Newsweek recently published a provocative opinion column titled “Taylor Swift Is Not a Good Role Model,” sparking significant online controversy. The piece, dated June 27, quickly became a trending topic due to its sensational content and apparent clickbait nature. It criticized Swift’s highly publicized romantic life, suggesting that her numerous relationships with high-profile men, including singers Harry Styles and Joe Jonas, actor Jake Gyllenhaal, and American football player Travis Kelce, raise questions about stability, commitment, and love.
The column questioned if Swift’s dating history should be seen as a standard for young girls to aspire to, or if a more wholesome example should be promoted. “Would any loving parent want their daughter to date 12 different men in a few years?” the article pondered.
The author, John McGhlionn, who claims to be a “doctor in psychosocial studies, researcher, and essayist,” has a dubious background. His credentials, including his doctorate and research, remain unspecified, and an extensive online search yields little information about him beyond his contributions to various opinion forums and low-reliability journalism pieces.
McGhlionn’s work appears in publications like The New York Post, The Spectator, and the U.S. edition of The Sun, as well as digital platforms established post-2020, such as the Brownstone Institute, which criticizes pandemic management policies. He has also written for minority websites like Spiked and Unherd, with provocative headlines such as “Kevin Spacey Deserves a Comeback,” “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is Bad for Your Health,” “The Myth of the Trans Genocide,” and “The Fury of Ireland’s Farmers.”
Despite his lack of a Twitter presence, McGhlionn is active on Gettr, a social media platform created by Donald Trump’s former spokesperson. This association, coupled with the conservative slant of his writings, aligns him with the ideologies of libertarians like Javier Milei in Argentina and Alvise Pérez in Spain, as well as the orbit of Donald Trump.
Newsweek, once a prestigious magazine, has undergone significant changes since being acquired by IBT Media in 2018. The publication now relies heavily on generating traffic through controversial and politically incorrect ideas, as evidenced by the Swift column, which contributed to its monthly reach of 100 million unique users.
This incident highlights how, in the era of social media and fake news, ultra-conservative digital trolls can influence public opinion and dominate the global information agenda.
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