Keeping Up with Cartography

This episode covers political trouble in Venezuela, the future of Ukraine, and inflated rental prices in Los Angeles because of the wildfire. In light of inaccurate information being shared by public figures about the Los Angeles wildfire response effort, this episode also covers the differences between misinformation and disinformation, along with how to spot propaganda on social media.

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Chapters

• 0:07 Welcome
• 0:20 Trump says he will meet with Putin, but critics have questions
• 1:11 There's political trouble in Venezuela (again)
• 2:17 What will happen to Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S.?
• 2:57 "Selling Sunset" broker talks about illegal LA rent increases
• 3:41 Celebrity-led disinformation on social media about the LA wildfires
• 5:11 Keeping Up with Cartography: Calabasas is not in the City of Los Angeles
• 6:08 What is propaganda and how can we spot it?
• 7:55 Help Los Angeles recover from wildfires
• 8:15 Until next time!

Transcript

Welcome to The Friday Brief, a news podcast by Girl Friday. I’m Phoenix Ricks, the CEO of Girl Friday and your host. This is your brief for January 13, 2025. President-elect Donald Trump is arranging a meeting with Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin. During a briefing at Mar-a-Lago, NBC reported that Trump said, “We have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess.” The war has been going on for three years now, and Ukraine recently suffered significant losses. The United Nations reported that Russian strikes on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, this month caused “the highest number of civilian casualties in a single incident in almost two years.” Still, critics of this proposed U.S.-Russia meeting are not convinced that the end of the war, as led by the Trump administration, signals a win for Ukraine. Days away from his inauguration, Donald Trump does seem to be quite busy, at least with communication. CNN said that he issued a stern warning to Venezuela’s leader, Maduro, after news broke that an opposition leader had allegedly been kidnapped. Maduro’s government, of course, denied allegations of involvement, and they have had harsh words for any nation they view as adversaries, including the United States. President Biden and most world leaders do not believe the people actually elected Maduro, and they acknowledge the other candidate, Gonzalez, as the winner. Gonzalez is sadly now in exile. Maduro’s isolation was evident on the world stage at his inauguration last week. I believe only two countries sent representatives: Cuba and Nicaragua. Maduro, still defiant, said, “I come from the people. The power I represent belongs to the people, and I owe it to the people.” When the Trump administration takes office, what will happen to the Venezuelans who have found refuge in the United States? Will they be deported back to Venezuela? Will Maduro even take them in or treat them fairly? No matter what has been previously said or promised, these are certainly questions in immigration policy circles right now. It makes me think about Latin American communities in the United States, especially in places like Los Angeles. They are faced with immigration policy concerns while trying to pick up the pieces from this most recent natural disaster. Jason Oppenheim, the owner of the luxury real estate brokerage featured in Selling Sunset on Netflix (a show that I absolutely love and highly recommend!), told the BBC that landlords in Los Angeles are illegally raising prices because of the wildfires. Los Angeles officials have said that anyone trying to take advantage of the natural disaster in this way will be prosecuted. But this means that people must be vocal about raised rental prices and hotel fees. I hope that other brokers will follow Jason’s ethical lead here and take action when they encounter deceptive or illegal practices. Now, speaking of deception. We have to talk about ongoing propaganda disguised as innocently misinformed social media content. Since we’re already talking about Los Angeles, let’s start there. The County of Los Angeles has been at the top of the news cycle because of these wildfires. As a result of these conversations, there’s unfortunately been a lot of accidental misinformation and intentional disinformation on social media. The latter is sadly being spread by celebrities and public figures with followers ranging from hundreds of thousands of people to even hundreds of millions of people. What they’re doing is intentionally sharing inaccurate information about wildfire response across Los Angeles County. I keep emphasizing that last word for a reason. Because the first thing to note here is that Los Angeles County is comprised of numerous cities. The City of Los Angeles is one of those cities. Mayor Bass is the mayor of the City of Los Angeles. She is not responsible for the entire county. When you see “LA” referenced on the news right now, it may not be clear if reporters are talking about the county or the city. But, if you’re from Los Angeles County, you know which one is referenced by very obvious context clues, like neighborhood names. Here’s an example. Calabasas is in Los Angeles County, not the City of Los Angeles. Like the City of Los Angeles, the City of Calabasas has its own local government. So, now, knowing that, why would a reality star in Calabasas imply to more than 300 million social media followers that the devastation across the county is Mayor Bass's fault?  The LA situation confuses people elsewhere because the county and city share the same name. But celebrities and residents in LA of course know the difference. To be clear, you don't have to know you're sharing propaganda for the material to be part of a disinformation campaign, but that doesn't make you less responsible for the outcomes of sharing it. How do I know any of this? Many years ago, I learned the difference between propaganda and simple misinformation at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was so transformational that I later worked on digital campaigns to counter disinformation. While I highly recommend spending a day at the museum when you visit D.C., their website also has tons of information, including their definition of propaganda. The museum says propaganda uses truths, half-truths, or lies, omits information selectively, and simplifies complex issues or ideas. Propaganda plays on emotions, advertises a cause, attacks opponents, and targets desired audiences. In my experience, you can see a rise in propaganda during the aftermath of disasters and during political elections. How do you identify and then stop the spread of propaganda? You must read, watch, and listen with comprehension before sharing social media posts. Ask questions, look up unfamiliar things, and hold public figures accountable for intentionally spreading false narratives for their personal or political goals. Because it does not seem that all celebrities with massive audiences are taking the time to fact-check before posting, I recommend following policy experts like Reecie Colbert to learn more about what’s happening in Los Angeles. She breaks down budgets, dispels disinformation, and provides timely analysis of what’s happening on the ground. If you want to help people impacted by the wildfires across Los Angeles County please visit the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority website to learn more about the organizations they have vetted and recommend, including one of my favorites, World Central Kitchen. And that concludes your brief for today. Make sure you don’t miss an episode! Follow Dear Girl Friday on Instagram, where we post podcast episode summaries and sources. You can also sign up for The Friday Brief newsletter on deargirlfriday.com. Until next time, I’m Phoenix Ricks signing off from Washington, D.C. Let’s work together for a world of good.