Astroturfing: How Corporate and Government Groups Create and Maintain a Monopoly on Truth

In these Internet-dominated times, the concept of the mainstream media as the gatekeepers of information has been crashed. In many ways this is a positive step, as bloggers, website operators, and activists can spread their messages without using the mainstream media as a conduit. Citizen journalists have been able to expose and report on many important topics, such as the Boston Marathon bombing, the Arab Spring, and police brutality. Grassroots movements, like the Bring Back Our Girls Twitter campaign after the Boko Haram kidnappings, have sprung up to effect positive change.

When it comes to grassroots journalism, however, the grass is not necessarily green—or natural. A method known as astroturfing has exploded in the age of social media, wherein advertisers, companies, and nonprofit organizations create fake online personas and drum up a slanted narrative on an issue. Astroturfing can be used to convince the public that many people support or oppose a certain cause, position, politician, or organization. Lobbyists and organizations often create a false impression of man-on-the-street support. For instance, astroturfing has been used on both sides of the Affordable Healthcare Act/Obamacare.

Astroturfing explores how the positive elements of citizen journalism have been hijacked in favor of more manipulative tactics. Through in-depth examples and anecdotes, it shows how astroturfing has misled the public. Interviews with journalists and editors, academics, nonprofit employees, and government officials bring a wide array of perspectives to bear on this timely issue.