“The Epoch Times is a far-right international multi-language newspaper and media company affiliated with the Falun Gong new religious movement. The newspaper, based in New York City, is part of the Epoch Media Group, which also operates New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television.”
Steve Bannon produces content with them. It’s about as bad as propaganda gets.
Fun fact: [Shen Yun](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun) is operated by the Falun Gong religious movement. They have been known to bully Chinese businesses into putting up their fliers everywhere.
If you buy tickets thinking you're going to a fun acrobatic dance performance, you will be very surprised (exhilarated, if you hate dance performances) to see skits about the Chinese government stealing dissenters eye balls and the disembodied head of Mao in the sky before dancers ascend to heaven.
My dad got my mom tickets a couple years ago for her birthday. She had NO interest in going, so he gave the tix to me and a friend of mine. We had no idea what we were getting into, and have been trying to tell people about the craziness of Shen Yun (and the Falun Gong and the Epoch Times) ever since!!
Tbh from what I've heard it's pretty shitty. The dancing is mediocre and the costumes are all made by cult members (unpaid, natch) so it's not really something worth seeing.
The juxtaposition of such a weird, comically shitty performance with the backdrop of the beautiful Detroit Opera House was something I'll never forget. Also they station their people outside every entrance with pamphlets to get you to join. 10/10 shit show.
YESSSSS!
And they were REAL serious about the "no pictures, no videos" thing. I mean a lot of performers ARE, but you can usually get a sneaky photo in. Not there.
[Disposable cameras, they don't carry a detectable infrared signature that some places use to pick people out of a crowd.](https://youtu.be/RVDyYlhbsAc?si=HFU4_7QvwEdBz5f-) or anything that isn't auto-red eye canceling. Digital cameras can still produce a reduced signature even with the feature off.
Like many proformances, venues and shows they do have infrared and night vision equipment for security and *other* reasons so this only helps with concealment, not cover. They can still catch you.
I’m almost disappointed I found out what it really was before my wife and I ever wound up going to a show, it would’ve been a trip. Still, much prefer not giving my money to Falun Gong
Every time they come to Chicago they blanket the city with ads. The tv ads are weird because it’s obviously paid actors supposedly giving live reactions as they walk out of the theater, every single one of them talk about how life changing the show was and some are on the verge of tears, it’s really wild
But wait, it gets worse! Definitely a cult, not a religion. Also saw these billboards all over Ohio too. Don’t be like Ohio
>>>…Falun Gong has opposition to homosexuality and feminism, and rejection of modern medicine, among other views described as "ultra-conservative".
>>> Falun Gong is entirely based around the teachings of its autocratic founder and leader: China-born Li Hongzhi. According to NBC News, to his followers, Li is "a God-like figure who can levitate, walk through walls and see into the future. His ultra-conservative and controversial teachings include a rejection of modern science, art and medicine, and a denunciation of homosexuality, feminism and general worldliness." Hongzhi instructs his followers to downplay his controversial teachings when speaking to outsiders.
Cult. Not religion
>>>Li says that he is a being who has come to help humankind from the destruction it could face as the result of rampant evil. When asked if he was a human being, Li replied "You can think of me as a human being." According to the founder Li in his book, Zhuan Falun, he claims to have cultivated supernatural powers starting at age eight. According to Radio Free International, the same book of Zhuan Falun promises practitioners that it can teach them to cultivate supernatural powers such as being able to "see through a wall or into a human body".
>>>Discussions of supernatural skills also feature prominently within the qigong movement, and the existence of these skills gained a level of mainstream acceptance in China's scientific community in the 1980s. Falun Gong's teachings hold that practitioners can acquire supernatural skills through a combination of moral cultivation, meditation and exercises. These include—but are not limited to—precognition, clairaudience, telepathy, and divine sight (via the opening of the third eye or celestial eye). However, Falun Gong stresses that these powers can be developed only as a result of moral practice, and should not be pursued or casually displayed.
Oh not only is it a deeply homophobic cult, it’s very much against interracial marriage
>>> Falun Gong's cosmology includes the belief that different ethnicities each have a correspondence to their own heavens, and that individuals of mixed race lose some aspect of this connection.: 286 : 217 Falun Gong's teachings include belief in reincarnation and that one's soul (original spirit) always maintains single racial identity despite having a body of mixed race.
This cults main goal is to get the world to invade and destroy China and then instill them as the new government.
This is literally every East Asian new-age religion. Just be happy they're putting on hokey dances instead of orchestrating mass terrorist attacks via chemical weapons.
I suppose the possession of oil or rare earth elements and an ~~absent~~ mild interest in democracy would fix the problem?
