(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Meghan Markle's Hater Train Takes Twisted Track to Accusations of Climate Hypocrisy [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-12-08
If you had to describe Meghan Markle in just one or two words for the headline of a news story, what would you write? Would you reference her career and call her an ‘actress’? Or, if you think the most vital aspect of her identity is her proximity to the UK monarchy, you might choose ‘princess,’ or the more formal ‘Duchess of Sussex.’
Whatever it is, you probably wouldn't go with “climate crusader” or “environmental activist,” which are the two headline phrases Breitbart and Fox News recently chose.
Why? Well, that takes some unpacking.
It's not exactly a secret that rightwing tabloids love to hate women, particularly women of color. After all, misogyny and misogynoir are basically an editorial standard for disinfo outlets.
Meghan Markle in particular has been the target of a coordinated and monetized hate campaign across multiple social media platforms. A four - part series of reports by Bot Sentinel revealed a coordinated group of 83 Twitter accounts is responsible for 70% of the website's hateful attacks against Markle and her husband Harry, the Duke of Sussex. Buoyed by a network of bots, and thanks to hate-amplifying algorithms, this hostility is extremely profitable, with just 25 predominantly Markle-focused YouTube channels raking in an estimated $3.48 million in ad revenue. (Great job monetizing witch hunts, Google!)
Attacks against Markle are not limited to shady Twitter and YouTube accounts, however. These posters are fed content by right-wing media outlets like Fox News and Breitbart, which similarly use high-profile women of color like Markle as cannon fodder for their ‘war on woke.’
The latest hit pieces frame Markle as a devoted climate activist, so that it's then hypocritical for her to be photographed boarding a private jet (which would not otherwise be a newsworthy activity for literal royalty). This is supposedly a scandal only because Archewell, the Sussex couple’s charitable foundation, pledged last year to reach net zero by 2030.
Of course, it's important to hold the rich and powerful accountable for their actions and critically evaluate all activities claiming to address climate change. Private jet use is a climate killer, and Archewell’s statement does unfortunately leave much to be desired. For example, the foundation uncritically emphasized the ‘carbon footprint’ idea, something once popularized by BP to distract people from the central role of oil and gas corporations in the climate crisis.
Fox’s and Breitbart’s low-effort attacks against Markle don't even do that bare-minimum bit of informed critique though, and instead just lazily trot out the 'private jet hypocrisy' talking points. As the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition recently documented during the UN COP27 climate negotiations, climate opposition groups leverage the ‘private jet' meme to dismiss calls to climate action. But as the coalition explains, “COPs are necessary specifically because no amount of personal sacrifice can address the international, systemic dependence on fossil fuels.”
The recent attacks against Markle aren't new, well-informed, nobly-intentioned, or even creative, they're simply an excuse for the right-wing media to combine two of its favorite tactics: vilifying women of color and defending the fossil fuel industry.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/8/2140708/-Meghan-Markle-s-Hater-Train-Takes-Twisted-Track-to-Accusations-of-Climate-Hypocrisy
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
