TEDx Talks
3 HN recommenders · recommended in 5 months, 2016–2018
10:37 · 1.5M views · Feb 6, 2015
Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson explains how astroturf, fake grassroots campaigns funded by corporate or political interests, manipulates media messages. The TEDx talk is about 11 minutes.
HN commenters recommend it as an introduction to shills, astroturfing and lobbyist influence on media, especially in threads about fake news and online forums.
6 comments from Hacker News
> Every year there's a study that contradicts the last one. That's from Astroturfing by <_INSERT_INDUSTRY_LOBBY_NAME_HERE_> Every time a real study with facts comes out saying X_____ is bad for you, the Corporations and Special Interest Lobbyists working on behalf of X____ will astroturf the media with "No really, X____ is good for you" X_____ = Coffee, Diary, Wine, Eggs, Wheat, Soy, Stevia, ..... you get the idea. Required Viewing: Astroturf and manipulation of media messages | Sharyl Attkisson | TEDx => this video
wallethub.com link? Really? Ever heard of Astroturfing? The Big Tobacco and Vaping Lobbyists have tons of "blog posts" and "research" news that "debunk" all the bad things about Vaping and Smoking. Required Viewing: Astroturf and manipulation of media messages | Sharyl Attkisson | TEDx this video
Yes an astroturfer aka shill I would personally define as someone portraying themselves to be a neutral observer/participant when in reality they are paid/sponsored/incentivized by a state, company, or organization pushing a specific agenda. They are intentionally planted to deceive, distort and sway those unsuspecting of such activity. There is an excellent TED talk [0] on the subject. The problem is rampant and while not new, the recent election cycle has highlighted it greatly. Propaganda does not spread just from 'fake news' or a heavily biased corporate media. It is co-ordinated & perpetuated online. The links and comments on Reddit and HN are prime mediums to infiltrate and carry this out. [0] this video
I posted this before but after reading about all this "fake news" phenomena, I came across this TEDx talk by Sharyl Attkisson: "How Real Is Fake News?" [1]. She's a former reporter for CBS News and in the video, she explains where the term comes from, who's behind it and what the long-term consequences are. If you have 10 min of free time, give it a watch. She also gave another amazing talk on corporate astroturfing and media manipulation [2]: "Astroturf and manipulation of media messages" [1] [LINK] [2] this video
Almost all the Ajit Pai stories these days appear to be Astroturfing. They are cleverly manipulating the masses of voting population, which doesn't think like most folks here at HN, into believing that this is a great thing for them. Astroturf and manipulation of media messages | Sharyl Attkisson | TEDx University of Nevada => this video