Swiss Policy Research – Bias and Credibility

Detailed Report

Bias Rating: RIGHT – CONSPIRACY
Factual Reporting: MIXED
Country: Unknown
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: LOW CREDIBILITY

History

Launched in 2016, Swiss Policy Research (SPR) is a research group investigating geopolitical propaganda in Swiss and international media. They report on their about page that “Our articles have been published or shared by numerous independent media outlets and journalists, among them Julian Assange, and have been translated into more than two dozen languages.”

Swiss Policy Research completely lacks transparency as there is not a single name affiliated with the website. For example, an editor is not named, and articles do not name an author. Further, they do not list a geographic location, and the domain is registered privately. They do not disclose ownership.

Funded by / Ownership

According to their about page, “SPR is composed of independent academics and receives no external funding.” There is no other information available regarding ownership.

Analysis

In review, Swiss Policy Research is a website that purports to investigate geopolitical propaganda in Swiss and international media. They produce news articles as well as investigative analysis. Articles and headlines use minimally loaded wording such as this: Geopolitical propaganda on public radio: An analysis using the example of Swiss radio and television. Although SPR thoroughly sources information, they often use very poor sources that lack credibility. For example, when reporting on the Israel Lobby, they provide a link to a video from the Questionable Unz Review, classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League. Other sources used include RT and Sputnik, which they openly criticize as Russian Propaganda in other articles.

In another article, they discredit Wikipedia as being a propaganda organization, Wikipedia: A Disinformation Operation? Yet, they are perfectly comfortable using them as a source of information in their analyses. 

Bias

Swiss Policy Research is also providing information regarding the Coronavirus with mixed facts and misinformation. In this article, Facts about Covid-19, several poor sources support their claims, such as the Daily Mail, Off-Guardian, Sputnik, and Youtube videos. Further, this list of so-called facts also contains unproven conspiracy theories such as this: “NSA wholesaler Edward Snowden warns that the “coronavirus crisis” will be used for the massive and continuous expansion of global surveillance. The well-known virologist Pablo Goldschmidt speaks of “global media terror” and “totalitarian measures.” Leading British virologist, Professor John Oxford, talks about a “media epidemic.” They further state, “More than 500 scientists have warned of “unprecedented public oversight” using problematic “contact tracking” applications. In some countries, such “contact tracking” is already carried out directly by secret services. In several parts of the world, the population is already monitored by drones and faces excessive police supervision.” While any of these may one day turn out to be true, there is zero evidence at this time to support these claims, and hence they are unproven conspiracy theories.

The website also promotes other unproven conspiracy theories, such as the majority of the USA media being controlled by The Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderbergs, and the Trilateral Commission. While there is no question there is a corporate monopoly in USA media ownership; there isn’t evidence to support their claims. This story again uses Wikipedia as a source, which they have discredited numerous times. In general, this is a conspiracy website that is not credible due to poor sourcing and transparency.

Failed Fact Checks

• “The overall lethality of [COVID-19] (IFR) is about 0.1% to 0.3% and thus in the range of a severe influenza” – Inaccurate

Overall, we rate Swiss Policy Research (SPR) a Moderate Conspiracy website based on the promotion of unproven claims. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting due to poor sources and complete lack of transparency. (M. Huitsing 5/21/2020) Updated (07/19/2022)

Source: https://swprs.org/

Last Updated on June 30, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check

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