Market forces: According to George Monbiot and colleagues, online spin merchants the Bivings Group sent a scientific paper in Nature magazine reeling out of circulation.
Written by two Mexican scientists, the paper argued that maize could be contaminated by GM pollen over vast distances.
Posing as concerned scientists, Bivings Group spinners posted messages attacking the paper, says Monbiot. It worked. Last month Nature's editor bowed to criticism from readers and disassociated the magazine from the paper.
Bivings lobbies on behalf of, among others, Monsanto. [Guardian].
As Monbiot points out, the Bivings Group website contains an interesting feature: Viral marketing: How to infect the world:
'There are some campaigns where it would be undesirable or even disastrous to let the audience know that your organisation is directly involved... it simply is not an intelligent PR move. In cases such as this, it is important to first "listen" to what is being said online... Once you are plugged into this world, it is possible to make postings to these outlets that present your position as an uninvolved third party... Perhaps the greatest advantage of viral marketing is that your message is placed into a context where it is more likely to be considered seriously.' [Bivings Report].
