As we continue from miami i a am joined by journalist and author Sheryl Attkisson his most recent book the smear i thank you had a chance to listen to those final l few calls and the last caller thinks people were duped voting for donald trump. There are a few out there that i talk about in the smear if you watch the rallies of Hillary Clinton and donald trump and talk to people outside the big cities, that is what led me to think he would be president you get a different picture to stereotype. Host tie in the smear to the election 2016 were there campaigns . I think it was the academy of factors whether social media, smear groups all the tactics that they used everything came to play in 2016 and more money was spent by Hillary Clinton and her supporters than donald trump. Far more but the lesson is even though the liberal side and Hillary Clinton side tended to permeate the press and the narrative was ubiquitous but he wanted so the commentary is many republicans and democrats hee defied the the smear and i call him the wildcard candidate. Host what is the smear industry . Some are paid nonprofit groups like pr firms that have Crisis Management functions, llc, law firms, nonprofits they all Work Together but are designed to take down the ideas that they oppose to those that are the most eloquent to oppose and express those ideas so my definition is that they are often elements of truth for them to smear but, the purpose is annihilation directing the smear they wanted to look like icthere is the organic grassroots effort but it is often very well organized and well financed. Host can you put a dollar figure . I think it is around 5 billion but it isnt broken onwn that way every pr firm has a crisis of management but it isnt broken down that way but it is big money Everybody Knows if they have to defendr themselves they call them the omCrisis Management people these are the elements of smear but also whether they are making comments on the fr people that are paid to rent the use of their names to write offense now they are orchestrated and then signed by someone the newspapers know this. Host we have also been hearing recently is this a krowing industry and this is an average american but candidates have to do their Due Diligence sometimes they offer research themselves but that is also ahe big industry where people are paid a lot of money. What is your day job . I am on a sinclair station nationwide with a 43 million households. Basically that was great news. Those that have not been done to death all week. This week the philippines singapore and korea about the one road economic policy. Why should we care about that . And that was the grass that they dont have time to research for themselves. Is there a tiein betweenn your first and second book . I consider the smear a sequel because i covered the time when i was at cvs with these groups that were getting their nose under the tent. When i left cvs this takes it further looking into the industry. And largely unseen by the american public. It was the smear at its root. Host i dont thank you probably discussed your personal politics but at many levels you are preserving going presumed to be a preservative a conservative. That is propaganda i used to be called a smart liberal so i think over what i have done over the years i am anticorporate. Look at those that are underserved. And then to ask questions and then have many conservative friends for the program but not liberals but i have awful also use them but i dont like the interest in politics but it comes into play but most of what i do is not political it is more like watchdog. Host the smear david plays a prominent role. Because of the people that i interview name him that almost every instance. With what he has done for the network of nonprofits to appear as though they are neutral and have been extremely successful against Hillary Clinton or those other ideas. It is also fascinating because beginning as h a conservative smear artist and then you switch sides to the other side so he is a fascinating character. Host Sheryl Attkisson is our gas we have a call locally from miami beach. Caller hello. Thank you for taking my call. Whether republican or democrat but independent. [inaudible] [inaudible] host thank you for calling. We appreciate hearing your voice and your view. Now lets hear from los angeles. [applause] caller this is the enlightened program. I amot pro democrat to jimmy carter and when donald trump got on the elevator that was the end of the story 2016. I knew he would when he touched something in me i never voted for him i despise the man but he touched a nerve. I knew he would win. I used to have a show on spanish radio i told people i am a hispanic immigrant i dont think it is so much a smear but people do not realize the immigration issue was organic i knew for many years someday would push the immigration issue would win. Host thank you very much. W Sheryl Attkisson, does the smear teen mom the smear cover the 2016 campaign if uethere were forces working for either party . At the end. We planned to wrap it up with the election and the results but then that happened and fake news as i think in propagandara terms so it came to be about that so there were some less liberal tendencies. A yellow dog democrat but the blue dog democrats are more moderate. If we ask people their political leanings to say even yellow dog. S a he would not vote for even though he touched a nerve. But the point i would like to make is Many Americans are not in a box many are on a sliding scale but then depending on their personal experiences and a lot of people