This March 4, 2020, image shows a collection of Instagram posts, which Facebook, the owner of Instagram, yanked off the site in October after concluding that they originated from Russia and had links to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian operation that targeted U.S. audiences in 2016. Social media accounts linked to Russia have begun to disrupt this year’s U.S. presidential race and it’s become harder to detect the posts on platforms like Instagram, according to a new report from University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Young Mie Kim released Thursday, March 5. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
Scott LaMar was formerly the Host and Executive Producer of The Spark program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.
Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program, Smart Talk.
In addition to his on-air duties, LaMar moderated political candidate debates, including those for candidates running for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate and was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. He has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
LaMar and The Spark have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.
A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.
This March 4, 2020, image shows a collection of Instagram posts, which Facebook, the owner of Instagram, yanked off the site in October after concluding that they originated from Russia and had links to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian operation that targeted U.S. audiences in 2016. Social media accounts linked to Russia have begun to disrupt this year’s U.S. presidential race and it’s become harder to detect the posts on platforms like Instagram, according to a new report from University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Young Mie Kim released Thursday, March 5. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
One of the strategies used to disrupt the election process is to promote information that isn’t true about the candidates or news in the U.S.
The Alliance for Securing Democracy is a bipartisan transatlantic national security advocacy group formed in July 2017 with the stated aim of countering efforts by Russia to undermine democratic institutions in the United States and Europe.
Also on Monday’s show, the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania Auditor General Nina Ahmad, joins us to discuss priorities before the November election.
Other candidates on the ballot are Republican Tim DeFoor, Green Party candidate Olivia Faison, and Jennifer Moore representing the Libertarian Party. DeFoor appeared on the program October 5th. You can hear that conversation at witf.org. The other candidates have not responded to our invitations to appear.
