Publishers astroturfing the media?

[fjtorres]

It looks as if all the recent press reports harping on the same dubious messages ad nauseum are, as many suspected, a concerted campaign by the BPHs and friends from the International Publishers Association.

http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2...in-publishing/

And, just as with the price fix conspiracy, they're proud enough to admit it publicly:

But I suspect it’s astroturfing by the publishing establishment, a practice admitted to last month by YS Chi, chairman of Elsevier and president of the International Publishers Association, in paragraph six of this article.

For the click-lazy, here’s the money quote (emphasis mine):

“We gathered all the communications people together to discuss the issues and create an action plan. We have a multi-faceted audience to address, and in the next 12 months you will see key messages delivered, compelling stories of our impact on society for culture and education. We’ll ask you to personalize that message. I’m very excited that there is a meeting of minds on this.”

Yey, talking points! I don’t know if I’m more excited about the centrally approved messaging that’s going to flood the blogosphere, or the mental image of YS Chi doing a mind-meld with everyone in publishing.

Detailed debunking at the source.

[FizzyWater]

Isn't this the typical kind of PR BS that lobbying groups do? Sort of like all the commercials about how corn syrup is the same as sugar at the behest of the "corn growers of America" or some such nonsense?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Isn't this the typical kind of PR BS that lobbying groups do? Sort of like all the commercials about how corn syrup is the same as sugar at the behest of the "corn growers of America" or some such nonsense?

Not exactly: those guys typically run paid ads that are known to be advocacy and don't pretend to be independent.
They don't enlist allegedly independent media organizations to present their canned talking points as unbiased fact.
You do see astroturfing in political campaigns where the media wants to tilt the environment in favor of their own biases.