Blogging for the Big Guns
It is things like this that make me wonder about working in corporate PR (for the record, I'm a librarian who has little-to-zero influence over campaigns). But then, I'm overly sensitive about things that barely matter.
Wal-Mart, and I'm sure plenty of other companies, have been targeting sympathetic bloggers and sending them pro-Wal-Mart tidbits, which inevitably get posted as opinion. It's one thing for a corporation to deflect poor public opinion with upbeat propaganda–that's expected–but the general public parroting spoon fed messages is almost scarier.
But I guess many would argue that this is what mainstream media has been doing for ages.
A Word to the Wise [Richard Edelman]
Wal-Mart Bloggers Exposed! [Holmes Report Blog]
Does the 'P' in 'PR' stand for 'press' or 'public'? [BuzzMachine]
4 Sides of the Story, Pt. 1 [Crazy Politico's Rantings]