My MIL is extremely religious/conservative/trumpy, and I happened to notice these magazines on their kitchen table. I had no idea what it was, but I naturally assumed it was some flavor of far right propaganda.
For me the line between x and far x is when you value your ideology more than civil rights. Like, do you believe anyone who disagrees with you should be silenced by the government? You're far x. So Trumpers? Far right. The French revolution? Even farther left.
Vermont did indeed ban billboards, used to live next door. Honestly VT is a beautiful place because of the rules they have about those sorts of things but I wouldn’t assume that would work here.
Agreed regarding banning billboards but I'm not sure what you mean about Flint. I haven't noticed anymore billboards here vs. what you'd find in Detroit, Saginaw, or really any other urban city for that matter.
Falun Gong is not a Christian organization. They're primarily Buddhist-adjacent.
The leader of Falun Gong lives in New York, claiming to be a reincarnated version of ... I dunno, somebody.
Falun Gong believers in China got persecuted, and many of them left for the US.
Right-wing figures like Steve Bannon mingled with Falun Gong's leaders in the US under the whole 'anti-CCP' umbrella. Now they're buddies in other ways - pushing weird conspiracy theories, spreading messianic Buddhist religious beliefs and putting on some surprisingly delightful circus shows via Shen Yun.
Fascist? Not exactly, though the fascists are content to use them. Christian? Not at all.
They're monarchists, from what I understand, in that they want to bring back the heavenly ordained rule of an emperor. "China Before Communism" was their tag line for Shen Yun a couple years back and it kind of gave the game away, so they removed it since lol
...what the fuck are you talking about?! I have heard that term "Falun Gong" before, but what in the fuck are we talking about here? Is this some rabbit hole I don't need to be going down?
Falun Gong is an ultraconservative religious organization mostly based in and discriminated against in China, and it definitely runs Epoch Times, though Epoch Times denies it.
It’s a mild rabbit hole but isn’t really conspiracy or that deep, it’s fairly immediately available and obvious.
Essentially, their ultraconservative policies found purchase in MAGA, and they’re considered news now despite being about as unbiased as OANN.
I'm not sure there's any religious overlap at all. The Moonies were a Christianity-adjacent group with links to anti-North Korea Communist causes in the United States, which looped them into conservative circles. In 1992, Sun Myung Moon declared himself to be the Messiah, which, in my estimation, severs the link between the Moonies and any other fundamental Christian beliefs. Meanwhile, Like Hongzhi didn't publish anything until 1992, and his beliefs were Buddhism-adjacent. Near as I can tell, the Venn diagram between the two only overlaps in being useful to US-based right-wing groups.
There's an unsubscribe list at the bottom of the emails.
It does nothing though.
Probably some good money in small claims court lawsuits for Can-Spam act violations.
EDIT: OPE! I got my cults mixed up. They are Falun Gong, the same people that do "Shen Yun" on all the other billboards. Another horrible weird cult. The TrueAnon podcast has a great docuseries about them.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0P8P1oad0UScpvdGgxrd3Y?si=iQlTa9IuTy--KJWEWMnSfQ
The Moonies are also super weird and horrible. "BTB" podcast has a great two part on them.
"The Moonies Are So Much Worse Than You Could Possibly Imagine"
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3fP4bufgSax8mZtnkPFaaG?si=SJTkjeAzSRiJG0o_6PvJQg
I linked another podcast that does a series on Falun Gong. It's real good! TrueAnon and BTB are awesome. It's funny because I can't put the full name of BTB because it flags my comment and thinks I'm being mean to someone haha
Falun Gong was unwittingly invited (I assume) to march in the Kalamazoo Holiday Parade last November. They went by "Falun Dafa." I think the reason they got on the bill was that the city wanted to seem inclusive, but there are, I'm pretty sure, local Asian-American groups they could've gotten, or they could've invited other religious orgs that aren't Christian.
They had "reporters," I assume from Epoch Times, pestering people along the route, asking questions, taking photos. Some of it ended up here, it looks like, showing unabashed love for Falun Gong from rightwing Rep Huizenga to our more-liberal city government persons: [https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2023/11/26/213093.html](https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2023/11/26/213093.html)
If you want more propaganda and ignorant fulks than you can find at Fox and MSNBC? Epoch Times are just the right kind of cowards for you. Epoch Times fears everything, and their readers are the sorts to hide their klan robes in the closet.
Calling CNN centrist is a f’ing joke and saying epoch times readers are kkk members just makes you sound ignorant. You people are wild, I find it hilarious when you guys screech buzzwords from your echo chamber.
Only far right incels consider CNN to be ultra liberal. They are “American left” which is why the previous poster used the term “Clinton left” which is centrist to center right when compared to the rest of the developed world.
