m Reverted 1 edit by 2600:1700:7731:7490:A808:3CCA:7601:CF58 (talk) to last revision by Hipal |
Undid revision 998702825 by Hipal (talk) if you want to remove material, you should make a specific argument about which parts you want removed and why. The Charlottesville material has not even been brought up on the talk page. Will create talk topic of over partisan censorship - may have to give vandalism warnings Tags: Undo Reverted |
||
Line 70: | Line 70: | ||
According to a 2019 report in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', PragerU videos have been watched more than 2 billion times and were becoming a staple on college campuses.<ref name="LATimes2019"/> In its 2019 annual report, PragerU stated that its videos have received over 2.5 billion lifetime views.<ref name=":2" /> PragerU has ranked highly in influence compared to other free-market advocacy organizations, such as [[Reason (magazine)|''Reason'']] and ''[[National Review]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 2020 Ranking Of Free-Market Think Tanks Measured By Social Media Impact|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrochafuen/2020/03/27/the-2020-ranking-of-free-market-think-tanks-measured-by-social-media-impact/|last=Chafuen|first=Alejandro|date=March 27, 2020|website=[[Forbes]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330010112/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrochafuen/2020/03/27/the-2020-ranking-of-free-market-think-tanks-measured-by-social-media-impact/|archive-date=March 30, 2020|access-date=March 30, 2020}}</ref> |
According to a 2019 report in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', PragerU videos have been watched more than 2 billion times and were becoming a staple on college campuses.<ref name="LATimes2019"/> In its 2019 annual report, PragerU stated that its videos have received over 2.5 billion lifetime views.<ref name=":2" /> PragerU has ranked highly in influence compared to other free-market advocacy organizations, such as [[Reason (magazine)|''Reason'']] and ''[[National Review]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 2020 Ranking Of Free-Market Think Tanks Measured By Social Media Impact|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrochafuen/2020/03/27/the-2020-ranking-of-free-market-think-tanks-measured-by-social-media-impact/|last=Chafuen|first=Alejandro|date=March 27, 2020|website=[[Forbes]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330010112/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrochafuen/2020/03/27/the-2020-ranking-of-free-market-think-tanks-measured-by-social-media-impact/|archive-date=March 30, 2020|access-date=March 30, 2020}}</ref> |
||
''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' said PragerU "packages right-wing social concepts into slick videos" and that PragerU was "one of the most effective conversion tools for young conservatives."<ref>{{cite web|title='Let Me Make You Famous': How Hollywood Invented Ben Shapiro|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/12/how-hollywood-invented-ben-shapiro|last=Nguyen|first=Tina|date=December 9, 2018|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715171013/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/12/how-hollywood-invented-ben-shapiro|archive-date=July 15, 2019|access-date=December 24, 2018}}</ref> |
''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' said PragerU "packages right-wing social concepts into slick videos" and that PragerU was "one of the most effective conversion tools for young conservatives."<ref>{{cite web|title='Let Me Make You Famous': How Hollywood Invented Ben Shapiro|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/12/how-hollywood-invented-ben-shapiro|last=Nguyen|first=Tina|date=December 9, 2018|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715171013/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/12/how-hollywood-invented-ben-shapiro|archive-date=July 15, 2019|access-date=December 24, 2018}}</ref> |
||
Sociologist Francesca Tripodi described the effect of PragerU's videos in a report for the Data & Society Research Institute.<ref name="Tripodi2">{{cite report|url=https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Data_Society_Searching-for-Alternative-Facts.pdf|title=Searching for Alternative Facts: Analyzing Scriptural Inference in Conservative News Practices|last=Tripodi|first=Francesca|date=May 2018|publisher=Date & Society Research Institute|access-date=December 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628060217/https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Data_Society_Searching-for-Alternative-Facts.pdf|archive-date=June 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2018 study, Tripodi used [[Candace Owens]] and [[James Damore]] as case studies in order to demonstrate that there is a YouTube algorithmic connection between [[Fox News]], PragerU, and [[alt-right]] YouTube personalities.<ref name="Tripodi2" /><ref name="SPLC2">{{cite web|title=PragerU's Influence|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/07/prageru%E2%80%99s-influence|last=Kelley|first=Brendan Joel|date=June 7, 2018|website=Hatewatch|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200430072515/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/07/prageru%E2%80%99s-influence|archive-date=April 30, 2020|access-date=September 8, 2018}}</ref> Tripodi wrote that PragerU relies on "[[search engine optimization]] and suggested content to elevate their messaging," and that PragerU's content "allows for those who identify as mainline conservatives to gain easy access to [[White supremacy|white supremacist]] logic."<ref name="SPLC2" /> On page 36 of her report, Tripodi noted that PragerU was very popular among the respondents who participated in her study. She noted that regardless of age, all participants in her study confirmed either having liked or shared PragerU videos on Facebook. Tripodi also noted: 'Sites like PragerU create an opportunity to dabble in content that seems extremely innocuous, yet makes connections to the same kinds of ‘revelations’ pushed out by the alt-right."<ref name="buzzfeed_2018-03-032" /> |
