How "public relations" uses propaganda
While much social media propaganda is created by amateurs, much is also created by professionals who have titles like “Public Relations Officer”, “Communications Director”, “Press liaison”, “Spokesperson” and what not.
Here is an example of how the MPAA planned to organized a propaganda campaign against Google (because Google searches enabled people to find copyrighted material):
“Media: We want to make sure that the media is at the NAAG meeting. We propose working with MPAA (Vans), Comcast, and NewsCorp (Bill Guidera) to see about working with a PR firm to create an attack on Google (and others who are resisting AG efforts to address online piracy). This PR firm can be funded through a nonprofit dedicated to IP issues. The “live buys” should be available for the media to see, followed by a segment the next day on the Today Show (David green can help with this). After the Today Show segment, you want to have a large investor of Google (George can help us determine that) come forward and say that Google needs to change its behavior/demand reform. Next, you want NewsCorp to develop and place an editorial in the WSJ emphasizing that Google’s stock will lose value in the face of a sustained attack by AGs and noting some of the possible causes of action we have developed.”
Note the use of a “non profit” to fund the PR firm. It is common for industry and activist groups to establish or fund a “non partisan non-profit” “institute” that just happens to generate studies and reports favorable to their own interests.
This technique works because busy news staff often print press releases directly. The above snippet also shows how organizations “spin” and control the message that is delivered to you. A consequence is that it is very difficult to know what is real and what is fiction, even when reading or watching reputable news sources.