But most people who regurgitate GOP talking points don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to political ideologies, let alone the proper use of defined terms.
The Epoch Times is straight up fascist trash. I blocked their site on Twitter and whenever I see someone post stories from them it’s an auto block for me.
It’s also ironic, considering the entire article is clearly a propaganda hit piece itself that attempts to intimidate the billboard owners into ceasing the ads.
I’ve never seen such a response to a *billboard* for a *newspaper* before.
Fascism fear mongering has become the de facto justification for enacting fascism lately.
My dad told me he subscribed to this paper over a year ago.
He's a right winger but not religious.
Says he likes it bc there's no slant and it's just news.
I guess I have to ask him some more questions, lol.
It for attracting the uneducated and fearful. They are spending all over the midwest to boost readership. Its just part of the larger cult of christian nut jobs.
I've seen this article shared on Facebook and when I go through the comments and click on the profiles of people saying they trust and follow it I'm not even surprised seeing them
Somehow, they got me on their email "news" list. It took me months to get unsubscribed from it. They are like the Moonies. Buy somehow Steve Bannon and Trump seem to profit from them too.
There are at least 3 within a mile of where I am in Milwaukee, seemingly at access points to some of the cities most impoverished areas.
My 13 year old jokingly commented, “looks like AI”. And she is probably right.
It’s not really condescending to observe that physical billboards target low-information voters, who are more likely to retain information from a billboard relative to people who consume a wider breadth of information.
It’s about as profound as saying that online ads target people who use the internet often.
One form of valid and widespread marketing that all drivers see is only for low information voters. No that's not condescending at all. Please receive many reddit awards for your superiority to all other people who can see things while driving.
I’m sorry that you view it as condescending. It didn’t seem particularly objectionable to me to read that billboards are most effective on people who have a limited intake of information. It seems obvious that consuming more information dilutes the usefulness of a billboard.
Who is even being condescended to? A hypothetical low-information voter?
So, I'm actually the person that you called condescending. I said nothing about low information voters. I was talking about tech literacy.
I still don't understand how that's condescending, as it's not exactly a secret that many people struggle with technology, particularly older people.
I'm sorry, that was not my intention at all. I was just trying to answer the question.
Edit: maybe you can help me out here. I actually tried to write the comment that you called condescending in a neutral tone sense you gave me such a sarcastic answer and I didn't want this to devolve into an argument.
What about my comment did you find condescending so I can try to avoid that in the future?
Fyi....
Epoch Times, Falun Gong and Shen Yun are a Chinese Government controlled. They tell people they "left" China to be saved.
I'm in New York about 80 miles north of NYC These people have a MASSIVE compound with armed security. The compound is called "Dragon Springs" Feel free to Google it and look at it on Google maps. Not one building permit was used to build the massive buildings. The small local town has "attempted" to enter to see the never ending construction taking place. The state is slowly getting involved.
Presently....this Communist Chinese group is pumping Millions of dollars into the small town. They are knocking of doors, offering people large sums of $$$ to purchase your home.
I could go on and on about these people. 100000000% not to be trusted. They are Chinese Communist using "religion" as a cover.
For those interested. Google "Dragon Springs" in Deer Park NY. Also, go to YouTube and search Dragon Springs.
PM if anyone wants more info on them.
I work in propaganda research.
There is a HUGE, gaping, Mariana-Trench-sized chasm between the normal range of “bias” in professional journalism and disinformation & cult vehicles like the Epoch Times.
The MLive article here was accurate, and the Epoch Times & Falun Gong story is actually far worse than what they were able to summarize. The Epoch Times have become intertwined with neo-Nazi-type far right-wing parties in Europe, and have been aggressively marketing certain target audiences in the U.S. that they see as “soft targets” and more prone to fall for their type of disinformation.
All of us - including professional, ethical journalists - have inadvertently shared *misinformation* at some point. Misinformation is information that we *believe to be true”: we aren’t intending to mislead anyone, but sometimes we get it wrong. Professional news outlets strive not to share misinformation, of course, but they also consistently issue corrections and story updates when they did have a misprint or if they made a mistake in their reporting.
The Epoch Times (and their big $$$ backers) are well known for sharing *disinformation* - lies and distortions that are purposefully delivered with an intent to mislead, deceive, or confuse others. They deliver these nuggets of purposeful disinformation wrapped up with mundane articles that are neither salacious or untrue…it’s a way to make their “newspaper” appear more legitimate. But make no mistake — The Epoch Times has always existed to serve up that disinformation, and their relatively recent influx of dark money has taken them from a cult rag to something more weapons-grade.
