Veteran investigative journalist, Sharyl Attkisson breaks down the phenomenon of astroturf, i.e.,the fake “grassroots movements” of trolls funded by political, corporate, or other special interests, who form a phalanx which very effectively manipulate and distort media messages, especially on the Internet.
This multiple Emmy Award-winning journalist describes their methods of harassing the questioners of authority, rather than to deal with the questions, themselves – and certainly never with the so-called “authorities”.
She warns that there’s nothing she can do to resolve this nefarious phenomenon but hopes that her talk will help motivate the viewers to become “wiser consumers of information…in an increasingly artificial, paid-for reality.”
