08.10.13
Entryism at Work: Microsoft Nick Grooms Bill Gates at Slashdot
Seeding the PR at the wrong places to drive away longtime readers
Summary: How the Gates propaganda machine has spread as far as Slashdot, which was originally known and even renowned for its geeks-oriented focus
Microsoft moles and boosters are being used for PR even in less expected sites, such as Slashdot. As is often the case with those people, they serve a dual role of grooming Microsoft and also the Gates Foundation, which they try to charitywash Microsoft with.
The Microsoft plant in Slashdot [1, 2] is at it again this week. “Microsoft Nick is active promoting His Billness,” told us iophk, basing his statement on the alias seen here (he uses known aliases now). It’s always just PR, never any reporting. He did the same thing for years in a site called “Microsoft Watch” (which was a misnomer because it was nonstop Microsoft promotion after he had taken over).
“The site is now run by people who deem it their duty to make Microsoft stronger.”How about Microsoft Nick doing some real reporting for a change? Maybe he can comment on the money Gates was funnelling to ALEC [1, 2], which is now denying global warming (Gates does it yet again) and attacking the working class. No, that would not be a good story, would it? It’s not Nick’s job. He may think he is a journalist, but his profession is more like a mole for Microsoft in various sites, tugging along the official party line.
What can one do to restore Slashdot, bringing it back to its roots? There is not much that can be done, as it increasingly looks like entryism. The site is now run by people who deem it their duty to make Microsoft stronger.
Those who favour FOSS-oriented sites are running low on options, as good sites are shutting down or becoming less active (we covered several examples recently), leaving a lot more room for fake journalism or marketing. █
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