Patribotics is the blog of British-American blogger, novelist and ex-politician Louise Mensch. The blog was launched in January 2017. In addition to hosting articles by Mensch, the site has occasionally hosted articles by Laurelai Bailey, and articles jointly written by Mensch and Claude Taylor, a former official in Bill Clinton’s White House.[1]

Although some of the reports in Patribotics have been later confirmed by major mainstream news outlets, the blog is controversial and considered by some to be conspiracy theories.

Inception

Louise Mensch, a former British MP who moved from England to the U.S. in 2012,[2] launched Patribotics in January 2017, after stepping down as writer and manager of the news, opinion, and commentary site Heat Street, which she had co-launched in February 2016.[3][4][5]

In February 2017, Mensch told The Guardian that she moved from writing for Heat Street to her own blog site because she prefers the freedom of self-publishing; she stated, "I didn't want to be subject to an editing process. Editors would ask: who are your sources? And I can't tell them."[6] She said that she has been able to cultivate sources in the intelligence community because of her staunch advocacy of US and UK intelligence agencies following former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's revelations about mass surveillance.[6]

Reception

Mensch's inaugural post on Patribotics, titled "Dear Mr. Putin, Let’s Play Chess", was described by James Wolcott in Vanity Fair as a "must-read primer" on the Trump-Russia situation and "prescient as hell".[7]

Mensch's February 14, 2017 article in Patribotics, which elaborated her theory that the 2016 Anthony Weiner sexting scandal was a hoax perpetrated by Russian-led hackers who also planted Hillary Clinton's emails on Anthony Weiner's laptop, was criticized by several journalists and commentators as conspiracy theory.[8][9][10][11]

Several news outlets and journalists, including Keith Olbermann,[12][13] have cited Mensch's Trump-Russia Patribiotics articles as credible and informed speculation. Some reviewers, including Vox, Slate and The New Republic, have asserted that Patribotics articles overall are conspiracy theories.[5][3][14]

References

  1. ↑ Swaine, Jon (May 16, 2017). "New fake news dilemma: sites publish real scoops amid mess of false reports". The Guardian. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  2. ↑ Wintour, Patrick (August 6, 2012). "MP Louise Mensch resigns to move family to New York". The Guardian. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Waldman, Katy (May 24, 2017). "The Rise of the Liberal Conspiracy Theorist". Slate. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  4. ↑ Gold, Hadas (January 5, 2017). "Louise Mensch no longer leading News Corp.'s Heat Street". Politico. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Beauchamp, Zack (May 19, 2017). "Democrats are falling for fake news about Russia". Vox. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Borger, Julian (February 17, 2017). "Louise Mensch: the former British MP who scooped US media on Trump's Russian ties". The Guardian. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  7. ↑ Wolcott, James (February 21, 2017). "5 Essential Twitter Feeds For Keeping Up With Trump And Russia". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  8. ↑ Isikoff, Michael (March 6, 2017). "The woman behind the story behind the Trump Twitter storm". Yahoo! News. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  9. ↑ Johnson, Adam (March 29, 2017). "Conspiracy Theorists Welcome in Corporate Media–if They Have the Right Targets". Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  10. ↑ Weindling, Jacob (March 29, 2017). "5 Twitter Accounts to Avoid When it Comes to Donald Trump's Russian Connections". Paste. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  11. ↑ Grove, Lloyd (March 8, 2017). "Is Conspiracy Queen Louise Mensch Right About Donald Trump?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  12. ↑ Howard, Greg (May 8, 2017). "Keith Olbermann Was Once Cable News's Liberal Standard-Bearer. Now He's Missing Its Boom Times". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  13. ↑ Perry, Douglas (April 17, 2017). "Why some national-security experts say Kremlin-gate will lead to Donald Trump's impeachment". The Oregonian. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  14. ↑ Heer, Jeet (May 23, 2017). "No, Liberals Are Not Falling for Conspiracy Theories Just Like Conservatives Do". The New Republic. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
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