Sociologist Francesca Tripodi described the effect of PragerU's videos in a report for the Data & Society Research Institute.<ref name="Tripodi2">{{cite report|url=https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Data_Society_Searching-for-Alternative-Facts.pdf|title=Searching for Alternative Facts: Analyzing Scriptural Inference in Conservative News Practices|last=Tripodi|first=Francesca|date=May 2018|publisher=Date & Society Research Institute|access-date=December 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628060217/https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Data_Society_Searching-for-Alternative-Facts.pdf|archive-date=June 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2018 study, Tripodi used [[Candace Owens]] and [[James Damore]] as case studies in order to demonstrate that there is a YouTube algorithmic connection between [[Fox News]], PragerU, and [[alt-right]] YouTube personalities.<ref name="Tripodi2" /><ref name="SPLC2">{{cite web|title=PragerU's Influence|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/07/prageru%E2%80%99s-influence|last=Kelley|first=Brendan Joel|date=June 7, 2018|website=Hatewatch|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200430072515/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/07/prageru%E2%80%99s-influence|archive-date=April 30, 2020|access-date=September 8, 2018}}</ref> Tripodi wrote that PragerU relies on "[[search engine optimization]] and suggested content to elevate their messaging," and that PragerU's content "allows for those who identify as mainline conservatives to gain easy access to [[White supremacy|white supremacist]] logic."<ref name="SPLC2" /> On page 36 of her report, Tripodi noted that PragerU was very popular among the respondents who participated in her study. She noted that regardless of age, all participants in her study confirmed either having liked or shared PragerU videos on Facebook. Tripodi also noted: 'Sites like PragerU create an opportunity to dabble in content that seems extremely innocuous, yet makes connections to the same kinds of ‘revelations’ pushed out by the alt-right."<ref name="buzzfeed_2018-03-032" /> PragerU's videos are often highly visible and accessible, with a report by the Data & Society Research Institute finding that a YouTube search for the keywords "social justice" returned a PragerU video that was highly critical of the concept as the first result.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Rebecca |title=Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube |url=https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/DS_Alternative_Influence.pdf |website=Data & Society Research Institute |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221230827/https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/DS_Alternative_Influence.pdf |archive-date=21 December 2020 |page=31 |date=2018}}</ref> |
||
A ''[[Buzzfeed News]]'' article published in 2018 attributed PragerU's success to the quality of its production values compared to similar outlets and to its use of popular presenters with established audiences. The article also noted that it had received comparatively little attention from news and media analysts due to PragerU's lack of coverage of topical issues, such as Donald Trump.<ref name="buzzfeed_2018-03-032"/> |
A ''[[Buzzfeed News]]'' article published in 2018 attributed PragerU's success to the quality of its production values compared to similar outlets and to its use of popular presenters with established audiences. The article also noted that it had received comparatively little attention from news and media analysts due to PragerU's lack of coverage of topical issues, such as Donald Trump.<ref name="buzzfeed_2018-03-032"/> |
||
''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'' has criticized PragerU's claims of being censored by [[big tech]] companies for being false, as the company's content had not been removed from any social media platforms, and that they indicate a misunderstanding of the [[First Amendment]] as protecting a party from any type of censorship, when that law merely protects content from censorship by the government.<ref>{{cite web|title=PragerU Does Not Understand Censorship|url=https://reason.com/2019/07/30/prageru-does-not-understand-censorship/|last=Binion|first=Bill|date=July 30, 2019|work=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200430073801/https://reason.com/2019/07/30/prageru-does-not-understand-censorship/|archive-date=April 30, 2020|access-date=February 2, 2020}}</ref> |
''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'' has criticized PragerU's claims of being censored by [[big tech]] companies for being false, as the company's content had not been removed from any social media platforms, and that they indicate a misunderstanding of the [[First Amendment]] as protecting a party from any type of censorship, when that law merely protects content from censorship by the government.<ref>{{cite web|title=PragerU Does Not Understand Censorship|url=https://reason.com/2019/07/30/prageru-does-not-understand-censorship/|last=Binion|first=Bill|date=July 30, 2019|work=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200430073801/https://reason.com/2019/07/30/prageru-does-not-understand-censorship/|archive-date=April 30, 2020|access-date=February 2, 2020}}</ref> |
||
