts, right?
A Republican Committee meeting in Geneva reminds me of a Boy Scout meeting and a pancake fundraiser."
I bought into that, so I joined the Republican Party so that I could root them out! And you know what I found? Nothing! It was a lie! It was a bunch of Boy Scouts, right?
A Republican Committee meeting in Geneva reminds me of a Boy Scout meeting and a pancake fundraiser."
Pealer's description of a committee meeting made me laugh, but the idea of mixing in with the enemy came up again later in our interview. When asked if he'd have advice for politicians dealing with their own Marxist uprisings, he said he hadn't been in politics long enough to offer any other politician guidance. He did, however, have a suggestion for any concerned citizen. He suggested a technique ideal for someone who has recently switched affiliation from Democrat to conservative and can still talk the liberal talk. He said,
"Know your Democratic Committee in your community and start going to their meetings if they're open and public and … I've even thought about re-registering to Democrat so that I can root out the Marxists and communists in my community because that's what's… See, that's the problem in Geneva is we're three-fifths Democratic voters, but ninety percent of those Democrats are very autopilot Democrats. They just vote Democrat. They don't know what's going on with the Democrat Party of their community, and if you talk to these Democrats, the vast majority are conservative Kennedy Democrats.
So, when you tell them that the vice president of the Democrat Committee in Geneva is a communist?!?"
THE ARCHIVIST
When I was able to land an exclusive interview with a woman who had been making headlines nationally, the story was, unfortunately, practically buried due to its – in hindsight – too modest title: "New York Interview Leads to National Mask Propaganda"
In the days before the UncoverDC interview was published, people heard about the woman from unflattering articles accompanied by her particularly lousy mugshot. The photograph, coupled with the tone of the headlines, made her out to be a typical Jerry Springer guest. Newsweek, for instance, ran this headline: "Face-Mask Confrontation Sees Mom Allegedly Encouraging Child to Punch School Bus Monitor"
While the story about Laine Mulye and her son was provocative, of interest in the context of this article is a second story that was spun off from it. The new story was a feature about an acquaintance of Mulye's, Lauren Kunz.
While the article about Mulye was being written, her lawyer requested that she not speak to UncoverDC about the day of the incident, so her friend Kunz acted as an intermediary, relaying a second-hand understanding of the bus fracas. More than simply providing the gist of conversations she'd had with Mulye, Kunz acted as an archivist and storyteller. She had collected social media posts from some of Mulye's adversaries. Kunz made those materials available, along with a story arc into which they all fit.
This is how I see what Kunz did as repeatable by others: Imagine, for example, that in some city today, protestors are arrested at a leftist demonstration gone wild. After regional reporters have moved on from briefly covering the event, incriminating social media posts from the arrested protestors may be scrubbed from the internet, or appear after the fact. A citizen activist like Kunz, who collects posts like those, could be invaluable to local conservative commentators or reporters. With a few phone calls, she could make her efforts felt far and wide without ever lifting a pen.
In the days after first talking to Kunz about Mulye, I caught a local radio show where the host summarized Mulye's story and, based on the aspects the host accented, I wondered if she'd talked to Kunz. When I next spoke to Kunz, I found out she had. Kunz said the radio host had gone on air minutes after their conversation.
In the UncoverDC story devoted to Kunz, I asked about the process of collecting social media posts. As a researcher, I was interested in something she'd said pre-interview. She'd mentioned that she doesn't only pull screenshots; she sometimes videos herself going through posts online. This was her reasoning for that:
In the days before the UncoverDC interview was published, people heard about the woman from unflattering articles accompanied by her particularly lousy mugshot. The photograph, coupled with the tone of the headlines, made her out to be a typical Jerry Springer guest. Newsweek, for instance, ran this headline: "Face-Mask Confrontation Sees Mom Allegedly Encouraging Child to Punch School Bus Monitor"
While the story about Laine Mulye and her son was provocative, of interest in the context of this article is a second story that was spun off from it. The new story was a feature about an acquaintance of Mulye's, Lauren Kunz.
