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AltWatcher

@altwatcher.bsky.social

2.5K followers 510 following 840 posts

The alt account of @jjoycelynch.bsky.social, where I keep an eye on "Alt" US Govt. accounts, and one account in particular. For more of my writing on this subject: https://substack.com/home/post/p-161500621

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · Aug 1

The Alt National Park Service has spent months stealing from journalists, directly plagiarizing the work of others more than a hundred times.

With more than 4.3 million followers on Facebook and nearly 900k here on Bluesky, they've built a massive following on theft.

The "Alt National Park Service:" On Plagiarism, Part 1

The first in a three-part series.

jjoycelynch.substack.com

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 18h

But sometimes, like with this post, they don't even bother implying any sort of inside knowledge. They aren't even implying that they're bringing anything to the table that you couldn't see elsewhere, and they STILL aren't bothering to just link to a damn website.

AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 18h

Sometimes, AltNPS omits their source because they're clearly trying to imply that they have inside information, or that they're in contact with conveniently "unnamed" officials in the government.

If their source is an imagined insider, that's more exciting than "we also read this in NPR."

Alt National Park Service: More than 5,000 federal employees have received layoff notices. We’re working to ensure that the administration isn’t using state voter rolls to target registered Democrats for termination. More details soon.

AltNPS claiming to be in contact with an "unnamed DOJ official"

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 18h

With this one, I'm not insisting that AltNPS cited a particular source, I'm annoyed that they didn't cite one at all.

For example, they could have linked to Edward Helmore's 10/13 article in the Guardian, which includes every single detail in AltNPS's thread:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Alt National Park Service: Major news outlets are standing together and refusing to sign. ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News have all rejected a new Pentagon policy that would impose unprecedented restrictions on news gathering.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 1d

Oh weird, where did this IDENTICAL LANGUAGE come from?

This was reported by @rachelfrazin.bsky.social in The Hill on 10/10/25, four days before AltNPS reposted it without attribution.

thehill.com/policy/energ...

Alt National Park Service: Employees in the EPA’s Resource Conservation and Sustainability Division received an internal email notifying them that the agency plans to carry out a workforce reduction. The division oversees programs that assist states with recycling and composting initiatives.

Rachel Frazin, The Hill: Employees in the EPA’s Resource Conservation and Sustainability Division received an email indicating the agency would be undertaking a reduction in force. The division works with states on recycling and compost programs, attempting to reduce waste.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 1d

Apologies, I couldn't fit this into one tweet: the NPR article was reported by @stphnfwlr.com, @andreahsu.bsky.social, @selenasd.com, Sam Gringlas, and Deepa Shivaram.

AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 1d

First, this was reported in NPR on 10/10/25 at 9:59 PM CDT, fourteen hours before AltNPS.

Second, AltNPS hasn't said HOW they're "working to ensure" the govt isn't using voter rolls to target employees, and I'm not clear on how AltNPS would be able do that.

www.npr.org/2025/10/10/n...

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 1d

"Word is." Come on. AltNPS is saying it as though they heard a rumor in the bathroom.

I heard a rumor that two reporters from MSNBC broke this story, and their names are Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 1d

This was reported by @carolleonnig.bsky.social and @kendilanian-nbc.bsky.social at MSNBC on 10/10/25 at 2:45 PM CDT, almost three days before AltNPS reposted it without attribution.

www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/c...

Alt National Park Service: Trump’s revenge and vengeance tour continues. Word is that this week, John Bolton, former national security adviser to Trump turned prominent critic, is expected to be charged with federal crimes.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 2d

And I wish AltNPS had given credit to their source! Or any source!

AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 2d

@dirgemagazine.com mentioned this once, and it definitely stuck with me. They don't need to be like this! They could have been actually useful, and are deciding not to.

Dirge Magazine @dirgemagazine.com · Aug 12

The gross irony is that they could have as easily positioned themselves as a aggregator/distributor of news and helped journalists and the public both and I doubt anyone would habe begrudged their selling a little merch for the trouble.

AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 2d

I think so? I remember hearing about this a few years ago, and to be honest, I haven't thought about Newsweek much since:

newrepublic.com/article/1589...

Newsweek and the Rise of the Zombie Magazine

How a decaying legacy magazine is being used to launder right-wing ideas and conspiracy theories.

newrepublic.com

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 2d

This was reported by @raquelco15.bsky.social in NBC News on 10/12/25 at 10:04 AM CDT, three hours before AltNPS reposted it without attribution.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...

Alt National Park Service: Smithsonian museums, research centers, and the National Zoo temporarily closed Sunday due to the federal government shutdown.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 2d

Very concerning to see Newsweek cite AltNPS as though it's a real source.

Newsweek! Buddy! AltNPS has plagiarized FROM YOU multiple times!

Newsweek: The Alt National Park Service, a group on Facebook that declares itself the “official ‘Resistance’ team of U.S. National Park Service,” in a post on Saturday said that more than 5,000 federal employees received layoff notices.

A screenshot of the Alt National Park Service Tracking Document. An entry is highlighted, showing one of the times that AltNPS stole credit for Newsweek's work.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 2d

This was reported by Minho Kim in the New York Times on 10/10/25 at 8:27 PM CDT, eight minutes before AltNPS reposted it without attribution.

web.archive.org/web/20251011...

Alt National Park Service: Finally! Judge Paula Xinis of the U.S. District Court in Maryland has signaled she is inclined to release Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man wrongfully deported and later brought back by the Trump administration.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 2d

This was reported by Adrian Sainz at the Associated Press via PBS News, on 10/10/25 at 10:15 AM CDT, forty-five minutes before AltNPS reposted it without attribution.

www.pbs.org/newshour/nat...

Alt National Park Service: Today, the National Guard began patrolling in Memphis.

AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks for reading, and for the kind words! It's a very weird, very niche rabbit hole that I can't seem to escape, and I'm glad to be able to pull a few others in after me.

bjkeefe @bjkeefe.bsky.social · 4d

I want to point you to a truly laudable body of work by @altwatcher.bsky.social, that documents @altnps.bsky.social's ongoing plagiarism. Links in comments.

h/t @ladymolson.com

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 4d

It's *embarrassing* how directly they're just copying the tone of the early Q drops.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 4d

a group of men in military uniforms are walking on a tarmac

ALT: a group of men in military uniforms are walking on a tarmac

media.tenor.com

AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 5d

We've been hearing them every single day around Wrigleyville, it's insane. Thank you for all your work and reporting!

AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 5d

AltNPS's return to the world of code words and resistance LARPing was inevitable, because this is who they are. This is what got them their fervent audience, and it's what their true believers are here for.

This account owes everything to this LARP. Without it, they're nothing. But they have it.

AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 5d

It's been a while. But somehow, I always knew AltNPS would get back to their roots. They could only resist the LARP for so long.

Alt National Park Service: Standing by at waypoint. Not lost. Just holding the line.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 5d

My closing argument:

"AltNPS may get increasingly clever about their plagiarism, or be forced to find new ways to hide it, but they’ve been too successful to stop now. Their popularity depends on it, and without it, they’re nothing."

"It’s not just that they WON'T change. It’s that they can’t.*

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 5d

I ended this article with a section called "AltNPS Can't Change." In it, I argue that the account owes its surge in popularity to its manufactured image as a rogue government operative, and that it has trapped itself in an endless cycle of needing to maintain this image. Hence, all the plagiarism.

The "Alt National Park Service:" On Plagiarism, Part 4

A series of pivots, and a glimpse at the future.

open.substack.com

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 5d

It's been a while. But somehow, I always knew AltNPS would get back to their roots. They could only resist the LARP for so long.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 5d

I am seriously going to lose it

Alt National Park Service: The monster is really coming for us all. General Letitia James has been indicted following Trump’s pressure campaign. She’s accused of committing “mortgage fraud.” The MAGA movement is weaponizing the Justice Department.

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AltWatcher @altwatcher.bsky.social · 5d

I was thinking the same thing. All these little individual quotes and numbers seem to point towards it being synthesized into an AI summary.