PragerU has drawn scrutiny for platforming controversial figures including the [[far-right]] activists [[Paul Joseph Watson]], [[Milo Yiannopoulos]] and [[Stefan Molyneux]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Krigel |first1=Noah |title="We're not the party to bitch and whine": Exploring US democracy through the lens of a college Republican club. |journal=Interface: A Journal on Social Movements |date=2020 |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=499 |url=https://www.interfacejournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Interface-12-1-Krigel.pdf |access-date=6 January 2021 |quote=Famous for its weekly five-minute videos which have garnered billions of views, PragerU argues that “the Left” is “akin to hate groups” (p. 39) and that mainstream media is untrustworthy. It also promotes white nationalist thought by far-right thinkers such as Paul Joseph Watson, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Stefan Molyneux (Tripodi, 2017).}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tripodi |first1=Francesca |title=SEARCHING FOR ALTERNATIVE FACTS Analyzing Scriptural Inference in Conservative News Practices |url=https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Data_Society_Searching-for-Alternative-Facts.pdf |website=Data & Society |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111191707/https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Data_Society_Searching-for-Alternative-Facts.pdf |archive-date=16 December 2020 |date=2018}}</ref> |
|||
=== Critiques of videos === |
=== Critiques of videos === |
||
Line 85: | Line 87: | ||
[[Alex Nowrasteh]] of the [[Cato Institute]] criticized a 2018 PragerU video by [[Michelle Malkin]] as being anti-immigration. Nowrasteh wrote that the video was "rife with errors and half-truths, leaves out a lot of relevant information, and comes to an anti-''legal'' immigration conclusion that is unsupported by the evidence presented in the rest of the video."<ref name=":12">{{Cite news|last=Nowrasteh|first=Alex|author-link=Alex Nowrasteh|date=September 26, 2018|title=PragerU's "A nation of immigrants" video has serious problems|work=Cato at Liberty|publisher=[[Cato Institute]]|url=https://www.cato.org/blog/pragerus-nation-immigrants-video-has-serious-problems|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115170806/https://www.cato.org/blog/pragerus-nation-immigrants-video-has-serious-problems|archive-date=January 15, 2020}}</ref> |
[[Alex Nowrasteh]] of the [[Cato Institute]] criticized a 2018 PragerU video by [[Michelle Malkin]] as being anti-immigration. Nowrasteh wrote that the video was "rife with errors and half-truths, leaves out a lot of relevant information, and comes to an anti-''legal'' immigration conclusion that is unsupported by the evidence presented in the rest of the video."<ref name=":12">{{Cite news|last=Nowrasteh|first=Alex|author-link=Alex Nowrasteh|date=September 26, 2018|title=PragerU's "A nation of immigrants" video has serious problems|work=Cato at Liberty|publisher=[[Cato Institute]]|url=https://www.cato.org/blog/pragerus-nation-immigrants-video-has-serious-problems|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115170806/https://www.cato.org/blog/pragerus-nation-immigrants-video-has-serious-problems|archive-date=January 15, 2020}}</ref> |
||
A 2018 video about [[immigration to Europe]] presented by author [[Douglas Murray (author)|Douglas Murray]] titled "The Suicide of Europe" drew criticism for purportedly "evok[ing] the common white nationalist trope of [[white genocide]] with its rhetoric of 'suicide' and 'annihilation'.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kotch |first1=Alex |title=Who funds PragerU's anti-Muslim content? |url=https://readsludge.com/2018/12/27/who-funds-pragerus-anti-muslim-content/ |website=Sludge |access-date=20 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108101120/https://readsludge.com/2018/12/27/who-funds-pragerus-anti-muslim-content/ |archive-date=8 November 2020 |date=27 December 2018}}</ref> [[Mark Pitcavage]], a fellow at the [[Anti-Defamation League]]'s Center on Extremism, said that there was "almost certainly prejudice in the video" and that it was "filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric" but that the video wasn't fascist or white nationalist.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kotch |first1=Alex |title=Who funds PragerU's anti-Muslim content? |url=https://readsludge.com/2018/12/27/who-funds-pragerus-anti-muslim-content/ |website=Sludge |access-date=20 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108101120/https://readsludge.com/2018/12/27/who-funds-pragerus-anti-muslim-content/ |archive-date=8 November 2020 |date=27 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Bridge Initiative Team |title=Factsheet: PragerU |url=https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-prageru/ |website=Bridge: a Georgetown University Initiative |access-date=20 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101042209/https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-prageru/ |archive-date=4 November 2020 |date=17 March 2020}}</ref> The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] described the video as a "[[dog whistle]] to the [[far-right politics|extreme right]]",<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brendan |first1=Brendan Joel |title=PragerU's Influence |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/07/prageru%E2%80%99s-influence |website=SPLC Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212142815/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/07/prageru%E2%80%99s-influence |archive-date=12 December 2020 |date=7 June 2018}}</ref> while Evan Halper in the [[Los Angeles Times|''Los Angeles Times'']] said the video "echoed some of the talking points of the [[alt-right]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Halper |first1=Evan |title=How a Los Angeles-based conservative became one of the internet’s biggest sensations |url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-22/dennis-prager-university-conservative-internet-sensation |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=5 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218183936/https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-22/dennis-prager-university-conservative-internet-sensation |archive-date=18 December 2020 |date=23 August 2019 |quote=Prager says he disavows the alt-right ideology that has gained ground in the Trump era, but the online lessons often echo some of the movement’s talking points. A video of Dinesh D’Souza, the right-wing author, opining on why Western cultures are superior to others has been viewed 4.7 million times, for example. Another, featuring Douglas Murray, the British author of several books about Europe and immigration, laments that North African and Middle Eastern immigrants have been permitted to destroy European culture by refusing to assimilate. It has 6.7 million views}}</ref> |
