Manufactroversy

{{media}}A '''manufactroversy''',<ref>Ceccarelli, Leah. [http://www.scienceprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/print_edition/manufactroversy.pdf "Manufactroversy, The Art of Creating Controversy Where None Existed"], ''Science Progress''. Spring/Summer 2008: 82-84.</ref> also known as a '''nontroversy''',<ref>Peters, Mark (January 18, 2010). [http://magazine.good.is/articles/the-age-of-the-nontroversy "The Age of the Nontroversy"]. ''GOOD''.</ref> is a [[Portmanteau|manufactured controversy]].

A manufactroversy can be a form of [[denialism]]: pretending that a [[Just asking questions|controversy exists]] over something which is, in fact, not in debate by anyone who has the slightest grasp of the [[fact]]s, but which a number of people wish to deny for [[religious]], [[political]], or [[Conflict of interest|other]] [[Con artist|reasons]]. The usual motive for this is [[Bullshit|to attempt to give the appearance that the facts are still up for debate]], ''à la'' [[anti-environmentalism]]. Another kind is the manufactured "scandal": blowing a non-issue [[Selective reporting|out of proportion]].

Often related to the "[[Balance fallacy|tell both sides]]" method of reporting, where only one side has any [[evidence]], so the reporter seeks out a [[crank]] just so they can tell another side.

This concept is also illustrated through what one editor would describe as "fill-in-the-blank outrage" by [[Christian fundamentalist]]s in the [[United States]]. Examples of this include fundie leaders suddenly declaring things as diverse as [[environmentalism]], [[evolution]], [[feminism]], [[gay rights]], the mere existence of [[transgender|trans people]], [[universal health care]], etc. to be [[Moral panic|threats to Christianity, unscriptural, unholy]], or some other version of "[[Fun:Wahmbulance|wahhh]]" when there is no indication that Christians as a whole considered these things threatening over the nearly 2000 years of the religion's existence. Until ''just now'', of course.<ref group=note>Were one cynical, one might posit that these fundies are being manipulated by their leaders and by political opportunists in order to further ideological goals or to [[sucker]] money out of the masses. But when has that ever been an issue?</ref>

The term "'''swiftboating'''" is often used in American media due to the [[bullshit]] smear campaign against [[John Kerry]] launched by the organization "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth."<ref>[http://politicaldictionary.com/words/swiftboating/ Swiftboating], Taegan Goddard's Political Dictionary</ref> Despite the name, it has nothing to do with {{wpl|Flex Seal|Phil Swift sawing a boat in half}} ([[Badger's Law|or truth, for that matter]]).

==Common examples==
===Most damaging===
*[[Climategate]]: climate change deniers make various unhinged claims to sow doubt on the legitimacy of human-caused climate change, which have extremely damaging consequences, but one particularly publicized one involved leaked emails ostensibly showing a climate scientist agreeing that [[global warming]] is a hoax 
*[[CDC whistleblower controversy]]: mainstream media behaved and stayed out of this one. Anti vaxxers do throw a lot of smokescreen as well, with also dangerous consequences as with climate change, but the CDC whistleblower "controversy" is a uniting story for them.
*[[Saddam Hussein]]'s [[Iraq|Iraqi]] regime supposedly having [[WMD]]s. Was a factor for the largely disastrous [[Iraq War]] where hundreds of thousands of people, largely Iraqi civilians, died for a manufactroversy.
*[[Racialism]]. One would've expected this one to die in the 20th century, but thanks to the [[alt-right]], even ''[[phrenology]]'' is on the rise again. Racialism is a hop and skip away from [[eugenics]].
*[[Intelligent design]] and other aspects of the [[creation]]-[[evolution]] debates.
*[[Gamergate]]: When women get involved with the gaming community in ways other than "booth babes" or sexy cosplaying, it means that western civilization is on the brink of destruction! You'll often hear them say that Zoe Quinn/[[Anita Sarkeesian]] weren't a big part of their manifesto. (Just like Darth Vader wasn't a big part of the ''Star Wars'' movies.) Though the movement is pretty much dead (though the many people it has seriously harmed are still alive), don't expect the ideas and legacy to die anytime soon; too many people have launched their careers thanks to Gamergate and now have a vested interest in ensuring that sexism and Internet harassment remains easy and acceptable.
*[[Vince Foster]]/[[Pizzagate]]: [[Clinton body count|The Clintons have murdered 40 people]], but couldn't manage to take out [[Anthony Weiner]] before his laptop caused campaign hiccups. The "incompetent dictator" theory, in other words.
*[[Transphobia and public restrooms|Trans people using public bathrooms]]: because even though trans people, and [[Transmisogyny|trans women in particular]], face significantly heightened discrimination and danger around gendered bathrooms, we need to protect cis women and girls first and foremost. Even though claims that trans women would rape girls have been [[Transphobia and public restrooms#A big mountain of nothing|completely disproven]], trans women are being murdered — ''literally'' — for using the bathroom.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/29/us/alexa-puerto-rico-transgender-killing A transgender woman’s brutal murder has shocked Puerto Rico and renewed a conversation about transphobia] by Harmeet Kaur (5:03 PM EST, Sat February 29, 2020) ''CNN''.</ref>
*The [[IRS]] supposedly targeting [[tax-exempt]] groups associated with the [[Tea Party]]
*[[No-go zone]]s and the [[Ground Zero Mosque]]
*[[GMO]]s and [[Monsanto]]<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/mpa.asp Some] [http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/monsanto.asp examples]</ref>
*[[Critical race theory]], a far-right boogeyman and scare tactic used by politicians in the early 2020s

