“New job figures and other recent economic data..” is a fine line. It’s the sort of line that economists use because “other recent economic data” give the impression that there are stacks of reports too numerous to mention.

I bring this up because I have referred to ‘astroturfing‘ in a recent article, and Hans Kullin, one of my favoprite PR bloggers, makes a reference of such fake grassroots movements, set up by PR flacks.

The offshoot of such an astroturfing business, is that it dupes the media into publishing ‘facts’ and letters to the editor which are copied from front organizations’ web sites. This particular sentence (above) is machine generated. If you don’t believe me, copy it and google it.

Newspaper editors are aware of that and look out for ‘manchurian letters,’ but it will only increase, since PR is becoming the frontline of marketing wars, business, and politics. Someone comes up with a new trick every few months. The fake press release, was usurped by the fake web site, which gave way to the fake blog. But you can’t fool all the people all the time. Media watchdog orgs are busy pointing these out.

For readers of my upcoming article, Buzz: The New PR, here’s a useful reference for astroturfing