![]() So much of the discussion about “fake news” has involved vague questions about, for example, whether Russian-backed propaganda could have been a factor in Donald Trump’s victory. A big Washington Post report suggested that Russia had played a role in spreading lots of fake news Adrian Chen, among others, convincingly argued that one major basis for that report was extremely fraught. There’s a broader question of the extent to which a foreign power could influence the election, and the extent to which that would really be anything new. Liz Cheney Already Has a 2024 Strategy Ronald Brownsteinīut the Comet incident offers a disconcerting example of what looks like a concrete result of fake news leading to violence. BuzzFeed’s Craig Silverman last month offered an excellent forensic tracing of how the story came about. A white-supremacist Twitter account falsely claimed on October 30 that emails showed a pedophilia ring centered around Clinton. ![]() It jumped from there to message boards, and then to bogus news sites. ![]() Eventually, the Patient Zero Twitter account passed along the bogus posts as affirmation of his tip, even though the story originated with him anyway. The connection to Comet came because the restaurant’s owner popped up in emails with Clinton campaign chair John Podesta discussing a fundraiser. Those emails were hacked and then leaked during the election by an unknown actor, though U.S. intelligence officials have said they believe Russia is behind the hacks. The Richard Tucker Music Foundation, the largest of its kind in the U.S.The “Pizzagate” story goes beyond some of the other bogus claims made during this election. and the venue for young American singers to compete for the funding and publicity to pursue an operatic career, has come under media scrutiny for a lack of diversity among the winners of its top award. As an apparent first response to this scrutiny, the board of directors voted to remove one of its founding members, David N. Tucker, MD, the second of Richard Tucker’s three sons, a retired eye surgeon, and a significant contributor to the funding of the Foundation since its beginning 44 years ago. In a July 20 press release, Barry Tucker, the Foundation’s long-time president and brother of David, and Jeffrey Manocherian, the board’s current chair, announced that “The Richard Tucker Music Foundation condemns the hurtful and offensive comments made by one of our Board members, David Tucker, … has been removed from the Richard Tucker Foundation Board of Directors, effective immediately. David’s opinions do not align with the beliefs and mission of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, a Foundation built on the legacy of a Jewish-American singer who sought to bridge religious and cultural differences.”Īs the biographer of Richard Tucker, I am in a position to speak knowledgeably about the life, career, and personal values of “The American Caruso,” as Tucker was dubbed in the press during his three decades as one of the Metropolitan Opera Company’s most famous and durable tenors. I am also in a position to speak personally about David Tucker, whom I have known since 1981 when I was awarded a contract by the EP Dutton Company to write a book about Richard Tucker, to which Luciano Pavarotti wrote the foreword. To understand the origins of the foundation bearing his name, it’s necessary to know who Richard Tucker was. ![]() He had made his Metropolitan debut in the demanding role of Enzo in La Gioconda on January 25, 1945, and had been a primo tenore (or “star tenor”) from the start.
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