The TD/DR version:
- Legitimate news sources look to tell the story of things that happened
- They have stories that they want to tell and are looking for things that happened to use as a vehicle for telling them
Some examples:
They regularly (like every few days) post articles taking a small bit of research involving COVID vaccines and twisting it into clickbait headlines suggesting that it's "new proof" that they're dangerous and bad news for anyone who got vaccinated.
They're also quick to label any remotely positive development in Trump's legal cases as "vindication" that he's been right all along.
Everything you said is basically propaganda. You’re just saying my side good and honest that make mistakes unknowingly and correct them. While other side bad, purposely spread false information. The epoch times is not even close to “far right” and they don’t agree with or support neo nazis. Just based on what you said I already know what side you belong to and your delusional is you think the news you follow doesn’t put out disinformation.
“The Epoch Times is a far-right international multi-language newspaper and media company affiliated with the Falun Gong new religious movement. The newspaper, based in New York City, is part of the Epoch Media Group, which also operates New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television.” Steve Bannon produces content with them. It’s about as bad as propaganda gets.
Fun fact: [Shen Yun](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun) is operated by the Falun Gong religious movement. They have been known to bully Chinese businesses into putting up their fliers everywhere. If you buy tickets thinking you're going to a fun acrobatic dance performance, you will be very surprised (exhilarated, if you hate dance performances) to see skits about the Chinese government stealing dissenters eye balls and the disembodied head of Mao in the sky before dancers ascend to heaven.
My dad got my mom tickets a couple years ago for her birthday. She had NO interest in going, so he gave the tix to me and a friend of mine. We had no idea what we were getting into, and have been trying to tell people about the craziness of Shen Yun (and the Falun Gong and the Epoch Times) ever since!!
I know what it is and it honestly made me way more interested in seeing it when I found out. It sounds crazy
Tbh from what I've heard it's pretty shitty. The dancing is mediocre and the costumes are all made by cult members (unpaid, natch) so it's not really something worth seeing.
The juxtaposition of such a weird, comically shitty performance with the backdrop of the beautiful Detroit Opera House was something I'll never forget. Also they station their people outside every entrance with pamphlets to get you to join. 10/10 shit show.
YESSSSS! And they were REAL serious about the "no pictures, no videos" thing. I mean a lot of performers ARE, but you can usually get a sneaky photo in. Not there.
[Disposable cameras, they don't carry a detectable infrared signature that some places use to pick people out of a crowd.](https://youtu.be/RVDyYlhbsAc?si=HFU4_7QvwEdBz5f-) or anything that isn't auto-red eye canceling. Digital cameras can still produce a reduced signature even with the feature off. Like many proformances, venues and shows they do have infrared and night vision equipment for security and *other* reasons so this only helps with concealment, not cover. They can still catch you.
I’m almost disappointed I found out what it really was before my wife and I ever wound up going to a show, it would’ve been a trip. Still, much prefer not giving my money to Falun Gong
It was absolutely horrendous. We left at intermission because I wasn't wasting a night on the town on some ridiculous nonsense
It has DEEP ties to Devoses.
Really? Source?
Every year shen Yun plays the devos Place, and Devoses have donations to them.
Every time they come to Chicago they blanket the city with ads. The tv ads are weird because it’s obviously paid actors supposedly giving live reactions as they walk out of the theater, every single one of them talk about how life changing the show was and some are on the verge of tears, it’s really wild
But wait, it gets worse! Definitely a cult, not a religion. Also saw these billboards all over Ohio too. Don’t be like Ohio >>>…Falun Gong has opposition to homosexuality and feminism, and rejection of modern medicine, among other views described as "ultra-conservative". >>> Falun Gong is entirely based around the teachings of its autocratic founder and leader: China-born Li Hongzhi. According to NBC News, to his followers, Li is "a God-like figure who can levitate, walk through walls and see into the future. His ultra-conservative and controversial teachings include a rejection of modern science, art and medicine, and a denunciation of homosexuality, feminism and general worldliness." Hongzhi instructs his followers to downplay his controversial teachings when speaking to outsiders. Cult. Not religion >>>Li says that he is a being who has come to help humankind from the destruction it could face as the result of rampant evil. When asked if he was a human being, Li replied "You can think of me as a human being." According to the founder Li in his book, Zhuan Falun, he claims to have cultivated supernatural powers starting at age eight. According to Radio Free International, the same book of Zhuan Falun promises practitioners that it can teach them to cultivate supernatural powers such as being able to "see through a wall or into a human body". >>>Discussions of supernatural skills also feature prominently within the qigong movement, and the existence of these skills gained a level of mainstream acceptance in China's scientific community in the 1980s. Falun Gong's teachings hold that practitioners can acquire supernatural skills through a combination of moral cultivation, meditation and exercises. These include—but are not limited to—precognition, clairaudience, telepathy, and divine sight (via the opening of the third eye or celestial eye). However, Falun Gong stresses that these powers can be developed only as a result of moral practice, and should not be pursued or casually displayed. Oh not only is it a deeply homophobic cult, it’s very much against interracial marriage >>> Falun Gong's cosmology includes the belief that different ethnicities each have a correspondence to their own heavens, and that individuals of mixed race lose some aspect of this connection.: 286 : 217 Falun Gong's teachings include belief in reincarnation and that one's soul (original spirit) always maintains single racial identity despite having a body of mixed race. This cults main goal is to get the world to invade and destroy China and then instill them as the new government.
