Disinformation (company)

{{Infobox company

| name = The Disinformation Company

| logo = Disinfo logo

| type = Private limited

| foundation = {{start date|1996|9|13}}

| location_city = New York City, New York

| location_country = United States

| caption =

| key_people = Gary Baddeley, President / CEO
Matt Staggs, Web content editor, podcast host

| products = Multimedia Publishing and Distribution

| revenue =

| net_income =

| subsid =

| homepage = {{URL|http://disinfo.com}}

| footnotes =

}}

The Disinformation Company (abbreviated as Disinfo) was a privately held, limited American publishing company until 2012 when it was sold to Red Wheel/Weiser/Conari.{{cite web|title=Red Wheel Weiser Buys Disinformation Books|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/52226-red-wheel-weiser-buys-disinformation-books.html|publisher=Publishers Weekly|access-date=1 February 2016|date=June 5, 2012}} It also owned Disinformation Books, which focused on current affairs titles and books exposing alleged conspiracy theories, occultism, politics, news oddities, and purported disinformation. It was headquartered in New York City, New York. Arguably, its most visible publications to date are 50 Things You're Not Supposed to Know and the Everything You Know About [subject] Is Wrong series, both by the company's editor-at-large Russ Kick.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/13/technology/circuits/13kick.html|title=Peeking Behind the Curtain of Secrecy|last=McNichol|first=Tom|date=November 13, 2003|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 9, 2008}}

History

In 1996, Tele-Communications Inc. (now Comcast) funded a Hollywood-based{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} Internet initiative responsible for online projects like the Getty Museum and an Internet-based political humor soap opera entitled Candidate 96. {{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} The initiative launched its own interactive website, featuring the tag line; "everything you know is wrong". Soon after the site's launch, TCI cancelled funding and support for the site.{{cite book|last1=Burden|first1=Paul R|title=A Subject Guide to Quality Web Sites|date=2010|version=Reprint|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0810876941|page=[https://archive.org/details/subjectguidetoqu0000burd/page/473 473]|url=https://archive.org/details/subjectguidetoqu0000burd|url-access=registration|quote=Disinfo company.}}

The founding team kept it going, being nominated for an award for politics in the first Webby Awards ceremony. The Disinformation Company, as it was now known, was then acquired by Razorfish. Eventually, the Disinformation Company became privately held.

In addition to publishing books, the company also had a home video division as well as multimedia and Internet projects.

In 2000, Disinfo organized DisinfoCon, a 12-hour event featuring Richard Metzger, rock musician Marilyn Manson, underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger, painter Joe Coleman, Douglas Rushkoff, Mark Pesce, Grant Morrison, Robert Anton Wilson, [http://www.fargonebooks.com/bio.html Todd Brendan Fahey] and others.

In 2002, the company produced a four-episode documentary series called Disinformation (also alternatively titled as Disinfo Nation).

In 2008, the Disinformation Company itself was accused of spreading propaganda (such as 9/11 "Truth" material) by Louis Proyect.{{cite web|url=http://louisproyect.org/2008/08/17/the-real-mccain/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928041907/http://louisproyect.org/2008/08/17/the-real-mccain/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 28, 2013 |title=The Real McCain |date= August 17, 2008|access-date=July 4, 2013}}

As of June 17, 2020, the Disinfo.com website was inactive. While the Disinformation Company Ltd. was still listed as the owner, all content was deleted and the domain was for sale.{{Cite web|url=https://www.disinfo.com/|title=Home|website=Mysite}}

Documentary films

Disinformation: The Complete Series (2004)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004)
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (2004)
Bush Family Fortunes: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (2004)
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005)
This Divided State (2005)
Gay Republicans (2005)
American Jobs (2005)
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006)
The Big Buy: Tom DeLay's Stolen Congress (2006)
9/11: Press for Truth (2006)
American Blackout (2006)
Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement (2007)
Let's All Hate Toronto: A Comic Adventure into Canada's Love/Hate Relationship with Itself (2007)
War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death (2008)
The Mindscape of Alan Moore (2008)
Slacker Uprising (2008)
New World Order (2009)
RiP!: A Remix Manifesto (2009)
Cargo 200 (2009)
Rethink Afghanistan (2009)

Books

Turn Off Your Mind: The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius by Gary Lachman (2003)
The Passover Plot: Special 40th Anniversary Edition by Hugh J. Schonfield (2005)

References

External links

{{official website|http://www.disinfo.com/}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/19970522204229/http://www.disinfo.com/cre/cre.html Founder Info] on the Internet Archive
{{IMDb title|qid=Q5282239|title=Disinfo Nation}}

;Articles

[https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/13/technology/circuits/13kick.html Peeking Behind the Curtain of Secrecy] by The New York Times
[https://web.archive.org/web/20040616060813/http://www.nypress.com/print.cfm?content_id=6560 Truth is Stranger Than Science Fiction] by New York Press
[http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-20819118_ITM DVD REVIEW: Film dissects government's lies en route to war in Iraq.] by The America's Intelligence Wire
[http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29011864_ITM The big lie lie: why a warning about "Disinformation" is itself a form of Disinformation] by Skeptic
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110607073548/http://www.redherring.com/Home/pages/print/posts/?bid=148cc73a-ca7d-4da8-b24c-0e2db2499985&mode=Full Throw your cake] by Red Herring

Category:Companies established in 1996

Category:Conspiracist media