Episode 466 • • 34:32 - 36:52
466: Give Peas a Chance
Fake Columnists, Pat McGovern, Media Manipulation
John C. Dvorak recounts a story about IDG founder Pat McGovern using fake columnists in trade publications like InfoWorld. These fictional personas would write scathing critiques of major companies like IBM to provoke a reaction; when the companies complained, McGovern would "fire" the fake columnist to appease the advertiser, only to replace them with a new fictional entity to target a different company.