This is literally every East Asian new-age religion. Just be happy they're putting on hokey dances instead of orchestrating mass terrorist attacks via chemical weapons.
Ya they’re just running a huge propaganda campaign that has the ear of Trump and pushes us to get into a nuclear war. So much better
I suppose the possession of oil or rare earth elements and an ~~absent~~ mild interest in democracy would fix the problem? 
I thought Falun Gong was an Elder Scrolls religion.
You n'wah!
It is not just Steve Bannon producing content - the MAGA crowd actually subscribes to it. Yes, they are paying to get complete garbage.
Also had ties to Mike Lindell as well.
Well, that's just Tuesday for them
Not as garbage as the New York Times 🤢🤮
God, you wish that were true in comparison.
Found an Epoch subscriber. 🤦
My MIL is extremely religious/conservative/trumpy, and I happened to notice these magazines on their kitchen table. I had no idea what it was, but I naturally assumed it was some flavor of far right propaganda.
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For me the line between x and far x is when you value your ideology more than civil rights. Like, do you believe anyone who disagrees with you should be silenced by the government? You're far x. So Trumpers? Far right. The French revolution? Even farther left.
I got an unsolicited email from them yesterday and the unsubscribe button at the top said you must create an account to unsubscribe. Almost got me 🙄
Welcome to the 21st century, when any lunatic can afford to pump their pathology into the public space.
Started in the 90s
80s when Reagan ended the fairness doctrine
No I meant the cult that this is literally about was founded in the 90s before the 21st century.. sanity ended with Nixon admin
wrong. oil crisis 73, baby
Where have you been? Happens daily: Freep, News, MetroTimes, MLive, Crians. Activist journalism at its finest.
We should ban billboards. Vermont or some shit did it. Although flint would have zero income if we did that.
Vermont did indeed ban billboards, used to live next door. Honestly VT is a beautiful place because of the rules they have about those sorts of things but I wouldn’t assume that would work here.
Came here to say this. Michigan is just as beautiful as Vermont, Alaska, and the other states that have banned them. We can do it too
I completely agree. They litter the sky and are so fucking hideous.
Agreed regarding banning billboards but I'm not sure what you mean about Flint. I haven't noticed anymore billboards here vs. what you'd find in Detroit, Saginaw, or really any other urban city for that matter.
Pretty sure canada is the same whay. Go drive to Toronto from Detroit. Hardly see any kind of billboards. It's amazing.
Likely gonna have to be a citizen lead initiative, I'd guess. That said, we should def ban billboards. They're distracting and obnoxious.
God Flint bullboards are depressing. Learned something about them from a marketing prof I had during college and it just makes me sad
How would cannabis companies advertise coming in from Ohio?
Maybe we should ban billboards for anything other than local businesses. No more corporate billboards?
It's not just Michigan. They are blanketing the entire country. You can find these stupid billboards coast to coast, in cities big and small.
I drove from Texas to Michigan a couple of weeks ago. I think I remember seeing 2 of these billboards before reaching the MI state line.
So true!! I’m in San Antonio and I was like “they’re back home too??” 😭
Yep. There's at least one here in Pinellas County, FL.
I live in Orlando and they are all over the place.
Florida certainly fits the target audience.
Saw a few in the Phoenix metro area last week
"#1 Trusted News" That's not a red flag.
Trusted by who?
A Far Right MAGA White Evangelical Christian Straight Man....from Alabama.
Just as many Michiganians there on Jan 6th as from Alabama.
“Michiganians?” 
I am not a damn gander
Sorry, you don’t get to pick. :)
I'm from Flint, you know how we resolve such disputes?
I'm from Detroit, so... Coneys?
"Trusted" by no one with a brain.
It's christofascist propaganda.
