Ex-ACT staffer Grant McLachlan says party created fake grassroots groups Ruth Hill © RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly
Political pundits and media experts are warning that artificial grassroots organisations - nicknamed astroturfs - are being used to manipulate and mobilise public opinion for political gain.
The recent public apology by a lobbyist to leading public health experts for defaming them on the
Whale Oil blog has once again shone a spotlight into the murky world of lobbying.
Carrick Graham, who was in the pay of the food and beverage industry, has admitted his statements about Doug Sellman of Alcohol Action, health professor Boyd Swinburn, and former director of the Māori Smokefree Coalition, Shane Bradbrook, were untrue, unfair, offensive, insulting and defamatory .
Ex-ACT staffer Grant McLachlan says party created fake grassroots groups
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