===Half-assed stunts===
*[[Obama citizenship denial]]. He produced his birth certificate, [[Moving the goalposts|so they demanded his long-form certificate]]. When he coughed that one up, it was deemed to be fake. A double false flag operation, oldest trick in the Kenyan book.
*[[Benghazi]], which, while a real and terrible event, was vaguely gestured at as a scandal without much attention to what the ''exact'' wrongdoing was.

*[[Chemtrails]]
*The [[War on Christmas]] and [[Persecution complex|other claims that Christians are a persecuted minority in the Christian West]]<ref>[https://www.reform-magazine.co.uk/2013/10/a-good-question-are-christians-persecuted-in-britain/ A good question: Are Christians persecuted in Britain?], Reform Magazine, Oct 2013</ref>
*[[Wind Turbine Syndrome]]
*[[Piggate]], a rumor about [[David Cameron]] that lots of people wanted to be true but there was no evidence for
*[[Jeremy Corbyn]]'s "treasonous behaviour" such as a tabloid scandal over his bowing technique (only in deferential Britain!)<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/09/jeremy-corbyns-bow-remembrance-day-what-really-happened Jeremy Corbyn's bow: what really happened], The Guardian, 9 Nov 2015</ref> which mirrored the earlier Michael Foot donkey-jacket-that-wasn't non-scandal of 1981<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7361078/Michael-Foot-and-the-donkey-jacket-that-wasnt.html Michael Foot and the donkey jacket that wasn't], The Telegraph, 3 Mar 2010</ref>
*Subway tuna, after being subjected to [[DNA]]-destroying levels of heat, contains no detectable tuna DNA. Or any other kind of DNA. Cooking is funny that way.<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/25/fact-check-online-post-subway-tuna-dna-report-missing-context/5325181001/ Fact check: Social media posts on Subway tuna DNA test lack context], USA TODAY, 25 Jun 2021</ref>
*Non-issue yawners or other non-events being turned into the scandal of the week (see [[Ward Churchill]], [[ACORN]], 
Dick
 [[Free speech#Limits on freedom of speech|Duck Dynasty]]), particularly by 24-hour rolling news coverage needing to fill time when there's no real news from your locale and no desire to pay attention to the rest of the world.
*Any of many other [[moral panic]]s, too numerous to list.

To take the first few examples: evolution (together with [[common descent]]) is one of the best-tested and most successful [[scientific theory|scientific theories]]. There is no evidence that [[vaccine]]s cause [[autism]]<ref group=note>The only scientific paper ever to be published to this effect was of very low quality and has since been retracted. [[Andrew Wakefield|Its author]] has been "struck off", i.e. prohibited from practising [[medicine]].</ref> or any other harm, and overwhelming evidence that they save lives. [[Global warming]] is happening and can be measured, and the cause has consistently been proven to be [[human]]. However, ''how'' to mitigate it remains up for debate; denialists tend to ignore this part.

==See also==
*[[Astroturf]]
*[[Andrew Breitbart]]: His stable of websites are one of the main purveyors of manufactroversies in the US.
*[[Drudge Report]]: Another main purveyor.
*[[Front group]]
*[[Mainstream media]]: The reason these "controversies" get so much attention to begin with.
*[[Molehill mountaineering]]
*[[Moral panic]]
*[[Teach the controversy]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Deceit]]
[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Right-wing troll campaigns]]

Categories: Deceit, Political terms, Right-wing troll campaigns