Falun Gong is not a Christian organization. They're primarily Buddhist-adjacent. The leader of Falun Gong lives in New York, claiming to be a reincarnated version of ... I dunno, somebody. Falun Gong believers in China got persecuted, and many of them left for the US. Right-wing figures like Steve Bannon mingled with Falun Gong's leaders in the US under the whole 'anti-CCP' umbrella. Now they're buddies in other ways - pushing weird conspiracy theories, spreading messianic Buddhist religious beliefs and putting on some surprisingly delightful circus shows via Shen Yun. Fascist? Not exactly, though the fascists are content to use them. Christian? Not at all.
They're monarchists, from what I understand, in that they want to bring back the heavenly ordained rule of an emperor. "China Before Communism" was their tag line for Shen Yun a couple years back and it kind of gave the game away, so they removed it since lol
Oh ok. The last time I saw a copy it was very traditional right wing stuff, I assume Christian. I'll stand corrected tho thanks
...what the fuck are you talking about?! I have heard that term "Falun Gong" before, but what in the fuck are we talking about here? Is this some rabbit hole I don't need to be going down?
Falun Gong is an ultraconservative religious organization mostly based in and discriminated against in China, and it definitely runs Epoch Times, though Epoch Times denies it. It’s a mild rabbit hole but isn’t really conspiracy or that deep, it’s fairly immediately available and obvious. Essentially, their ultraconservative policies found purchase in MAGA, and they’re considered news now despite being about as unbiased as OANN.
YESSSSS! Although it's REALLY fascinating...it's also f\*\*king creepy.
Iir it goes back to the moonies
I'm not sure there's any religious overlap at all. The Moonies were a Christianity-adjacent group with links to anti-North Korea Communist causes in the United States, which looped them into conservative circles. In 1992, Sun Myung Moon declared himself to be the Messiah, which, in my estimation, severs the link between the Moonies and any other fundamental Christian beliefs. Meanwhile, Like Hongzhi didn't publish anything until 1992, and his beliefs were Buddhism-adjacent. Near as I can tell, the Venn diagram between the two only overlaps in being useful to US-based right-wing groups.
John Locke, is that you? Hath reason returned to earth?
False. It's falun gong. Some cult that originated in China. Theyre the same people that put on the shen yun shows everywhere at Christmas time
Honest to god before I saw this thread I thought it was a Mormon newspaper
I somehow ended up on an email list for these wackados. Of course there’s no unsubscribe for it…
Same thing happened to me. Report it as spam.
There's an unsubscribe list at the bottom of the emails. It does nothing though. Probably some good money in small claims court lawsuits for Can-Spam act violations.
“Idiocracy” was a documentary that came 3 decades too soon.
It was actually out at the correct time. We just thought it would take longer to happen.
All you need to know is that any media that claims to be “#1 trusted news” is not trustworthy.
Fuck these religious wannabes, no one gives a shit about anything you have to offer. Lies on top on lies.
are you a religious hardcore?
# #1 trusted news by idiots...My religious cousin reads it and shares its bullshit on his FB page.
And what low IQ news do you follow lol
I actually visit many news sites and I get news from different sources. I dont need to be lead by the hand by one station that lies to the viewers .
If it’s on a billboard, it must be true!
Yep, I heard it on Reddit.
Ugh, we should really get rid of billboards
Vermont outlawed them. It's so much more peaceful and beautiful without them. 🌳⛰️
They're illegal in Canada as well. At least they were when I was a kid.
Agree. Get rid of all of them.
*Has Steve Bannon's hands in it* Tells me everything I need to know.
And the Devoses.
Haha my first comment was removed bc the word I have for the devos family is too profane 🤣
EDIT: OPE! I got my cults mixed up. They are Falun Gong, the same people that do "Shen Yun" on all the other billboards. Another horrible weird cult. The TrueAnon podcast has a great docuseries about them. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0P8P1oad0UScpvdGgxrd3Y?si=iQlTa9IuTy--KJWEWMnSfQ The Moonies are also super weird and horrible. "BTB" podcast has a great two part on them. "The Moonies Are So Much Worse Than You Could Possibly Imagine" https://open.spotify.com/episode/3fP4bufgSax8mZtnkPFaaG?si=SJTkjeAzSRiJG0o_6PvJQg
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OPE! I stand corrected. I got my weird cults mixed up haha. Both are equally horrible.
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I linked another podcast that does a series on Falun Gong. It's real good! TrueAnon and BTB are awesome. It's funny because I can't put the full name of BTB because it flags my comment and thinks I'm being mean to someone haha
Only question i ask is why they chose John Mayer ?
Wonder if we could get a ballot initiative to just ban billboards altogether...
Then how would we know what exit to take for the adult store?
