Lobbyists or propagandists, call them what you want, are people who work diligently to express certain opinions and points of view. Sometimes lobbyists or propagandists are individuals or organizations that want to make their views known in the hope of acheiving certain goals. On a local scale, this would include the P.T.A. or, among other things, environmentalists, or people trying to make social issues known and laws introduced.

On a broader scale, there are, as we all know, lobbyists or propagandists that work for many of the same issues that smaller "grass root" groups work for. But there are also people who are paid to work at making issues known and decisions made that work in the favor of certain governments, groups and industries. You know the type; Greenpeace, P.E.T.A. and even for companies such as Boeing and G. M. We might not agree with the concept but it happens and, alas, these "paid professionals" have become an accepted part of society.

On another level, however, I have to ask whether or not there are people who are being paid by certain groups, organizations and even governments to work at making alternative ideas and beliefs known to the general public. The goal of the groups and their paid, professional propagandists is to sway public opinion with well prepared and carefully worded arguments and disinformation.

It has often crossed my mind that such paid, professional, propagandists might use blogs and forums to reach large groups of people in an effort to make their views known and to engage in debates. Keep in mind that a "debate" between a professional vs a "regular joe" is, for the most part, no contest. A skilled debater can make mincemeat out of someone -- no matter how intelligent -- using phrases and prepared arguments and clever statements designed to ridicule or put down someone and/or his beliefs. In doing so, people whose opinions are not established can often be swayed to adopt the "winning" point of view.

Do you believe that such paid professional propagandists exist right here at ATS? Do you believe that there are certain individuals here at ATS who are paid by groups, organizations or even governments to "work the forums and blogs"? Their goal, of course, would be to engage people in "friendly debate" but, being trained professionals, one could hardly call their posts and involvement as being "fair".

I am not trying to begin a "witchhunt" but this is an idea that has crossed my mind and it is something that has bothered me. A forum dealing with political issues would be a fertile field for such people to work within and, one has to acknowledge, that ATS is certainly a place where such individuals might be assigned.

[edit on 7/23/2006 by benevolent tyrant]

Originally posted by benevolent tyrant
The goal of the groups and their paid, professional propagandists is to sway public opinion with well prepared and carefully worded arguments and disinformation.

You are probably right that there could be a few paid antagonists lurking around these forums. But "well prepared and carefully worded arguments" rules out a rather large swathe of those antagonists. A better word for them would be trolls.

I think im yet to see some one on here who I would reasonably assume to be a paid propagandist. Ive seen some that come close but they actually fail in the "well prepared and carefully worded arguments" category which you write about. They also are inconsistant in their tone, argument and demeanor. Which to me, points to amateurism. Perhaps the reason I havent noticed any is because they are professional enough not to get noticed.

I can name you at least one. I hope he/she gets paid well and i also should say that you dont even have to be a good writer to qualify

Its possible that there are a few paid propagandists around here. One comes to mind very quickly....

But to assume that, we have to assume ATS is absolutely on the radar of the powers that be.

if there are any Agents, Provocateers here on ATS

they gotta be on a long term assignment.
because as i see it, every issue brought up
is about 50-50 pros & cons

I would be of the opinion that everyone does good enough job of disinforming everyone else on this site, to many theories and conspiracies already, they dont need to be paid to dis inform. BUT, they probibly are paid to watch. *gets all paranoid and hides* The opinions people have here seem to be personal propoganda a lot of the time, thats ok with me!!!

[edit on 23-7-2006 by Darkblade71]

Don't underestimate the idiots in our alphabet agencies. They're full of all kinds of daffy ideas.

Truly.

These are the same neandrathals who've felt compelled to spy on and build files on grannies and other peaceniks protesting the war. Code Pink - soooo dangerous.

There have actually been a couple threads in the past month about this. I forget what they were. But they showed that there were a number of groups that do pay people to blog and visit various discussion boards and sites to spread certain views, political and not.

There are some here on ATS. I don't know who for certain, though I have my suspicions who they might be. Ill keep that bit to myself. Its not a witch hunt.

You can also be certain that certain government agencies monitor this site. Like they do many sites. That in itself is not ominus or unusual, as this is a public site with public info posted on it. Maybe some members are government agents. Maybe they aren't. (And before anyone starts, NO, this site is NOT run by the government)

Whats important is to remain vigilant towards possible attempts to manipulate opinion or spread disinformation.

The conspiracy within the conspiracy site.
Pretty cool actually.

Not a good idea to name names, I agree.
But I'll bet fingers would be pointing in all sort of directions!

they dont even no how to teip either. Darn, i wonder how much they make?? I'd have to believe what i'm saying, though.

well...

are you suprised? this has been going on since the creation of PTS and especially when ATS had a special section for the US President Election. And since the war in the middle east has come about, there has been alot of pro-threads from both sides.

For me there are only a few member who fit the description and pattern, and one in particular I’ve been rather suspicions of for a long time. So to sum it all up, do certain groups monitor this and other public forums? Yup. Are there paid "agents" on ATS influencing public opinion? Quite possibly.

Originally posted by dgtempe


they dont even no how to teip either. Darn, i wonder how much they make?? I'd have to believe what i'm saying, though.

People can look foolish on purpose too..Make the side they are "supposedly" on, look like idiots.

I tell you, I have one poster in mind right now.
I have often thought that there has got to be paid propagandists here, simply because I often think that some just can't be that brainwashed, yet seem so reasonably intelligent.
Some of them don't sway from the official line, almost like they are programmed to say what they do.
PropagandaBots.

I don't want to imply that I am right in my views, but that is me judging me and I tend to stay away from that which I don't know and only scratch the surface of things I know little of.
But man, I know some stuff is just so BushCo™ It makes me wonder.

Perhaps it's George Bush himself, or Dick, or Condi giving some of us a hard time.

George: "Heck!...Think ul mosy on over ta the pooter ta harrass the ATS folks fer some kicks."
Laura: "Oh George, yer always up to no-good!"

Originally posted by Toadmund
But man, I know some stuff is just so BushCo™ It makes me wonder.

So "some stuff" which is so Al-Qaeda™ does not make you wonder? Hmm...?
Propagandists go both ways you know.

People that make blogs about their political views are really sad! I feel sorry for them, really! I mean that's like the worst way to express your political views is by whining about it 24/7. Good grief.

Perhaps the reason I havent noticed any is because they are professional enough not to get noticed.

Good point subz. Perhaps their mission is not to 'inform', maybe it's to gather what the census is around the net. Report back to the powers that be about what's on the people's minds, and maybe even do a little posting just for the hell of it.

No member that I know of comes to mind as being a "paid propagandists". I just can't imagine the government assigning someone full time to monitor and post on ATS, waste of resoucres, manpower and money, imo (I've just described 98% of the US gov't ).

However, I think it's possible to have a few 'propagandists', agents, call 'em whatever, drop in from to time to see what's hot....but as far as a full time employee assigned to monitor and post on ATS...highly unlikely, imo.


Sporty

EDIT: took away a word

[edit on 23/7/2006 by SportyMB]

Lets just say that the "spook" is among us.

What a day.

I find it both pathetic and amusing, but mostly pathetic the way several members here never seem to have one original thought in their brains.

They constantly recite unimaginative party line rhetoric as if they are reading from some official
"We The Sheeple" manual.

If we question authority or the " official " story we are labeled as anti-American or God help us,
YOU LIBERALS!

It saddens me that some people simply refuse to accept the possibility that they are being mislead by greed and corruption.

Others are clearly employed by the government or have ties to government contractors
who benefit tremendously from this administration's policies.

It's hard to determine if any of these people are true professional debunkers or simply
misguided souls who will go to their graves believing the pig slop our government spews forth
to manipulate the masses.