[ExI] Astroturf - Is anything 'real' out there?

[Stefano Vaj]

On 4 August 2011 19:07, Richard Loosemore <rloosemore at susaro.com> wrote:

>
> The only time I have heard a journalist do a He-Said-She-Said and try to
> mention a supposedly left-wing astroturf, to balance mention of a right-wing
> one, that organisation was one that I (and many other people I know)
> actually joined, and actively support with email protests .... hence
> manifestly not a cashroots organization at all, but a genuine one.
>

I expect that any astroturf campaign only need to be seeded, and once it has
reached critical mass can well walk on its feet.

I do not know whether the "protests" and now "revolutions" in the Middle
East should be considered as left-wing or right-wing (not that I care), but
they seem a rather obvious example in point.

As to the merits, I think astroturfing is an obvious and rather banal
reflection of contemporary political rhetorics. A few years ago, the
equivalent was probably to claim on good authority that the King liked a
given product or disapproved of a given
policy.

Too bad we lack the necessary cash... :-)

-- 
Stefano Vaj
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