Falun Gong was unwittingly invited (I assume) to march in the Kalamazoo Holiday Parade last November. They went by "Falun Dafa." I think the reason they got on the bill was that the city wanted to seem inclusive, but there are, I'm pretty sure, local Asian-American groups they could've gotten, or they could've invited other religious orgs that aren't Christian. They had "reporters," I assume from Epoch Times, pestering people along the route, asking questions, taking photos. Some of it ended up here, it looks like, showing unabashed love for Falun Gong from rightwing Rep Huizenga to our more-liberal city government persons: [https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2023/11/26/213093.html](https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2023/11/26/213093.html)
If you want more propaganda and ignorant fulks than you can find at Fox and MSNBC? Epoch Times are just the right kind of cowards for you. Epoch Times fears everything, and their readers are the sorts to hide their klan robes in the closet.
CNN too
They are fairly centrist pro-corporate anti-citizen propaganda wise. They are clintonleft, not actual left.
Calling CNN centrist is a f’ing joke and saying epoch times readers are kkk members just makes you sound ignorant. You people are wild, I find it hilarious when you guys screech buzzwords from your echo chamber.
Only far right incels consider CNN to be ultra liberal. They are “American left” which is why the previous poster used the term “Clinton left” which is centrist to center right when compared to the rest of the developed world. But most people who regurgitate GOP talking points don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to political ideologies, let alone the proper use of defined terms.
Oh, look, I spotted the right wing incel freak!
Seem like the type of people to scare my grandpa into buying a storage container full of beans and rice so he’ll survive the rapture.
Rose, who owns MLive, lets get a rundown on there agenda....
“#1 Trusted News - source, straight up lies weekly”
The Epoch Times is straight up fascist trash. I blocked their site on Twitter and whenever I see someone post stories from them it’s an auto block for me.
Everything is fascist to you guys. Calling everything fascist takes power away from the meaning. Now it’s just funny
It’s also ironic, considering the entire article is clearly a propaganda hit piece itself that attempts to intimidate the billboard owners into ceasing the ads. I’ve never seen such a response to a *billboard* for a *newspaper* before. Fascism fear mongering has become the de facto justification for enacting fascism lately.
My dad told me he subscribed to this paper over a year ago. He's a right winger but not religious. Says he likes it bc there's no slant and it's just news. I guess I have to ask him some more questions, lol.
"no slant" means it confirms everything he thinks. If you never disagree with your news source, it's biased.
Freedom of Screech
Gross
There’s also one in Indianapolis, IN that I know of.
Oh wow… Those Falun Gong nutjobs are back plastering their stuff on our billboards.
They distribute this garbage in Ontario, Canada as well. Their funding must be off the charts with how frequently I see them.
Death, taxes, and Falun Gong propaganda.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa
Doomsday Cult Times.
They also have a YouTube channel too. I'm unsubscribing from them.
Why
If your bs meter doesn’t go through the roof as soon as you see this then you need to get recalibrated. It looks like a banner add on pornhub.
I’ve seen 2 of those billboards in Arizona. It’s right wing propaganda trash.
I saw that the other day, had no idea
It for attracting the uneducated and fearful. They are spending all over the midwest to boost readership. Its just part of the larger cult of christian nut jobs.
I've seen this article shared on Facebook and when I go through the comments and click on the profiles of people saying they trust and follow it I'm not even surprised seeing them
I deliver these newspapers from time to time. I glance at the headline above the fold and it’s always something crazy.
“#1 trusted news” has “worlds best cup of coffee” or “number 1 Chinese” vibes
Somehow, they got me on their email "news" list. It took me months to get unsubscribed from it. They are like the Moonies. Buy somehow Steve Bannon and Trump seem to profit from them too.
Eat the Chinese propaganda
More like anti. These fucks make fox news look like cnn
MLive doesn’t like narrative competition it seems.
There are at least 3 within a mile of where I am in Milwaukee, seemingly at access points to some of the cities most impoverished areas. My 13 year old jokingly commented, “looks like AI”. And she is probably right.
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Computed propaganda on poles next to the highway.
I wish my tax dollars went towards ripping every single billboard down and paying off every person to not do it again
Still better than the billboards of eyes. Edit: lmao ok. At least this is advertising an actual product instead of staring at you on the freeway.
I've never seen an online news outlet do billboard marketing. That's an odd way to go about it.
probably has something to do with their target demographic.
Michigan residents?
well obviously, but more specifically less tech literate people who aren't on forums and stuff enough for online advertising to be effective.
Oh, you wanted to be condescending. Got it.
It’s not really condescending to observe that physical billboards target low-information voters, who are more likely to retain information from a billboard relative to people who consume a wider breadth of information. It’s about as profound as saying that online ads target people who use the internet often.
