This seems to be true for many lefty writers ... they know the power points, but utilize them for evil and un-American ways.
Most mainstream leftist writers studied propaganda in great depth. They know most of the tricks. honesty takes a backseat to agenda in all cases.
Many of the reporters I worked with were great at propaganda and did not even care about the truth. They went in to a story with an agenda and wrote said story according to the principles of ‘social justice.
And this was at an area paper/media group, not one of the majors. So you can imagine how things work at the highest levels.