Fabrication of Fact: Western Media Narratives (Part 3)

Over this series, we’ve assessed the dangers of fabricated facts in Western media; from how it affects the Overton Window to how it can spawn a never ending cycle of conspiracy theories. This newsletter, we will wrap this series up with an analysis of something much closer to home for furries: misinformation about furry culture.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen the furry community explode in popularity. Convention attendance numbers have increased at unprecedented rates, from the world’s largest conventions reaching 5,000 people to nowadays where 5,000 people is often considered a small or medium sized convention. Our fursona artists have blossomed into a fully fledged industry where artists receive community support and make an adequate living. A community where fursuit makers aren’t searching local fabric stores for the best fur-analogue, or the best foam mask to carve, but instead can get these things from other furry companies specializing in those things. It would be unfathomable to furries of old to see where this community has ended up, and yet we are here, we are succeeding, we are shifting the paradigm. We have developed into what could be argued as the most welcoming and inclusive community in the world, collecting people from every walk of life. This success and strength though has brought attention. Attention that the centrist and rightist media likes to exploit for profits and for political motives.

The common tactic of centrist and rightist political parties is to create an “other”. A scapegoat for the ills of society caused by their own hands as to distract and exploit. We’ve seen this with racial minorities, we’ve seen this with the LGBTQ+ community, we’ve seen this with leftist political talking points, we’ve seen this with economically disparaged people, and so many more. Now, they’re coming for us. Meme culture has already given us mockery of therian individuals which has disparaged many in their non-furry friend circles, but the recent uptick in media falsehoods has given politicians the greenlight to condemn us. Viral joke videos on platforms like TikTok have been taken by Western media outlets, both local and national, and used to label the furry community as deviant and criminal. Videos of people mocking the idea of using litterboxes that went viral on TikTok are being reported as if they represent the entire community, leading to efforts in the state of Texas in the United States to attempt to ban furry culture from youth spaces entirely. Other narratives focus on our criminal intent with regards to partnering with animal conservation organizations or animal shelters, labeling us as nefarious and conniving.

Narratives like these are false on principle, and seek only to stereotype our community to justify its treatment at the hands of the centrists and rightists. Journalists reporting on the stories with salacious titles and clickbait thumbnails are exploiting our struggles and our push for acceptance and safety, and they’re profiting off the pushback against that. Laws are being proposed in Russia to liken furries to satanists, laws in several US states seek to undermine and in some cases outright ban the furry community, and for what? To suppress differences. To suppress an ideology that is welcoming instead of exclusionary. To suppress a community built on the premise of difference, not on the premise of sameness. An “innocent” false narrative in a local newspaper in rural Texas can easily become gasoline for the next witch hunt. Furries are a vulnerable community. We are strong, but we are a minority, and as such, we are a target the same as any other for misinformation and fabrication of truth. Time and time again, furry organizations have to provide a disclaimer to non-furry companies working with us that they may receive backlash as a result of a partnership, and yet, every time they agree, universally they praise our community for its support, its welcoming nature, its propensity to fundraise. But, it’s not profitable to report on those things. Nonfactual reporting earns more money. Stretching the truth of some bad actors so thin it becomes transparent earns more money.

When profits drive media narratives, whether it be exploiting and influencing foreign countries to achieve regime changes, reporting outright lies about rivals, or creating false narratives of furry immorality, they all seek to promote the capitalist class and demean the working class. Profits do not lead to truth, and truth often does not lead to profits. Time and time again in our capitalist society, we see truth happen in spite of the media, not because of it. We see effect after effect of these failings. Conspiracy theories run rampant, media literacy is at an all time low, independent media is virtually non-existent, and that is exactly how the capitalists want it. Fight back, tell the truth. We are all not immune to propaganda, but we can combat it when we see it.

In solidarity,
FurInform

Sources: (some sources include further sources, in an effort to keep this section brief, please access the sources and look deeper for yourself)
https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/03/26/stan-gerdes-texas-furries-act/
https://youtu.be/KxkEMge4118?si=LgNaze2x-LuFFouI
https://youtu.be/EFe8lXuh8CA?si=SMFH6-wib5Ns1iYO
The Hakim YouTube video representing the first sources in this series has been unlisted from the platform and is no longer accessible. Here is a source that replaces it:
https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/debunking-the-tiananmen-square-massacre