|||
In 2018, [[Anti-Defamation League]] fellow [[Mark Pitcavage]] criticized the PragerU video "The Suicide of Europe" by [[Douglas Murray (author)|Douglas Murray]] as prejudiced, saying it contained anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric.<ref name="Sludge2" /> |
|||
The August 2018 video "The Charlottesville Lie" presented by [[CNN]] presenter Steve Cortes contested the claim that in the wake of the [[Unite the Right rally]] [[Donald Trump]] had used the phrase "very fine people on both sides" to refer to [[neo-Nazis]] and [[white supremacists]]. Cortes said in the video, which was later retweeted by Trump himself, that the media had committed "journalistic malfeasance" in reporting it as such.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wagner |first1=John |last2=Parker |first2=Ashley |title=Trump shares controversial video recasting his Charlottesville comments |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-shares-controversial-video-recasting-his-charlottesville-comments/2019/08/13/426fcfa2-bdb5-11e9-9b73-fd3c65ef8f9c_story.html |website=The Washington Post |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202065447/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-shares-controversial-video-recasting-his-charlottesville-comments/2019/08/13/426fcfa2-bdb5-11e9-9b73-fd3c65ef8f9c_story.html |archive-date=2 December 2020 |date=14 August 2019}}</ref> Tim Murphy in [[Mother Jones]] called the video an attempt to "rewrite the History of [[Unite the Right rally|Charlottesville]]",<ref>{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Tim |title=Donald Trump and His Allies Are Trying to Rewrite the History of Charlottesville |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/09/donald-trump-and-his-allies-are-trying-to-rewrite-the-history-of-charlottesville/ |website=Mother Jones |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211085702/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/09/donald-trump-and-his-allies-are-trying-to-rewrite-the-history-of-charlottesville/ |archive-date=11 December 2020 |date=3 September 2020}}</ref> while [[University of Virginia]] professor [[Larry Sabato]] bluntly rejected Cortes' notion, saying that "Anybody who tries to pretend that [Trump] wasn't encouraging the white nationalists is simply putting their head in the sand".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hawes |first1=Spencer |title=Video Reopens Debate On Trump's Charlottesville Comments |url=https://vpm.org/news/articles/5910/video-reopens-debate-on-trumps-charlottesville-comments |website=News | VPM |access-date=6 January 2021 |date=7 August 2019}}</ref> [[Dennis Prager]] himself contended in [[The Australian]] that [[Google]] placed the video on [[YouTube]]'s restricted list within hours of it being uploaded in an act of politically motivated censorship.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Praeger |first1=Dennis |title=Thou shalt have no other gods but Google |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/thou-shalt-have-no-other-gods-but-google/news-story/8726979b903b618f1d225659bcf9335c |website=The Australian |access-date=6 January 2021 |date=8 August 2019}}</ref> Cortes ceased working for CNN in January 2020, saying that he was "forced out" of the network for making the PragerU video defending Trump.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brest |first1=Mike |title=Trump defender says he was ousted by CNN for condemning 'the Charlottesville lie' |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-defender-says-he-was-fired-by-cnn-for-condemning-the-charlottesville-lie |website=Washington Examiner |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206223442/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-defender-says-he-was-fired-by-cnn-for-condemning-the-charlottesville-lie |archive-date=6 December 2020 |date=21 January 2020}}</ref> |
|||
[[Snopes]] criticized the video "How To End White Privilege", saying, "In essence, it offers the notion that, because [ex-police officer Brandon] Tatum’s race did not provide any barrier to his successes, [[white privilege]] must not be real". The article provided explanations for questions brought up in the video such as white privilege, [[Redlining#Mortgages|mortgage loans between black and white people]], and [[Housing segregation in the United States|black and white rates of home ownership]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ex-Cop Brandon Tatum's Success Doesn't Disprove White Privilege|url=https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/06/17/brandon-tatum-white-privilege/|access-date=2020-06-28|website=Snopes.com|language=en-US}}</ref> |
[[Snopes]] criticized the video "How To End White Privilege", saying, "In essence, it offers the notion that, because [ex-police officer Brandon] Tatum’s race did not provide any barrier to his successes, [[white privilege]] must not be real". The article provided explanations for questions brought up in the video such as white privilege, [[Redlining#Mortgages|mortgage loans between black and white people]], and [[Housing segregation in the United States|black and white rates of home ownership]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ex-Cop Brandon Tatum's Success Doesn't Disprove White Privilege|url=https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/06/17/brandon-tatum-white-privilege/|access-date=2020-06-28|website=Snopes.com|language=en-US}}</ref> |
