Verizon, AT&T and the manipulation of public opinion

April 10, 2007 |

Needed: Blacks, Hispanics, disabled, deaf, low-income and the elderly to support the telecoms’ positions on anti-consumer FCC rulings and legislation.

DEFINITIONS:

• Astroturf—An organization set up by a large corporation or corporations to put forward the corporate agenda but to look like an authentic ‘grass-roots’ group.
• Co-opted—An authentic group that is given funding by a large corporation or corporations, where the group lobbies for corporate initiatives even if they are contrary to the needs of its members.
• Skunkworks—A well coordinated campaign funded by large corporations (or industries) that incorporates Astroturf and co-opted groups, research think tanks, PR firms, lobbying firms, state and federal politicians to put forward the corporate agenda on a specific topic.

Over the last few weeks numerous groups have been lobbying and hyping the corporate position of AT&T and Verizon for relaxed cable franchise requirements or to stop any net neutrality legislation. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Business, Issues, Politics | 1 Comment »

Local newspaper’s new online community has led to the worst behavior

By Bill Larson | April 10, 2007 |

Yesterday’s Leaf Chronicle editorial writer, Lori Riegelmann - StoryChat comments were crude, insensitive, has a point.

Anonymous users hiding behind pseudonyms online frequently engage in hateful, bigoted, and mean spirited behavior. Abuse by a minority of the users of the Leaf Chronicle Story Chat has already caused several people to shy away from participation in the public discourse at the Leaf Chronicle’s web site, including myself. It’s just not worth the hassle of participating. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Issues, Opinion | 3 Comments