While the article about Mulye was being written, her lawyer requested that she not speak to UncoverDC about the day of the incident, so her friend Kunz acted as an intermediary, relaying a second-hand understanding of the bus fracas. More than simply providing the gist of conversations she'd had with Mulye, Kunz acted as an archivist and storyteller. She had collected social media posts from some of Mulye's adversaries. Kunz made those materials available, along with a story arc into which they all fit.
This is how I see what Kunz did as repeatable by others: Imagine, for example, that in some city today, protestors are arrested at a leftist demonstration gone wild. After regional reporters have moved on from briefly covering the event, incriminating social media posts from the arrested protestors may be scrubbed from the internet, or appear after the fact. A citizen activist like Kunz, who collects posts like those, could be invaluable to local conservative commentators or reporters. With a few phone calls, she could make her efforts felt far and wide without ever lifting a pen.
In the days after first talking to Kunz about Mulye, I caught a local radio show where the host summarized Mulye's story and, based on the aspects the host accented, I wondered if she'd talked to Kunz. When I next spoke to Kunz, I found out she had. Kunz said the radio host had gone on air minutes after their conversation.
In the UncoverDC story devoted to Kunz, I asked about the process of collecting social media posts. As a researcher, I was interested in something she'd said pre-interview. She'd mentioned that she doesn't only pull screenshots; she sometimes videos herself going through posts online. This was her reasoning for that:
"Some of the pages like the community forums, yes, I would get a video. I take a video of myself scrolling through all the posts because legally, the only way if Laine decides to sue the school district—which I hope she does for what they've done to this poor woman—the only way to connect those people's comments to the original post is if it's all one long string. Otherwise, they'd say if the post is gone, 'We have no way to know you just didn't take comments from over here and say they're connected to this.'"
While the first two people we've profiled can work their magic out of the limelight and may benefit from being undercover, the next two can only be effective in the public eye.
THE RADIO STAR
It's the rare radio program, even with the benefit of being on a major commercial station, that can skyrocket to a top position in its market. Promoting a show to number one can take more than an advertising campaign. It may take a cutting-edge broadcast.
Kimberly Ray was a typical radio host in a morning zoo-type arrangement where she'd banter with her co-host and guests during drive time on station 98.9 The Buzz. An invention of hers, however, made her show unexpectedly successful. It was something she called "the fourth man." She recalled the origin of the name:
"I can't remember what football team it was. Maybe Seattle. They were always talking about their—what?—twelfth man? They had a number. If I knew football well enough. But, you know, [co-host] Barry [Beck] and I had been talking about that. We thought that could be a great name for our listeners.
We needed something to call the listeners, and there were the two of us and a producer, and so we just decided to call the listeners' the fourth man.'"
We needed something to call the listeners, and there were the two of us and a producer, and so we just decided to call the listeners' the fourth man.'"
Whether they knew where the term "the fourth man" originated, any regular listener of The Kimberly & Beck Show understood the concept.
It hardly mattered what the day's lead local story was: homicide, a pawn shop being raided, a girl gone missing, whatever it might be, some listener who knew the inside story would call in to tell it. Every listener in the county seemed to know that if they or an acquaintance had been caught up in a crime making headlines, they called Kimberly & Beck.
Ray recalled how "the fourth man" concept developed:
"It started when we were on mornings. It started, probably going back to maybe 2005. And just like with any show, your show kind of evolves, and we had been syndicated in five cities at the time—up until about 2006, we were syndicated in five cities—and people would call in, and you'd call them by their name, and that's just something normal.
And the show kind of evolved, and people were calling us and giving us tips, and, 'Hey, did you know this was going on in my neighborhood?' So, we just decided to make people a part of our show because we wanted people to feel like they were a part of the working group.