dont feel comfortable in those. Host you look for the origin of faketh news . What did you find . Sounded like the role of them Propaganda Campaign now suddenly every headlinepr every day when obama first introduced us to say it was the need to carry the news. Where is this coming from . So looking at the efforts of november 2016 when they came up with this idea and then the rollout happened from there. It initiated as a liberal effort with that conservative misinformation but it was possibly an effort where they could go onto the internet. So now i follow the money. And the Parent Company out of that is run by ericir schmidt between the top hillary donor. It starts to look like a coordinated effort to focus people on fake news and to make this story a little longer i talk about how donald trump is the wildcard good coin the phrase today people think he came up with it but more it was a hostile takeover. Host i was going to ask you. Then it reaches president obama. I see. Because there was a rollout of the campaign. So then they called them that. And then to say that we need to retire and stop using that phrase. Part of the mastery of donald trump with the ability to turn around propaganda. Host Sheryl Attkisson book is called the smear wichita kansas you are on with journalist and author Sheryl Attkisson. Caller hello. I am calling because i recently saw a program on hbo last week tonight. And with that one sided heed that was since through the sinclair station and to show it was not changed in any way. It was rather onesided. I dont know if you are familiar but my question is sent you are a broadcaster do you think Sinclair Broadcasting with those in the local markets. If you understand the question. Host are you referring to the media ownership changes the fcc is looking at currently with sinclair looking at a merger with the sure you Tribune Broadcasting company ty and i cannot tell you about corporate policy i am not understandro i claire it has ben a large Propaganda Movement normally people wouldnt knowhe or care now like comedy shows are part of the Propaganda Campaign which sinclair is seen as a threat. As a wealthy billionaire so people are connected politically people didnt question that when i worked for the liberal seeing the osnews on a daily basis and there are other issues that i write about and then working hard at cnn and likewise sinclair is a conservative i have had no interference compared to cvs at the end cvs at the end but to go to an independent program i certainly dont blame people because what does that mean for your b news x because the predominantly liberal organization with those analysts that are one sided and seen by many more people from the sinclair stations. So then they wonder why all s this one station owner is getting all the press. Who is the owner of sinclair . David. He so we discussed being independent t but when they proposed the idea like i did at cvs i said it cannot be conservative and he said dont worry about that. I said we can tell the truth and i havent had any interference. And certainly working for us. And stonewall, Sheryl Attkisson you alluded to this but thehi power of the internet coming to the Smear Campaign . I almost got chills. Who said we can start a whole movement in 140 characters. With a fake twitter account. And then toor solicit software with individual ip addresses. And then they look like they go places why are these forces maintaining . Social media is the number one way to influence social media. W and then to talk about that it gives me chills. So that rumor and innuendo. But now before the internet they can have a following overnight. Then to make it look like it is hard to separate fact from fiction. Crested butte colorado. Caller i am tired of being patient and they are deliberately ignorant. Thank you. Host that was elizabeth from colorado. Now from newark new jersey you are on with Sheryl Attkisson. Caller i have a couple of questions. So i have been banned from academic associations they will not tell me why just that i made peoplee uncomfortable so i just wanted to know how does a person ore individual had we find out if they do have enemies and a lot of paranoid people and then to tell the truth they are trying to kill me then they get killed. A and you know what news stands for and do you know anything about dark social . Host what does news stand for north and east and west and south. Host very good. Host no matter her situation directly have you been the target of a Smear Campaign . The Pulitzer Prize winners when they would get too close it was almost like more organized blowback. With that and over some years ago. Manipulating the news with time and money we are illequipped and shouldnt we develop some sort of strategy that we are just busy covering the news doing our job and then to do questionable things. Then to stop the line of inquiry. But when the Investigative Reporter conferences others complain about the same thing it isnt that they fear the groupsha but they fear their bosses listen to them to represent that public the way that they can they know what it is about but that they are motivated by the social Media Campaign and the pushback largely controlled by these people so yes. T those are the keywords to use. There are certain words that i used over and over again because there are key phrases hand words that they use. Earlier today at the miami a book fair we are talking about the new biography from the cia talking about how it came to the Smear Campaign and politics. It depends on how you define that because many great sources under the obamais administration