Revision as of 01:05, 7 January 2021
![]() | |
Formation | 2009 |
---|---|
Founders | |
Website | prageru |
PragerU | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal information | ||||||||||
Nationality | American | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2009–present | |||||||||
Genres |
| |||||||||
Subscribers | 2.8 million[1] | |||||||||
Total views | 1.15 billion[1] | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
Last updated: December 2020 |
PragerU, short for Prager University, is an American media company that creates videos on various political, economic, and philosophical topics from an American conservative perspective.[2] The organization was co-founded by Allen Estrin and talk show host and writer Dennis Prager.[2][3][4][5] The organization relies on donations, and much of its early funding came from fracking billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks.[2][5]
PragerU is a non-profit organization but is not an academic institution and does not offer certifications or diplomas.[5][6]
History
PragerU was founded in 2009 by conservative radio talk show host Dennis Prager and radio producer and screenwriter Allen Estrin,[7] in order to advocate for conservative views and to offset what Prager regards as the undermining of college education by the left.[4][8] The two originally considered making it a brick-and-mortar university, but the idea was revised into a digital product to save money.[5] PragerU is based in the San Fernando Valley,[2] and it had around 50 employees as of January 2020.[5]
Since a lawsuit over the use of a photograph in 2013, PragerU has used animation in its videos.[9] According to its CEO, Marissa Streit, a group of approximately 500 students called "PragerFORCE" promotes its videos.[8] PragerU reached a billion views in 2018.[2]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Dennis_Prager_%2832566262648%29.jpg/220px-Dennis_Prager_%2832566262648%29.jpg)
In July 2019, PragerU representative Allen Estrin attended President Donald Trump's Social Media Summit, along with other conservative organizations and people such as Charlie Kirk and James O'Keefe.[10][11]
Conflicts with YouTube and Facebook
In October 2016, PragerU published a petition which said that YouTube had unjustly put 21 of PragerU's videos in YouTube's "restricted mode" setting, which limits views based on factors such as the viewer's age. The petition requested that YouTube remove the videos from restricted mode.[12][13] YouTube responded, saying: "We aim to apply the same standards to everyone and we don’t censor anyone. Often it’s not the right approach to say that videos with the same topic should get the same rating. We’ll need to take into consideration what the intent of the video is, what the focus of the video is, what the surrounding metadata of the video explains."[4]
In October 2017, PragerU filed a federal lawsuit against Youtube's parent company, Google, claiming that 37 of its videos were unfairly demonetized or flagged so that they could only be viewed with "restricted mode filtering", which limits views based on certain characteristics, including the age of the viewer.[14] PragerU claimed that Google's actions violated the First Amendment and asserted YouTube was a public forum. In March 2018, the case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, who ruled that because Google was a private company, PragerU had failed to show that it had infringed its free speech rights.[15][16][17] In February 2020, this ruling was upheld by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.[18][19]
In August 2018, PragerU criticized YouTube for adding fact-checks to YouTube videos which cover climate change.[20]
In August 2018, Facebook removed two PragerU videos from its platform, later restoring the videos, saying that they "were mistakenly removed."[3][21] According to Francesca Tripodi, professor of sociology at James Madison University, there are plausible non-ideological explanations for Facebook's removal of several of the videos.[22] PragerU contended that Facebook had engaged in deliberate censorship of their videos.[3][21]
Funding
The organization depends on donations to produce its content.[23] Much of the early funding for PragerU came from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks.[2][5] Two members of the Wilks family are on PragerU's board.[2] The next-largest donor is the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.[7][24] Other donors include the Morgan Family Foundation, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Donors Trust, and the Minnesota-based Sid and Carol Verdoorn Foundation, led by former C.H. Robinson CEO Sid Verdoorn.[24]
As of 2018, the organization reportedly had a $10 million annual budget, of which it spent more than 40% on marketing.[2] In 2019, PragerU raised $22 million and expects to receive $25 million in 2020.[5][25] PragerU consistently spends more on Facebook advertising than major political campaigns and national advocacy groups.[26] It ranks among the 10 biggest political spenders on the platform.[26]
Content
PragerU releases one video per week on various topics from a conservative viewpoint that according to its site "advances Judeo-Christian values". Its videos, although topical, largely avoid mentioning U.S. President Donald Trump.[5][23][27] As of May 2020[update], its YouTube channel included 968 videos.[28] Each video costs between $25,000 and $30,000 to create.[2]
Videos on PragerU have supported and argued for capitalism, argued against a $15 minimum wage, and that gun ownership is a constitutional right. Dave Rubin stated in a video: "racism, bigotry, xenophobia, homophobia, and Islamophobia" are "meaningless buzzwords". In a video discussing the alt-right, Michael Knowles argues that it is similar to the American Left, saying: "the alt-Right has nothing in common with conservatism, and is in fact much closer to leftism... Except of course, the left is much, much larger."[2]
