May 24, 2012

USA Today
USA Today reporter Tom Vanden Brook and editor Ray Locker both had complained of a number of fake online presences created in their names — fake websites, Facebook and Twitter accounts, a Wikipedia entry and “dozens of message board postings and blog comments” — after they reported critically on the military’s spending on propaganda contractors. A Pentagon official told the paper in April that all contractors denied involvement. Thursday, Gregory Korte reports that Camille Chidiac, the minority owner and former president of Leonie Industries, took “full responsibility.” || Related: GAO auditing Pentagon propaganda campaigns (USA Today)

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Jeff Sonderman (jsonderman@poynter.org) is the Digital Media Fellow at The Poynter Institute. He focuses on innovations and strategies for mobile platforms and social media in…
Jeff Sonderman

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