somewhere there under clinton and bush and i often argue it is that group of faceless bureaucrats we dont know their name but they control the information that comes down there is definitely that layer. And people that work in the layerr so if it fits the criteria of what they mean by that for whoever the president is would disagree with the president because they know they will be there longer than that president. Host the next call comes from joshua tree california. Caller good afternoon. She made a statement very early. I love radio driving across the country to take care of my elders and yearbyyear to have a viewpoint become narrower and narrower. That nobody thinks exactly the way they do and Rush Limbaugh this victory all and hatred wass 30 years. And those alternative voices. Host i think we got the ideaea with the takeover. I do know it is the general idea to control much of the radio broadcast talking about control of the news not with the industry bandwidth how special interest to get their nosesr under the tent to make the report and focus on that so now there is some very little difference in those talking points and there is a alason foror that but they are interested in promulgating talking points. Then we call that fair with propaganda in my view that people do not want to see on tv. I see that as a diversion it is very easy for someone to bring the stories in the research and the narrative to be cause a reported with that mix and will further those forward with investigation and research. Host a couple years ago during 2014 the coke brothers became a big issue as an evil issue for the democrats to be on the senate floor hairy real raid harry reid was ranting against them and not know who they were. Did that begin as a Smear Campaign . It was coordinated the reason i called the smear they are not upfront of the motivation would they really try to expose on the surface in fact there are so many church and like david brock what i have done in my book the smear i did that when i was researching the book i started to focus on them of that but so they are in my book so the coke brothers did not like donald trump and did not spend money on him. Which is very unusual in terms of fundraising. Host the next call comes from pennsylvania. I just want to put this out there that trump was elected because there is a lot of hate out there. Host i apologize i have to hang up i was having trouble hearing you but he talked about the birth or movement did you trace that back to the organizedn Smear Campaign . Yes. It was started by hillary kant one clinton andma her supporters that were responsible for those smears when they were competitors but then day picked up on those and then took on a new for their own. So with that documentation that anecdotal documentation by one of the smear artist. Started by sidney blumenthal. Tell me if i amm wrong they cannot be chummy with everybody . But you are a special breed . Before the Investigative Reporter i was not chummy with them. A lot of people in my industry that lives in the same community so far it takes me two or three hours during rush hour to get there. I dont get invited to parties or if i do i dont usually go. And i like being outside the circle to give me a different perspective and what helped me to become the Investigative Reporter to turnup things others were not. Host w yesterday i asked if journalist were a legitimate target and she said no but they are easy t1 i disagree a little bit i think a lot of the criticism is of our own making. With almost every News Organization and you can point to. For what we have rely allowed felt that was easy target. Now buildings montana. Caller most americans have seemed to forgotten the Smear Campaign from our own congressional people against Hillary Clinton over ben ghazi would you consider that a Smear Campaign . There are elements that is escalated beyond proportion that there was a lot of fodder generating stuff out of thin air which sometimes happens but there are elements on both sides. The clintons were smearing but at the same time clinton was smeared from the right when he was on the right before used to beyond the left. With that big National Discussion to find efforts on both sides of the discussion. That best praise and what is the best criticism . People feel they really god a peek in this industry they knew nothing about and how many images with the comedy shows the criticism i get people say you are only on one side but that is not the case may be listening to propaganda i read some of the negative reviews on amazon or they say that is something they already knew or what they were interested in. Host you do use examples from both republican and democratic size. Yes and i talked about the conservativehe circles. But looking at this look it is anecdotal in the industry i talked to liberal and conservative smear a artist. You are the important players . Look at the southern poverty law center. We just did not have good information so those that had good information on sources or other means. That doesnt mean. What is the astroturf campaign . That isnt a term that i made up but it is designed to look like a grassroots effort that when they very well orchestrated of those who want to look that way using social media and that he will see a lot of tactics. Host South Carolina you have 30 seconds. Caller there is a lot of people out there bless you all. Host thank you for that call. The most recent book by Sheryl Attkisson is called the smear her first book stonewalled is currently the host where and when . 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