The Gravel Institute Declares War On Right-Wing PragerU
By: James Holley
Tags: Politics, Social Media, Digital Marketing, Government, Environment

Even if you don’t recognize PragerU by name, you may have seen one of their videos online. The right-wing organization has been active since 2009 and focuses on disseminating conservative perspectives on American politics — and their target is young people on social media. Luckily for the left, The Gravel Institute has entered the online chatter and plans on creating compelling videos to beat PragerU at its own game.

The reason there is a fair possibility you have seen one of their videos is due to the sheer number of their subscribers: 2.7 million on YouTube with an accumulation of over 3 billion views across all of their videos from the last 10 years. Through short, 5-minute videos with easy to understand language and compelling graphics, PragerU wants to shape the ideologies of their viewers and steer them away from what they consider to be a dangerous slip into leftism by America’s youth.

These videos touch on virtually every hot societal issue in the public discourse. One recent example is the organization’s “Never Apologize to the Mob” clip in which Paris Dennard details the reasons why cancel culture is toxic and does not make our leaders more accountable. Another clip, “Minimum Wage Cost Me My Job”, claims that raising the minimum wage will shut down small businesses nationwide and cost working people their jobs — especially those working for tips. On the Green New Deal, Michael Knowles speaks about how conservatives are actually very environmentally conscious, but do not favor the progressive over-haul of regulation in “Conservatives Are the Real Environmentalists.”

“Much of [The Green New Deal] has nothing to do with the environment. Socialized medicine, reparations for historical wrongs, and a jobs guarantee program are just a few of the items on its wish list. What do these have to do with the environment? Nothing.” — Michael Knowles

Screenshot from “Conservatives Are the Real Environmentalists” video on YouTube with 2.4 million views

In the environmental video, Knowles cites a Harvard study to back up his claim that fracking “makes the environment cleaner and the country richer” entitled “America’s Unconventional Energy Opportunity.”

Although it is true that the study found real economic promise in hydraulic fracking (adding $1,400 per capita of GDP, for one), a more in-depth reading of the study reveals that they address concerns with fracking as a transitional model to cleaner energy:

“The development of unconventionals has created real local environmental, public health, and community risks. This process, along with the growing scale of production, creates significant issues related to freshwater use and wastewater disposal, ground water contamination, air pollution, land degradation, seismic events, and community disturbances such as noise and heavy road use… and could be incompatible with addressing climate change.” — Harvard Business School

Another important note on this topic is that the study they cite is, of course, from the Harvard Business School, but I digress.

We cannot expect all of the people who encounter these videos on social media to be real-time fact checkers — that isn’t how media consumption works. As a result, the blame on this blatant misconstruing of facts is to be placed on Prager University — a non-accredited, non-diploma granting, non-academic digital marketing “University.”

I focused on the environmental video for a few reasons, but the most notable is because PragerU has a vested interest in disseminating pro-oil and gas videos: Early funding came from, you guessed it, hydraulic fracking billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks. Much like our bought and paid for politicians serving in government, these videos are backed up with funds seeking to change the conversation in their favor.

For the more engaged viewers of PragerU, the founder Dennis Prager posts weekly “Fireside Chats” which include roughly 30-minutes of Mr. Prager projecting his own thoughts on why “Society Can’t Fix Your Problems” and how “A Marxist Take-Over Would Destroy America”. The latest video on the meanness of the left has special guest and Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. These videos reach anywhere from 300k-600k views.

Caught up in their own virtue signaling, PragerU’s videos often leave out crucial facts and rely on anecdotes or misinterpreted data to make their points. They rely on studies which conform to their larger goal to persuade young Americans to move to the right of the political spectrum, no matter if the studies are being correctly applied. Having viewed many of their videos for the purpose of this article, I want to make clear two things despite many of their inaccuracies: (1) The clips are incredibly convincing to even reasonable observers of American politics and (2) The videos are easy to share and take little time to watch.

The Gravel Institute’s Debut YouTube Video

Now, there is a leftist organization entering the playing field to combat PragerU. The Gravel Institute will be “fighting PragerU on its own turf”, the organization tweeted during its official launch on September 28th, 2020. Named after former United States Senator Mike Gravel, the Institute is designed to continue his work in enacting meaningful left-wing policy in the United States.

Their mission? To fight disinformation and spread left-wing ideas to new audiences with their own short animated videos. Specifically, they are in favor of direct democracy, ending American imperialism, and achieving a just economic model.

Already, the organization has a video out with Briahna Joy Gray, the prominent political commentator and National Press Secretary for Senator Bernie’s Sander’s 2020 presidential run. It is entitled, “Is Big Government Really the Problem?” in which Briahna explains that it’s much more a question of who is running the government than its mere size:

She states, “A large government does not mean an un-free population. You see, government isn’t a problem in and of itself. In a country as sprawling and diverse as America, there needs to be an institution to build infrastructure and inspect food and to put out fires. To do things that help our communities, even if they do not turn a profit.”

She points to specific institutions that Americans currently benefit from that fit this description like the U.S. Postal Service, Medicare, and Medicaid. Examples of big government? Well, yes, says the Gravel Institute. As much as it is easy to call out large institutions as over-reaching and dangerous, these programs serve us and save lives when they are managed properly.

Similarly to PragerU, this video includes information from a university study — this time from Princeton. Briahna cites the 2014 study, “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens” as evidence for the academic conclusion that policy making in the government is controlled by elites and organized groups representing business interests instead of everyday Americans.

The study finds that, “Average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.”

PragerU has a decade-long head start on the Gravel Institute with hundreds of videos circulating on all the major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. A press release states that over 60% of PragerU’s viewers on YouTube are under the age of 35, and that 70% of viewers have said that at least one video has changed their mind on an issue. That is enormous influence, and could be turning the historically reluctant generations of Millennials and Generation Z to adopt right-wing ideologies.

It seems clear that the left is beginning to understand the importance of digital media advertising, compelling graphics, and long-term messaging in order to advocate for their values. This is a tactic in which the right-wing, more generally, has always been ahead of the curve. The Gravel Institute wants to change that, and it appears they are receiving the resources they need to do so — without contributions from hydraulic fracking billionaires.

Even with their head start, PragerU seems to not be taking the news lightly. On the day of the Institute’s declaration of digital war, they sent mass texts to their supporters that read, “The Gravel Institute wants to take down PragerU & just launched their video. SWARM THE YOUTUBE COMMENTS ASAP!!!”

This, in my humble opinion, does not represent an unbothered and fearless demeanor. Even still, time will tell if the Gravel Institute can keep up with and substantively combat the narratives which have circulated on social media for the past decade. My inclination is that they have the tools to do so, and with their growing support, will be able to keep this war going for quite some time.