PragerU videos have also defended the Electoral College, arguing that "pure democracies do not work" and that the Electoral College thwarts voter fraud.[7] PragerU promotes fossil fuels and disputes the scientific consensus on climate change; in one of the organization's videos, fossil fuel proponent Alex Epstein promotes misinformation about climate change, including false and misleading claims.[29] According to Mother Jones, still other videos argue there is no police discrimination toward African-Americans and that the gender pay gap does not exist.[7]
PragerU has developed two partnership programs to help cultivate relationships with educators. PragerU's Educator Program supplies teachers with lesson plans and study guides that accompany their videos. Secondary school teachers and college professors can register their classes through PragerU's Academic Partnership program, which lets students sign up and allows teachers to monitor their students' progress.[30]
Reception
According to a 2019 report in the Los Angeles Times, PragerU videos have been watched more than 2 billion times and were becoming a staple on college campuses.[26] In its 2019 annual report, PragerU stated that its videos have received over 2.5 billion lifetime views.[25] PragerU has ranked highly in influence compared to other free-market advocacy organizations, such as Reason and National Review.[31]
Vanity Fair said PragerU "packages right-wing social concepts into slick videos" and that PragerU was "one of the most effective conversion tools for young conservatives."[32]
Sociologist Francesca Tripodi described the effect of PragerU's videos in a report for the Data & Society Research Institute.[33] In a 2018 study, Tripodi used Candace Owens and James Damore as case studies in order to demonstrate that there is a YouTube algorithmic connection between Fox News, PragerU, and alt-right YouTube personalities.[33][34] Tripodi wrote that PragerU relies on "search engine optimization and suggested content to elevate their messaging," and that PragerU's content "allows for those who identify as mainline conservatives to gain easy access to white supremacist logic."[34] On page 36 of her report, Tripodi noted that PragerU was very popular among the respondents who participated in her study. She noted that regardless of age, all participants in her study confirmed either having liked or shared PragerU videos on Facebook. Tripodi also noted: 'Sites like PragerU create an opportunity to dabble in content that seems extremely innocuous, yet makes connections to the same kinds of ‘revelations’ pushed out by the alt-right."[2] PragerU's videos are often highly visible and accessible, with a report by the Data & Society Research Institute finding that a YouTube search for the keywords "social justice" returned a PragerU video that was highly critical of the concept as the first result.[35]
A Buzzfeed News article published in 2018 attributed PragerU's success to the quality of its production values compared to similar outlets and to its use of popular presenters with established audiences. The article also noted that it had received comparatively little attention from news and media analysts due to PragerU's lack of coverage of topical issues, such as Donald Trump.[2]
Reason has criticized PragerU's claims of being censored by big tech companies for being false, as the company's content had not been removed from any social media platforms, and that they indicate a misunderstanding of the First Amendment as protecting a party from any type of censorship, when that law merely protects content from censorship by the government.[36]
PragerU has drawn scrutiny for platforming controversial figures including the far-right activists Paul Joseph Watson, Milo Yiannopoulos and Stefan Molyneux.[37][38]
Critiques of videos
In a video entitled "Why Did the Democratic South Become Republican?", host Carol M. Swain, a professor at Vanderbilt University, argued that the Southern strategy—a historical narrative alleging that the Republican Party purposely exploited racial tensions to appeal to racist white Southerners—was false revisionism. Kevin M. Kruse, a professor of history at Princeton University, said that the video presented a "distortion" of history, "cherry-picked" its evidence, and was an "exercise in attacking a straw man".[34]
Historian and philosopher Paul Gottfried, who has written extensively on the subject of fascism, harshly criticized a PragerU video hosted by Dinesh D'Souza which maintained that fascism was a leftist ideology. D'Souza maintained that Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, who influenced Italian fascism, was a leftist, to which Gottfried noted that this contradicted the research by "almost all scholars of Gentile’s work, from across the political spectrum, who view him, as I do in my study of fascism, as the most distinguished intellectual of the revolutionary right."[39]
Alex Nowrasteh of the Cato Institute criticized a 2018 PragerU video by Michelle Malkin as being anti-immigration. Nowrasteh wrote that the video was "rife with errors and half-truths, leaves out a lot of relevant information, and comes to an anti-legal immigration conclusion that is unsupported by the evidence presented in the rest of the video."[40]
A 2018 video about immigration to Europe presented by author Douglas Murray titled "The Suicide of Europe" drew criticism for purportedly "evok[ing] the common white nationalist trope of white genocide with its rhetoric of 'suicide' and 'annihilation'.[41] Mark Pitcavage, a fellow at the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, said that there was "almost certainly prejudice in the video" and that it was "filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric" but that the video wasn't fascist or white nationalist.[42][43] The Southern Poverty Law Center described the video as a "dog whistle to the extreme right",[44] while Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times said the video "echoed some of the talking points of the alt-right".[45]
