Conspiracy beliefs spread through media- rich channels beyond folklorists’ favored oral forms.

Evidence

There is, however, one complication in dealing with conspiracy beliefs as urban legends: the modes of transmission. The bias of folklorists is toward oral transmission as the primary medium. Legend texts are often secured in tape-recorded examples with accompanying data about the teller and how he or she learned the story. Conspiracy ideas clearly circulate widely in oral form, as evidenced by Turner’s important study of conspiracy legends in the African-American community; but the media-rich, technologically sophisticated society that exists in both the United States and other developed countries opens up new avenues for transmission. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 114

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Conspiracy megaphones like InfoWars transform forum rumor into mass broadcast. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 222; Pan-Islamic conspiracy claims recur across centuries in new media forms — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 176

Broader Connections

• Pan-Islamic conspiracy claims recur across centuries in new media forms #exemplifies (0.80) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 176