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In this eye-opening TED Talk, veteran investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson shows how astroturf, or fake grassroots movements funded by political, corporate, or other special interests very effectively manipulate and distort media messages.

The talk covers the increasingly artificial paid-for reality we get…and how to recognize the truth.

“Astroturf seeks to manipulate you into changing your opinion by making it seem as if you’re an outlier–when you’re not.”

“Hallmarks of astroturf and propaganda include use of inflammatory language such as quack, crank, nutty, pseudo, paranoid and conspiracy.”

“Beware when an interest addresses an issue by controversializing or attacking the people, personalities and organizations surrounding the issue rather than the facts. That could be astroturf.”

Here is Sharyl Attkisson’s TED Talk outlining how the news media is manipulated: