The methods of augmenting an increasingly discredited and distrusted
Western media have become very creative. With the advent of the Internet
and social media, attempts to produce viral content and seemingly
outside sources to help guide the public back who are turning away from
the mainstream media in droves was actually the subject of an entire
policy paper by former Administrator of the White House Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Cass Sunstein. The paper was covered
in a Salon article titled, "Obama confidant’s spine-chilling proposal," which stated (emphasis added):
Sunstein advocates that the Government’s stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups.” He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called “independent” credible voices to bolster the Government’s messaging (on the ground that those who don’t believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government).
It would be these - what are essentially government-paid liars - who the
West would turn to in an attempt to bury Hersh and the remnants of real
Western journalism with him.
