Former CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson recently led a TED Talk at the University of Nevada – Reno about how astroturf, or fake grassroots, movements are actually funded by political and corporate special interest groups and are manipulating and distorting media messages.
“Astroturf seeks to manipulate you into changing your opinion by making it seem as if you’re an outlier–when you’re not,” said Attkisson.
“Hallmarks of astroturf and propaganda include use of inflammatory language such as quack, crank, nutty, pseudo, paranoid and conspiracy.”
Watch Attkisson’s full TED Talk.
