Fox News Reportedly Used Internet Sockpuppets To Discredit Its Critics

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):

Follow @NewsHounds

Follow @NewsHoundEllen

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Showing 8 reactions

commented 2013-10-22 11:12:12 -0400 · Flag

I really have to wonder how many of the people who have tried to be disruptive here were on the payroll. I’m sure some of them were real people – but most were clearly just trying to raise trouble.

commented 2013-10-21 11:50:54 -0400 · Flag

I have written up this revelation on my Not Now Silly blog. The Smoking Gun ► The Mark Koldys-Johnny Dollar Comment of the Day can be found at http://notnowsilly.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-smoking-gun-mark-koldys-johnny.html

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.

commented 2013-10-20 22:51:16 -0400 · Flag

Headly, Koldys has no qualms about the crap him and his crew pulls. At one point, our dear friend Hatheway tried to claim that he lived near me and worked for Google. He also said that he was about to find me in real life for the flying monkeys.

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.

commented 2013-10-20 19:34:40 -0400 · Flag

Did Fox “News” sponsor Johnny Dollar’s hit piece on me? They certainly got their Dollar’s worth, didn’t they?

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

commented 2013-10-20 18:09:14 -0400 · Flag

Given Wrinkled Rupert’s penchant for criminal activity, I would not be shocked to learn that Fux Noise had tried to hack into the phones and/or computers of the NewsHounds moderators.

commented 2013-10-20 17:15:40 -0400 · Flag

Well, we already knew Newscorp does things like this, and it was strongly suspected that Fox News does this. And regarding our friends at Koldys Kooky Krew: They might as well get paid for it, since they’ve proven that they’re just those types of people since Marky Mark was still at Newsbusters.

commented 2013-10-20 16:40:59 -0400 · Flag

I remember the sock-puppets well……:D

NewsHounds posted about Fox News Reportedly Used Internet Sockpuppets To Discredit Its Critics on NewsHounds' Facebook page 2013-10-20 16:31:59 -0400

We'll be contacting Folkenflik to see what he knows about a certain troll who has obsessively stalked News Hounds since its inception.