How Conservative Elites Manipulate Search and Threaten Democracy, by Francesca Bolla Tripodi

The Propagandists' Playbook peels back the layers of the right-wing media manipulation machine to reveal why its strategies are pervasive, while humanizing the people whose worldviews and media practices conservatism embodies. Based on interviews and ethnographic observations of two Republican groups over the course of the 2017 Virginia gubernatorial race--including the author's firsthand experience of the 2017 Unite the Right rally--the book considers how Google algorithms, YouTube playlists, pundits, and politicians can manipulate search, reaffirm beliefs, and expose audiences to extremist ideas, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. Tripodi argues that conservatives who embody the Christian worldview give authoritative weight to original texts and interrogate the media using the same tools taught to them in Bible study--for example, using Google to "fact check" the news. The result of this practice, tied to conservative marketing tactics, is a radicalization of content and a changing of narratives adopted by the media.