And the show kind of evolved, and people were calling us and giving us tips, and, 'Hey, did you know this was going on in my neighborhood?' So, we just decided to make people a part of our show because we wanted people to feel like they were a part of the working group.
Because, really, listeners to our show were instrumental in how we did our show. And our success. I don't think our show would have ever evolved to the point of success that it was without 'the fourth man.'"
Interestingly, management at their station in the early 2000s didn't expect Ray and Beck to connect with audiences as well as they did. Nor did management care if they did a superlative job. Ray recalled:
"Michael Doyle—the general manager at Entercom at the time—when he hired us said, 'You'll never be more than like fifth or sixth. We don't expect you to be.' And I looked at Barry and said, 'Those expectations are really low. I don't want to be the fifth show in town. I don't want to be the sixth show in town. That's all they expect us to get?'
Because, of course, there was Wease [Brother Wease]. He was number one at the time. And there were another two guys—I can't think of their names, but they went to the Boston area. They had pretty good ratings. I think [Howard] Stern was on at the time, still on terrestrial radio. So, I went, 'Barry, I don't want to be fifth or sixth forever. That's a drag.'
Because, of course, there was Wease [Brother Wease]. He was number one at the time. And there were another two guys—I can't think of their names, but they went to the Boston area. They had pretty good ratings. I think [Howard] Stern was on at the time, still on terrestrial radio. So, I went, 'Barry, I don't want to be fifth or sixth forever. That's a drag.'
And I looked at Michael Doyle and said, 'We're going to be number one or number two.' He kind of laughed at me and said, 'Well, I like your attitude.' And I'm like, 'Okaaay.'
So, by 2006, 2007, we were either number one or number two, going up against The Bee, WBEE. We went back and forth with them on number one or number two from that point of 2006, 2007 on. We were never any lower than number one or number two."
So, by 2006, 2007, we were either number one or number two, going up against The Bee, WBEE. We went back and forth with them on number one or number two from that point of 2006, 2007 on. We were never any lower than number one or number two."
Ray did an end-run around local news media by using listeners to tell the stories behind the day's headlines. Her ability to get the inside scoop was arguably a reason that all knives were out for her among the city's media and political elite. She was fired from two radio stations following controversial comments she'd made on air, with the press feeding the public outrage against her. Following the second termination, she began podcasting before moving out of state and finding work again on terrestrial radio.
FLY IN THE OINTMENT
The most radical technique we'll examine is employed by a man who goes by the handle "The King of Rochester." The radio industry blogger designs his work to harass on-air talent. Many people may feel that as one-sided as their local news reporting is, there's no way to strike back at their city's newscasters or radio commentators. It can seem that the local media personalities have platforms the size of which no citizen can hope to match. The King of Rochester—a prank phone caller by nature—stumbled onto a way to kick back at them.
The King's method of attack began with an early interest in The Howard Stern Show and a prank phone caller, Captain Jenks, who appeared on the show. The King recounted his fascination with Jenks:
The King's method of attack began with an early interest in The Howard Stern Show and a prank phone caller, Captain Jenks, who appeared on the show. The King recounted his fascination with Jenks:
"They would feature this guy named Captain Janks completely tormenting a radio guy named Don DeBella in Philadelphia because Stern had just syndicated there.
I just laughed, not because what he was doing was especially funny in itself, but to listen to these radio hosts that think they're Mr. Cool completely not be able to handle this type of a caller struck me as funny. It's like The Wizard of Oz; they're pulling open the curtain, and there's nothing there.
It was funny that some little pipsqueak guy who Stern used to make fun of—a five-foot-three guy—was able to almost break down an entire station just by fooling around."
I just laughed, not because what he was doing was especially funny in itself, but to listen to these radio hosts that think they're Mr. Cool completely not be able to handle this type of a caller struck me as funny. It's like The Wizard of Oz; they're pulling open the curtain, and there's nothing there.
