Join the Anti-Astroturfing Campaign

Written on July 16, 2006 – 4:41 am | by Paull Young

Trevor Cook and I are starting an anti-astroturfing campaign â€“ and we want YOU to be a part of it.

Following on from some interesting discussion centering on my PRIA and Astroturfing post, weâ€™ve decided to take a stand against the practice. Read Trevor’s post for a strongly stated explanation.

Weâ€™ve set up an Anti-AstroturfingÂ page at the New PR Wiki to bring together resources about astroturfing, and weâ€™re starting a list there of communicators who oppose the practice.

The Anti-Astroturfing Statement (From the Anti-Astroturfing page)

We oppose the practice of astroturfing, defined above, in any form. The practice should never be a part of a public relations campaign as it is anti-democratic, unethical, immoral and often illegal.Â

We will attempt to raise awareness of this practice, expose it for what it is, and encourage our fellow communicators to join us in opposition.Â

We call for all professional communication bodies to strongly, publicly and actively oppose astroturfing; alongside PR agencies, individual practitioners and bloggers.Â

How You Can Help

Join the conversation - write against astroturfing on your blog or comment on the blog posts listed on the Anti-Astroturfing page on theÂ New PR WikiÂ
Declare you and/or your agency astroturf freeÂ
Expose possible examples of astroturfingÂ
Link to theÂ Anti-AstroturfingÂ page with theÂ image provided and add your name to the list of supporters belowÂ
Call on your politicians to take tougher legislative action against astroturfingÂ
Call on your industry / professional association to speak out against astroturfingÂ
Encourage friends and colleagues to get involvedÂ

Visit the anti-astroturfing page, add the anti-astroturfing image to your blog, join the conversation. In short â€“ get involved!

The campaign has started… who’s with us?

20 Responses to “Join the Anti-Astroturfing Campaign”
By shelby on Jul 18, 2006 | Reply

I think this is a great campaign, and I want to support it. The only organization I am involved in right now is being a student at Auburn University, how can I help support this campaign since I’m not directly involved with a pr agency or organization?
By Paull Young on Jul 18, 2006 | Reply

Shelby,

Thanks for joining the campaign! Thanks to your interest I’ve added a students list to the anti-astroturfing page, and your name is the first one on it.

Congratulations - and it’s great to see you taking an interest in the industry (as I’d expect from any of the excellent Auburn students).
By Sandy Renolds on Sep 3, 2006 | Reply

I am posting this comment in the hope that something will be done about what I have to say.

My family has been in the artificial turf business for since the product was invented in 1968. We started importing it to australia in commercial quantities in 1970 and for the past 30 years have been working tirelessly to create a trusted product and a respected business name.

Two weeks ago, a long time customer of ours googled ‘astro-turf’ in the hope of accessing our website to get our Sydney office’s fax number. He was horrified to find a global campaign created by you against astro-turfing.

After our attention was brought to this I have conducted my own research into the matter. Every search conducted using various engines resulted in being bombarded with sites related to your global campaign. This initiative you have conjured could spell the end of the astro-turf industry.

Please cease de-faming my family’s product or face the possible legal ramifications.

Sandy
By Paull Young on Sep 3, 2006 | Reply

Sandy - I’ve responded to your comment in the comments here
By gnolia signwith on Feb 1, 2007 | Reply

thanks for a nice post such as this.