Here's one astro-turfing effort we shouldn't let them get away with. From
the New York Times (registration required):
Under assault as never before, Wal-Mart is increasingly looking beyond the mainstream media and working directly with bloggers, feeding them exclusive nuggets of news, suggesting topics for postings and even inviting them to visit its corporate headquarters.
More on the flip.
But the strategy raises questions about what bloggers, who pride themselves on independence, should disclose to readers. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, has been forthright with bloggers about the origins of its communications, and the company and its public relations firm, Edelman, say they do not compensate the bloggers.
But some bloggers have posted information from Wal-Mart, at times word for word, without revealing where it came from...
It's worth reading the whole story; I hate to see stuff like this go unchallenged.
My apologies that this is not the most insightful diary in the world, but I thought y'all would want to be aware of what they're up to-- especially when it seems that straight-up Wal-Mart PR copy is getting posted as individual bloggers' views.
I'm hoping to track down instances of this so we can debunk it as it happens. At least, I'll try to do that, and anyone who is bored and/or better at this sort of thing than I am may want to do so as well.