Whether it’s dismissing all criticism of President Donald Trump as merely not liking his “mean tweets,” or simply looking the other way from the seedy, highly online underbelly of particularly illiberal political movements, a lot of online trolling gets underplayed far too easily these days.

Michael Reneau is the executive editor at The Dispatch and is based in Greeneville, Tennessee. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he was editor of WORLD Magazine and for several years was editor of a daily newspaper in East Tennessee. When Michael isn’t editing, he stays plenty busy with his wife and four kids.
Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D., is the author of “The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis” (Brazos 2023). She is a regular columnist at Religion News Service.

You’re reading Dispatch Faith, our weekly newsletter exploring the biggest stories in religion and faith. To unlock the full version, become a Dispatch member today.

Hi and happy Sunday.

$\"Photo$ Michael Reneau is the executive editor at The Dispatch and is based in Greeneville, Tennessee. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he was editor of WORLD Magazine and for several years was editor of a daily newspaper in East Tennessee. When Michael isn’t editing, he stays plenty busy with his wife and four kids.
$\"Photo$ Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D., is the author of “The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis” (Brazos 2023). She is a regular columnist at Religion News Service.

","freeContentEncoded","textContent","published","strategy","curl-ready","locked","deletedAt","isSyncedFromOwnBlog","original","duplicatesCount",0,"duplicateVersion","originalArticleId","errorsCount","appearance","color","backgroundColor","shortSummary","Online trolling is often dismissed too easily, even when it's linked to illiberal political movements. Learn more about this issue.","summary","Online trolling, particularly when associated with illiberal political movements, is frequently downplayed. This can manifest as dismissing criticism of public figures or ignoring problematic online behavior. The article highlights the tendency to underplay such issues.","bullets",[378,379,380,381,382],"persons",[375,376,377],"places",[373,374],"words",223,"sentiment",-0.5,"subject","meta",{"_335":336,"_337":338,"_339":340},"eventId","96eaf0cb7635ed3a13ed951f3bfebcedd080afd0d35c2a4667fa87cb92c406a7","nostrRootEvent","event",{"_24":271,"_300":323,"_146":97,"_198":324,"_304":305,"_232":325,"_307":326},"authorNPub","markdown","Whether it’s dismissing all criticism of President Donald Trump as merely not liking his “mean tweets,” or simply looking the other way from the seedy, highly online underbelly of particularly illiberal political movements, a lot of online trolling gets underplayed far too easily these days.\n\n* [Michael Reneau](https://thedispatch.com/author/michael-reneau) is the executive editor at The Dispatch and is based in Greeneville, Tennessee. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he was editor of WORLD Magazine and for several years was editor of a daily newspaper in East Tennessee. When Michael isn’t editing, he stays plenty busy with his wife and four kids.\n* [Karen Swallow Prior](https://thedispatch.com/author/karen-swallow-prior), Ph.D., is the author of “The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis” (Brazos 2023). She is a regular columnist at Religion News Service.\n\n* * *\n\n_You’re reading **Dispatch Faith**, our weekly newsletter exploring the biggest stories in religion and faith. To unlock the full version, become a Dispatch member today._\n\n* * *\n\nHi and happy Sunday.\n\nWhether it’s dismissing all criticism of President Donald Trump as merely not liking his “mean tweets,” or simply looking the other way from the seedy, highly online underbelly of particularly illiberal political movements, a lot of online trolling gets underplayed far too easily these days.\n\n* [![Photo of Michael Reneau](https://i0.wp.com/thedispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Michael-Reneau.png?w=120&strip=all&ssl=1)Michael Reneau](https://thedispatch.com/author/michael-reneau) is the executive editor at The Dispatch and is based in Greeneville, Tennessee. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he was editor of WORLD Magazine and for several years was editor of a daily newspaper in East Tennessee. When Michael isn’t editing, he stays plenty busy with his wife and four kids.\n* [![Photo of Karen Swallow Prior](https://i0.wp.com/thedispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/cropped-DISPATCH-MARCH-PORTRAITS-3.2.png?w=120&strip=all&ssl=1)Karen Swallow Prior](https://thedispatch.com/author/karen-swallow-prior), Ph.D., is the author of “The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis” (Brazos 2023). She is a regular columnist at Religion News Service.","freeMarkdown","kind1EventId","kind30023EventId","19bbd88da1fb451883eb29cf93dc92fd302a4ca98981bb395996f03d244a70be","kind30023",{"_24":281,"_300":301,"_146":302,"_198":303,"_304":305,"_232":306,"_307":308},"publishedToNostr","htmlContentKind30023","

Michael Reneau is the executive editor at The Dispatch and is based in Greeneville, Tennessee. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he was editor of WORLD Magazine and for several years was editor of a daily newspaper in East Tennessee. When Michael isn’t editing, he stays plenty busy with his wife and four kids.
Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D., is the author of “The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis” (Brazos 2023). She is a regular columnist at Religion News Service.

You’re reading Dispatch Faith, our weekly newsletter exploring the biggest stories in religion and faith. To unlock the full version, become a Dispatch member today.

Hi and happy Sunday.

$\"Photo$ Michael Reneau is the executive editor at The Dispatch and is based in Greeneville, Tennessee. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he was editor of WORLD Magazine and for several years was editor of a daily newspaper in East Tennessee. When Michael isn’t editing, he stays plenty busy with his wife and four kids.
$\"Photo$ Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D., is the author of “The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis” (Brazos 2023). She is a regular columnist at Religion News Service.

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The article highlights the tendency to underplay such issues.\n - Online trolling is often underplayed.\n - Criticism of President Donald Trump can be dismissed as disliking his \"mean tweets.\"\n - The \"seedy, highly online underbelly\" of illiberal political movements is sometimes ignored.\n - Michael Reneau is the executive editor at The Dispatch.\n - Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D., is an author and columnist.\n","created_at",1785825775,[321,322],[37,218],[319,320],[41,225],[318,213],[255,219],[317,36],[150,305,36],"client","d","published_at","1785825775","r","https://news.layer3.press/articles/96bd74f0-28dd-4f01-9f17-660e38a8f82e","580c681a1dfddecb309ddb3777e4afd2da581a50b71fbf1ef6c96ac739bb784f41bbd4951a55677ea3ed352971ec0986ee927fbadb13241026b429c1300befe6",[327,328,329,330,331],"You Can’t Brainrot Your Way to Hope\nTurn any article into a podcast. 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