Astroturf and manipulation of media messages

via The Arcane Front

In this eye-opening talk, veteran investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson shows how astroturf, or fake grassroots movements funded by political, corporate, or other special interests very effectively manipulate and distort media messages.

Sharyl Attkisson is an investigative journalist based in Washington D.C. She is currently writing a book entitled Stonewalled (Harper Collins), which addresses the unseen influences of corporations and special interests on the information and images the public receives every day in the news and elsewhere. For twenty years (through March 2014), Attkisson was a correspondent for CBS News. In 2013, she received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism for her reporting on “The Business of Congress,” which included an undercover investigation into fundraising by Republican freshmen. She also received Emmy nominations in 2013 for Benghazi: Dying for Security and Green Energy Going Red. Additionally, Attkisson received a 2013 Daytime Emmy Award as part of the CBS Sunday Morning team’s entry for Outstanding Morning Program for her report: “Washington Lobbying: K-Street Behind Closed Doors.” In September 2012, Attkisson also received an Emmy for Oustanding Investigative Journalism for the “Gunwalker: Fast and Furious” story. She received the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting for the same story. Attkisson received an Investigative Emmy Award in 2009 for her exclusive investigations into TARP and the bank bailout. She received an Investigative Emmy Award in 2002 for her series of exclusive reports about mismanagement at the Red Cross.

“Hallmarks of astroturf include use of inflammatory language such as ‘crank’, ‘quack’, ‘nutty’, ‘lies’, ‘paranoid’, ‘pseudo-‘, and ‘conspiracy’. Astroturfers often claim to ‘debunk myths’ that aren’t myths at all. Use of the charged language tests well. People hear something’s a myth — maybe they find it on Snopes — and they instantly declare themselves too smart to fall for it. But what if the whole notion of the myth is itself a myth and you and Snopes fell for that? [Snopes ‘attempts’ to give accurate information about rumors and urban legends on a variety of topics, though its own credibility and reliability have and should be questioned.]”