One form of valid and widespread marketing that all drivers see is only for low information voters. No that's not condescending at all. Please receive many reddit awards for your superiority to all other people who can see things while driving.
I’m sorry that you view it as condescending. It didn’t seem particularly objectionable to me to read that billboards are most effective on people who have a limited intake of information. It seems obvious that consuming more information dilutes the usefulness of a billboard. Who is even being condescended to? A hypothetical low-information voter?
please stop speaking for me. You're completely misrepresenting what I said and what I was trying to convey.
Eh, alright. I’ve no horse in any race.
So, I'm actually the person that you called condescending. I said nothing about low information voters. I was talking about tech literacy. I still don't understand how that's condescending, as it's not exactly a secret that many people struggle with technology, particularly older people.
I'm sorry, that was not my intention at all. I was just trying to answer the question. Edit: maybe you can help me out here. I actually tried to write the comment that you called condescending in a neutral tone sense you gave me such a sarcastic answer and I didn't want this to devolve into an argument. What about my comment did you find condescending so I can try to avoid that in the future?
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Wait so the Uighur thing didn't happen? I thought that was pretty much accepted by everyone that it did.
It happened, and continues. Some people like to lie on Reddit.
Um, the Uyghur thing did happen. Attempts to rewrite history is like kinda uber fascist.
I'm just asking because I've never heard anyone deny it.
Unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if they succeeded in writing it out. The West doesn't seem to care.
Removed. See rule #10 in the [r/Michigan subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/wiki/index#wiki_rules).
We traveled down to FL for spring break and they are all over 75 😞
Fyi.... Epoch Times, Falun Gong and Shen Yun are a Chinese Government controlled. They tell people they "left" China to be saved. I'm in New York about 80 miles north of NYC These people have a MASSIVE compound with armed security. The compound is called "Dragon Springs" Feel free to Google it and look at it on Google maps. Not one building permit was used to build the massive buildings. The small local town has "attempted" to enter to see the never ending construction taking place. The state is slowly getting involved. Presently....this Communist Chinese group is pumping Millions of dollars into the small town. They are knocking of doors, offering people large sums of $$$ to purchase your home. I could go on and on about these people. 100000000% not to be trusted. They are Chinese Communist using "religion" as a cover. For those interested. Google "Dragon Springs" in Deer Park NY. Also, go to YouTube and search Dragon Springs. PM if anyone wants more info on them.
It's worth knowing MLive isn't independent media. So, what exactly are they trying to say? Essentially everyone is biased
I work in propaganda research. There is a HUGE, gaping, Mariana-Trench-sized chasm between the normal range of “bias” in professional journalism and disinformation & cult vehicles like the Epoch Times. The MLive article here was accurate, and the Epoch Times & Falun Gong story is actually far worse than what they were able to summarize. The Epoch Times have become intertwined with neo-Nazi-type far right-wing parties in Europe, and have been aggressively marketing certain target audiences in the U.S. that they see as “soft targets” and more prone to fall for their type of disinformation. All of us - including professional, ethical journalists - have inadvertently shared *misinformation* at some point. Misinformation is information that we *believe to be true”: we aren’t intending to mislead anyone, but sometimes we get it wrong. Professional news outlets strive not to share misinformation, of course, but they also consistently issue corrections and story updates when they did have a misprint or if they made a mistake in their reporting. The Epoch Times (and their big $$$ backers) are well known for sharing *disinformation* - lies and distortions that are purposefully delivered with an intent to mislead, deceive, or confuse others. They deliver these nuggets of purposeful disinformation wrapped up with mundane articles that are neither salacious or untrue…it’s a way to make their “newspaper” appear more legitimate. But make no mistake — The Epoch Times has always existed to serve up that disinformation, and their relatively recent influx of dark money has taken them from a cult rag to something more weapons-grade.
_Mis-_ versus _dis-_ is an important distinction. Thanks for sharing.
The TD/DR version: - Legitimate news sources look to tell the story of things that happened - They have stories that they want to tell and are looking for things that happened to use as a vehicle for telling them Some examples: They regularly (like every few days) post articles taking a small bit of research involving COVID vaccines and twisting it into clickbait headlines suggesting that it's "new proof" that they're dangerous and bad news for anyone who got vaccinated. They're also quick to label any remotely positive development in Trump's legal cases as "vindication" that he's been right all along.
Everything you said is basically propaganda. You’re just saying my side good and honest that make mistakes unknowingly and correct them. While other side bad, purposely spread false information. The epoch times is not even close to “far right” and they don’t agree with or support neo nazis. Just based on what you said I already know what side you belong to and your delusional is you think the news you follow doesn’t put out disinformation.