According to Media Matters, David Folkenflik's forthcoming book called, "Murdoch's World," reveals that Fox News' PR department created fake internet identities, via wireless networks that could not be traced back to Fox News, to post pro-Fox comments on blogs that criticized Fox News.
Media Matters quotes from page 67 of Folkenflik's book:
On the blogs, the fight was particularly fierce. 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. Another used an AOL dial-up connection, even in the age of widespread broadband access, on the rationale it would be harder to pinpoint its origins. Old laptops were distributed for these cyber operations. Even blogs with minor followings were reviewed to ensure no claim went unchecked.
Media Matters also notes that it's unclear from the book whether Fox still engages in these tactics.
I think I'll contact Folkenflik and ask him what he knows about a certain blogger who has been obsessed with NewsHounds and seems to have come up with many (I've lost count) identifies to troll and stalk us. Below is just a small sampling of some of the trolls who have registered on our site since we moved to the NationBuilder platform, starting with the chief cyberstalker (who was banned many times back when we were with our previous host):
If you like what I’ve written, I ask you to share it widely. It’s time these psychopaths are shown up for the cyber-bully creeps they really are.
With all my love,
Headly Westerfield, blogger and truth-teller.
Then I talked about some creep who was trolling me trying to get a date, and he stopped. The last post I saw from him before I quit caring past referencing him was that he got blocked from facebook for a full week because he was trying to access other people’s pages.
Three guesses how much contempt Koldys had for that.
Remember this piece?
Johnny Dollar Has Proven Himself To Be A Very Dangerous Person at http://notnowsilly.blogspot.com/2012/04/johnny-dollar-has-proven-himself-to-be.html
With all my love,
Aunty Headly