The August 2018 video "The Charlottesville Lie" presented by CNN presenter Steve Cortes contested the claim that in the wake of the Unite the Right rally Donald Trump had used the phrase "very fine people on both sides" to refer to neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Cortes said in the video, which was later retweeted by Trump himself, that the media had committed "journalistic malfeasance" in reporting it as such.[46] Tim Murphy in Mother Jones called the video an attempt to "rewrite the History of Charlottesville",[47] while University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato bluntly rejected Cortes' notion, saying that "Anybody who tries to pretend that [Trump] wasn't encouraging the white nationalists is simply putting their head in the sand".[48] Dennis Prager himself contended in The Australian that Google placed the video on YouTube's restricted list within hours of it being uploaded in an act of politically motivated censorship.[49] Cortes ceased working for CNN in January 2020, saying that he was "forced out" of the network for making the PragerU video defending Trump.[50]
Snopes criticized the video "How To End White Privilege", saying, "In essence, it offers the notion that, because [ex-police officer Brandon] Tatum’s race did not provide any barrier to his successes, white privilege must not be real". The article provided explanations for questions brought up in the video such as white privilege, mortgage loans between black and white people, and black and white rates of home ownership.[51]
References
- ^ a b "About PragerUniversity". YouTube.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bernstein, Joseph (March 3, 2018). "How PragerU is winning the Right Wing culture war without Donald Trump". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Facebook apologises to right-wing site". BBC News. July 20, 2018. Archived from the original on August 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
- ^ a b c Bray, Hiawatha (October 14, 2016). "YouTube restricts access to Dershowitz video". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bowles, Nellie (January 4, 2020). "Right-Wing Views for Generation Z, Five Minutes at a Time". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ "How a Los Angeles-based conservative became one of the internet's biggest sensations". Los Angeles Times. August 23, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Oppenheimer, Mark (March–April 2018). "Inside the right-wing YouTube empire that's quietly turning millennials into conservatives". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ^ a b Klug, Lisa (June 14, 2017). "Super-conservative PragerU aims to arm pro-Israel students for their campus 'wastelands'". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on June 15, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
- ^ Donnelly, Madaline (November 4, 2015). "How Dennis Prager's conservative online university reaches millions". The Daily Signal. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
- ^ Overly, Steven (July 11, 2019). "Social media gadflies gather for airing of grievances with Trump". Politico. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- ^ Gilbert, Ben (July 11, 2019). "The White House social-media summit doesn't have Facebook or Twitter, but it does have conservative conspiracy theorists — here's who was reportedly invited". Business Insider. Archived from the original on April 30, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
- ^ "Stop YouTube From Blocking PragerU Videos!". PragerU. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
- ^ Payton, Bre (October 12, 2016). "Why Is YouTube Censoring 21 Educational Videos From PragerU?". The Federalist. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
- ^ Mullin, Joe (October 25, 2017). "PragerU sues YouTube, says it censors conservative videos". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- ^ Neidig, Harper (March 27, 2018). "Judge dismisses lawsuit alleging Google censorship of conservative YouTube videos". The Hill. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018.
- ^ Stempel, Jonathan (March 27, 2018). Choy, Marguerita (ed.). "Google defeats lawsuit claiming YouTube censors conservatives". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 24, 2018.
- ^ Prager University v. Google LLC, Order Granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (N.D. Cal. March 28, 2018).
- ^ Brodkin, Jon (February 26, 2020). "First Amendment doesn't apply on YouTube; judges reject PragerU lawsuit". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ Dinezo, Maria (February 26, 2020). "Ninth Circuit Tosses PragerU's Free Speech Claims Against YouTube". Courthouse News Service. Archived from the original on April 20, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- ^ Hirji, Zahra (August 7, 2018). "YouTube Is Fighting Back Against Climate Misinformation". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on September 11, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
- ^ a b Asher Hamilton, Isobel (August 21, 2018). "Facebook apologizes to right-wing group PragerU after being accused of censoring its videos". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- ^ Schwartz, Oscar (December 4, 2018). "Are Google and Facebook really suppressing conservative politics?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions". PragerU. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ a b Kotch, Alex (December 27, 2018). "Who Funds PragerU's Anti-Muslim Content?". Sludge. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
- ^ a b 2019 Annual Report (PDF) (Report). PragerU. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2020.
