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In a chapter focusing on how Fox utilized its notoriously ruthless public relations department in the mid-to-late 00's, Folkenflik reports that Fox's PR staffers would "post pro-Fox rants" in the comments sections of "negative and even neutral" blog posts written about the network. According to Folkenflik, the staffers used various tactics to cover their tracks, including setting up wireless broadband connections that "could not be traced back" to the network.

Fox PR staffers were expected to counter not just negative and even neutral blog postings but the anti-Fox comments beneath them. One former staffer recalled using twenty different aliases to post pro-Fox rants. Another had one hundred. Several employees had to acquire a cell phone thumb drive to provide a wireless broadband connection that could not be traced back to a Fox News or News Corp account. Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires, David Folkenflik

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In his new book, “Murdoch’s World,” David Folkenflik reveals Fox News’ practice of using paid commenters with fake social media accounts, to deceive the online community. Folkenflik says members of Fox’s online PR staff created between twenty and a hundred fake profiles on social media accounts each. The accounts are used by PR staff in order to push the station’s extreme right-wing agenda.

As a freelance writer I have encountered hundreds of help wanted postings for fake right-wing bloggers, paid commenters and bogus survey takers. Most of the positions pay between five and ten cents a post. The “paid commenters” ads usually appear on international freelancing sites, meaning you do not have to live in the United States to help push the tea party agenda here.

If you thought the tea party social media trolls just had bad English and grammar skills back when they first came on the scene, you were wrong. In order to avoid being caught, the right wing generally recruits their fake bloggers and paid commenters from outside of the US. In 2011, a help wanted posting appeared on Craigslist in Toronto. In an effort to elevate the reading and speaking skills of its online propaganda machine, the right-wing made the mistake of trying to recruit new shills just a little too close to home. That help wanted posting got the attention of several independent journalists, both in Canada and the U.S.

In ‘Murdoch’s World,’ Folkenflik confirms what many social media users have known for a long time. Many right-wing commenters are using fake profiles and they are getting paid for spewing their filth around the web. Folkenflik reveals that these paid commenters use a wide range of deceptive tactics to hide their true identities. Using wireless broadband connections so that the comments cannot be traced back to their source, is just one of the many tactics employed.

It’s tempting to think that Fox is the only source of right-wing internet trolls. That’s certainly not the case, however. There are a large number of companies that hire bogus bloggers and paid commenters. Take for example Advantage Consultants, a company that went out of business after being exposed as a source of bogus right-wing talking points, which were being spread around the web. The former president of Advantage Consultants, Doug Guetzloe is a tea party/right-wing radio host. Guetzloe is also the founder of a group called “Ax the Tax,” that pushes the tea party agenda in Florida.

In his book, Folkenflik makes it clear that Fox’s paid commenters do not just confine themselves to posting on Fox’s own blogs or web-sites. They routinely scan the internet for any news that is deemed in need of “fair and balanced” right wing agenda spreading. They respond to normal people in the comments sections of any number of web-sites, often with aggressive and insulting attacks.

The point of these fake commenters is not just to push a specific agenda. It’s also to deceive the unsuspecting public about the actual amount of support that exists for that agenda.Paid commenters use vicious attacks against anyone who posts an opposing opinion. Eventually the attacks have the effect of driving people with opposite views away from the targeted sites. This allows them to dominate the web with their fake profiles, while at the same time discouraging real people from participating in the discussion. http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Hate-Fox-News/3616718

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