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The smear: how shady political operatives and fake new control what you see, what you think, and how you vote
2017
Where is it?
Fiction/Biography Profile
Genre
NonFiction
Political
Topics
Political campaigns
Elections
Political rivalry
Scandal
Deception
Politicians
Voting
Influence
American politics
Setting
- United States
Time Period
-- 20th-21st century
Large Cover Image
Summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Ever wonder how politics turned into a take-no-prisoners blood sport? The New York Times bestselling author of Stonewalled pulls back the curtain on the shady world of opposition research and reveals the dirty tricks those in power use to influence your opinions.

Behind most major political stories in the modern era, there is an agenda; an effort by opposition researchers, spin doctors, and outside interests to destroy an idea or a person. The tactic they use is the Smear. Every day, Americans are influenced by the Smear without knowing it. Paid forces cleverly shape virtually every image you cross. Maybe you read that Donald Trump is a racist misogynist, or saw someone on the news mocking the Bernie Sanders campaign. The trick of the Smear is that it is often based on some shred of truth, but these media-driven "hit pieces" are designed to obscure the truth. Success hinges on the Smear artist's ability to remain invisible; to make it seem as if their work is neither calculated nor scripted. It must appear to be precisely what it is not.

Veteran journalist Sharyl Attkisson has witnessed this practice firsthand. After years of being pitched hit jobs and puff pieces, she's an expert at detecting Smear campaigns. Now, the hard-hitting investigative reporter shares her inside knowledge, revealing how the Smear takes shape and who its perpetrators are--including Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal and, most influential of all, "right-wing assassin turned left-wing assassin" (National Review) political operative David Brock and his Media Matters for America empire.

Attkisson exposes the diabolical tactics of Smear artists, and their outrageous access to the biggest names in political media--operatives who are corrupting the political process, and discouraging widespread citizen involvement in our democracy.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgmentsp. vi
Author's Notep. vii
Introductionp. 1
Chapter 1Birth of the Modern Smear: Spies, Bork, and the Clintonsp. 9
Chapter 2David Brock's Smear Frontierp. 35
Chapter 3The Smear Industrial Complex: Smear Merchants and Scandalmongersp. 67
Chapter 4Media Matters (but Money Matters More)p. 94
Chapter 5Plausible Deniability: Conjuring an Astroturf Realityp. 119
Chapter 6Transactional Journalism: The Black Market information Tradep. 140
Chapter 7The Anti-Smear Candidate (and the Disloyal Opposition)p. 166
Chapter 8The Road to the Conventionsp. 195
Chapter 9General Electionp. 214
Chapter 10Brave New World of #FakeNews (and Chilling Efforts to Censor it)p. 249
Epilogue: The Smear Gone Globalp. 275
Indexp. 287
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