- ^ a b c Halper, Evan (August 23, 2019). "How a Los Angeles-based conservative became one of the internet's biggest sensations". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- ^ "Maumee High School history class given conservative media PragerU videos for extra credit". WTOL11. October 20, 2020. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ "Uploads from PragerU". Retrieved November 14, 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ McCarthy, Joseph (December 18, 2018). "A Course in Climate Misinformation: How Prager U. Is Propagating Climate Misinformation". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on December 27, 2018.
- ^ Shea, Brie (April 30, 2015). "Fracking Titans Spend Millions Proselytizing School Children". Rewire.News. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
- ^ Chafuen, Alejandro (March 27, 2020). "The 2020 Ranking Of Free-Market Think Tanks Measured By Social Media Impact". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
- ^ Nguyen, Tina (December 9, 2018). "'Let Me Make You Famous': How Hollywood Invented Ben Shapiro". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^ a b Tripodi, Francesca (May 2018). Searching for Alternative Facts: Analyzing Scriptural Inference in Conservative News Practices (PDF) (Report). Date & Society Research Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
- ^ a b c Kelley, Brendan Joel (June 7, 2018). "PragerU's Influence". Hatewatch. Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on April 30, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
- ^ Lewis, Rebecca (2018). "Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube" (PDF). Data & Society Research Institute. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ^ Binion, Bill (July 30, 2019). "PragerU Does Not Understand Censorship". Reason. Archived from the original on April 30, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ^ Krigel, Noah (2020). ""We're not the party to bitch and whine": Exploring US democracy through the lens of a college Republican club" (PDF). Interface: A Journal on Social Movements. 12 (1): 499. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
Famous for its weekly five-minute videos which have garnered billions of views, PragerU argues that "the Left" is "akin to hate groups" (p. 39) and that mainstream media is untrustworthy. It also promotes white nationalist thought by far-right thinkers such as Paul Joseph Watson, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Stefan Molyneux (Tripodi, 2017).
- ^ Tripodi, Francesca (2018). "SEARCHING FOR ALTERNATIVE FACTS Analyzing Scriptural Inference in Conservative News Practices" (PDF). Data & Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; 11 November 2020 suggested (help) - ^ Gottfried, Paul (December 27, 2017). "Right-wing Celebrities Play Fast and Loose With History". The American Conservative. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ Nowrasteh, Alex (September 26, 2018). "PragerU's "A nation of immigrants" video has serious problems". Cato at Liberty. Cato Institute. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020.
- ^ Kotch, Alex (27 December 2018). "Who funds PragerU's anti-Muslim content?". Sludge. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ Kotch, Alex (27 December 2018). "Who funds PragerU's anti-Muslim content?". Sludge. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ Bridge Initiative Team (17 March 2020). "Factsheet: PragerU". Bridge: a Georgetown University Initiative. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
{{cite web}}
:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; 1 November 2020 suggested (help) - ^ Brendan, Brendan Joel (7 June 2018). "PragerU's Influence". SPLC Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
- ^ Halper, Evan (23 August 2019). "How a Los Angeles-based conservative became one of the internet's biggest sensations". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
Prager says he disavows the alt-right ideology that has gained ground in the Trump era, but the online lessons often echo some of the movement's talking points. A video of Dinesh D'Souza, the right-wing author, opining on why Western cultures are superior to others has been viewed 4.7 million times, for example. Another, featuring Douglas Murray, the British author of several books about Europe and immigration, laments that North African and Middle Eastern immigrants have been permitted to destroy European culture by refusing to assimilate. It has 6.7 million views
- ^ Wagner, John; Parker, Ashley (14 August 2019). "Trump shares controversial video recasting his Charlottesville comments". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ^ Murphy, Tim (3 September 2020). "Donald Trump and His Allies Are Trying to Rewrite the History of Charlottesville". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ^ Hawes, Spencer (7 August 2019). "Video Reopens Debate On Trump's Charlottesville Comments". News. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
{{cite web}}
: Text "VPM" ignored (help) - ^ Praeger, Dennis (8 August 2019). "Thou shalt have no other gods but Google". The Australian. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ^ Brest, Mike (21 January 2020). "Trump defender says he was ousted by CNN for condemning 'the Charlottesville lie'". Washington Examiner. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ^ "Ex-Cop Brandon Tatum's Success Doesn't Disprove White Privilege". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2020-06-28.