It was funny that some little pipsqueak guy who Stern used to make fun of—a five-foot-three guy—was able to almost break down an entire station just by fooling around."
The King tried his hand at tormenting local media personalities by phone but then started a blog where he'd rail against them. In the creation of a blog, The King tripped across something unique.
If a performer imitates another in the same field as himself, the imitator is considered, to some degree, a hack. If The King worked in radio—and did a poor man's version of his radio idol Howard Stern—or made prank phone calls along the lines of Jenks', he might only be that. The King, however, was in unchartered territory when he became a blogger successfully pulling inspiration from outside his discipline, from radio. He became the blogger equivalent of shock jock radio.
The King's blog made its way under the skin of any number of regional celebrities, but he never came so close to toppling one of them as when UncoverDC devoted a two-part article to him. The tail-end of the article was more open-ended than it ideally should have been, however. The episode in The King's life that UncoverDC reported on had yet to resolve itself. I'll quickly bring the incident to its conclusion here.
If a performer imitates another in the same field as himself, the imitator is considered, to some degree, a hack. If The King worked in radio—and did a poor man's version of his radio idol Howard Stern—or made prank phone calls along the lines of Jenks', he might only be that. The King, however, was in unchartered territory when he became a blogger successfully pulling inspiration from outside his discipline, from radio. He became the blogger equivalent of shock jock radio.
The King's blog made its way under the skin of any number of regional celebrities, but he never came so close to toppling one of them as when UncoverDC devoted a two-part article to him. The tail-end of the article was more open-ended than it ideally should have been, however. The episode in The King's life that UncoverDC reported on had yet to resolve itself. I'll quickly bring the incident to its conclusion here.
RATTLING AN ICON
Radio personality Bob Lonsberry, for conservatives in Monroe County, New York, is essential listening considering his depth of knowledge of local politics and for the interviews he conducts with the region's movers and shakers. He also, however, routinely uses the advantages of a radio host. When a woman felt she'd been taken advantage of sexually by the married and self-righteous Lonsberry, she contacted The King of Rochester. And who better? He had a platform ideally suited to dish gossip about big fish in Rochester's pond.
When The King began blogging about the woman, Lonsberry arguably weighed in on the growing controversy. An anonymous writer expressed, in part, in the comments section below The King's blog about the scorned woman:
"I ask you to take this down in hopes of protecting my family, completely innocent people. Please don't help me bring them pain. There are no excuses for me. You're right in your condemnation."
While Lonsberry didn't address the controversy on his radio show directly, he released a column apologizing for hurting people close to him. Among other confessions included in the column, he said,
"Hell is a fire of your own building, which you heap on the heads of others. And I find myself in the last quarter of life having destroyed the life of everyone who has ever loved me."
The radio host appeared worried that the story might snowball. There were rumors at the time that additional women waited in the wings with their own grody stories involving him. Those stories would eventually surface.
In the end, Lonsberry withstood the storm and kept his show. However, he'd been an enormous beneficiary of Kimberly Ray's final termination from Rochester radio. As much of a resolution as there was to the Lonsberry controversy came when Ray devoted an entire episode of her fledgling podcast to three of Lonsberry's accusers – the woman featured in the King of Rochester blog as well as two previous unknowns.
Ray featured the accusers live in the studio, telling their sometimes-explicit stories of interactions with Lonsberry. Had the episode been broadcast live on terrestrial radio in drivetime, there's no telling the waves it could have made. Regardless, The King's near-miss at spearing Lonsberry made a good case for the effectiveness of his blog.
Ray featured the accusers live in the studio, telling their sometimes-explicit stories of interactions with Lonsberry. Had the episode been broadcast live on terrestrial radio in drivetime, there's no telling the waves it could have made. Regardless, The King's near-miss at spearing Lonsberry made a good case for the effectiveness of his blog.
Listen to a discussion of this article at WEBR Radio
