Last year, when the University of Maryland announced its move to the Big Ten, many comments online were negative. Grantland called it “big, dumb, [and] greedy,” and more than half of ESPN readers opposed the move. To combat the bad feeling in the air, the Baltimore Sun revealed this week, UM hired a consulting firm to help “correct any ‘inaccuracies’ appearing on websites” as the Big 10 move was announced.
Interesting PR case study on Maryland astroturfing news of their move to the Big 10. http://t.co/Fn0lTy5NF4
— Jeff Donald (@jeffdonald) November 7, 2013
In honor of Maryland athletic dept. Big 10 propaganda campaign, I’m making up a name when I order my Starbuck’s coffee. I’m Brian today.
— Mike Wise (@MikeWiseguy) November 8, 2013
People on Twitter seem to be upset about this revelation, calling it “astroturfing,” “propaganda,” and other nasty names. But in this day and age, when so much news breaks online–or takes on a virtual life of its own–can you really blame the Terps for wanting to get a foothold in the debate?
