Isn't this just "letter campaign 101" stuff? Habitat for Humanity does this as well... what's being implied, since "astroturf" is usually a derogatory term used to describe the Tea Party and other fake grass-root efforts... that these letters are somehow tainted? It's not unusual for templates to be used when writing opinion letters... that's not "astroturfing" though.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=letter+writing+campaign+template&gbv=2&gs_l=hp.3..0l6j0i30l4.344.8835.0.9789.32.24.0.4.4.0.344.3191.1j13j4j1.19.0...0.0.E--HNCa5gCQ&safe=images&sa=X&ct=broad-revision&cd=4&ie=UTF-8

Just FYI - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing

Slow news day, Bryan ??

David, you say it's not astroturfing. But the Wikipedia page you directed us to says the opposite - it is considered astroturfing.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing:
In 2003, apparent "grass-roots" letters favoring Republican Party policies appearing in local newspapers around the US were denounced as "astroturf" when Google searches revealed that identical letters were printed with different (local) signatures. The signers were electronically submitting pre-written letters from a political website that offered five "GOPoints" for sending one of their letters to a local paper plus an additional two "GOPoints" if the letter was published.

The left is great at this type of letter writing campaign. It is truly astroturfing.

Its just the beginning! Its going to be the most underhanded propaganda you will see in anyone's life time, I look at MSNBC Left, Fox Right, BBC or some other outside source looking in. This is just a tip of the Iceberg Just hold on its going to be a rough ride.

You’re miss-using the term. Astroturfing refers to a group which purports to be made up of grass roots supporters but which is in fact wholly populated and funded by an organization that obscures its involvement.

The wikipedia article is wrong in defining all letter campaigns as astroturfing. If grassroots individuals are involved it’s by definition a grassroots campaign. Astroturfs don’t have actual grassroots supporters, they just pretend to…

For example the tea-party as a movement is grassroots, however several groups that latched onto and tried to commandeer the movement which represented themselves as grassroots were actually front groups paid for by large organizations and run by professional operatives with ulterior motives. Those front groups were fake-grassroots i.e. astroturf.

This effort seems sounds like a typical centralized letter to the editor campaign that pretty much all advocacy groups run at some time or another where they ask supporters to take a sample letter and either forward it to a target — preferably customized by the individual sender. These campaigns are about flooding the target with messages in an effort to effect change, the average Congressperson receives several hundred thousand of these each day. Papers receive far less so they’re more likely to have the desired effect and appear in print, but that’s not astroturfing just plain old advocacy…

Bryan, You're really think there is some kind of conspiracy by advocates of the law to say they're pleased? What do you think those who are against it are doing? Have you not heard the same talking points over and over on Fox and by right-wingers?

Not sure why you're picking on Planned Parenthood. Why not the AMA? Or the AHA? Could it be that you are not pro-choice, Bryan?

This piece doesn't belong on a news website.

Also, if we're mincing words here, there is no way a "set" of coincidences could be anything other than random (by definition). Also B-roll is a TV term. X-copy is what we used to call stories that we'd write it in advance before a meeting and then drop in the news peg. I don't know what someone would term your piece. Biased, no doubt.

And btw, if Patch is concerned about duplication of language (by advocacy groups, no less!!) could you please explain why the "yoga in the pool" local voices on Patch is simply lifted word-for-word from the for-profit yoga center's website by the owner, featuring stolen clip art from a 2006 Women's Health story?

http://rockville.patch.com/blog_posts/yoga-for-pool-lovers

http://extendyoga.com/2012/06/25/yoga-for-pool-lovers

The diagrams are used without permission--at least none is listed. The credit on the Patch page goes to the yoga lady! It's bad enough she did this on her own page, but Patch shouldn't be a party to it also.

I wrote to four Patch editors about this. Nada.

Kevin, I ran your post through Babelfish twice and it still doesn't make any sense. Maybe you should start hanging out with the Fat Guy.

It's just more gibberish. Don't believe everything the Fat Man tells you.

Maybe this will make sense in Montreal Canada the wait for a MRI is two weeks for ahigh priority patient and 14 months for non life threatening machines by the public medical program. In 2005 there was 3.65 million population .so Steve how many people will die in America while waiting for this test? There are private clinics but the Obamacare will try and eliminate these clinics so who will put money into them?

typical liberal dogma...don't agree with your opponent???....you call them Fat Man....tisk tisk yawn yawn....

Letter writing campaigns frequently use boilerplate language to help get messages started. There are few core points that a group and its supporters want to get out, so it gets honed down into a short message that hits the points, includes room for personalization, and then closes. What is new about this? People are busy. Often too busy to write a clear & concise letter about an issue that they feel strongly about before the issue is no longer news. Kudos to Planned Parenthood for supporting affordable healthcare. Women and men across the country are stretched thin by the number of hours they must work to get by. Kudos again to Planned Parenthood for recognizing that, seeing that ACA would help relieve some of these burdens by making healthcare more affordable, and making it easier on women and men to send that message out.

The message is important. We stand with Planned Parenthood. Thank you for your courage and sharing your story.

I didn't expect my email bin to be flooded on this post, especially with political debate. I saw Bryan's post as a discussion of authenticity. It's OK for an organization to prepare talking points to help followers write letters to the editor. If you agree on the topic and want to adapt what someone else prepared as you write a letter, that's fine. But for multiple people in multiple places to claim they wrote the exact same words, that's dishonest. If you didn't write a letter, don't claim you did (which is what you've done if you signed your name to it). The solution is simple. Add something like this: "The following was written by the (fill in name of organization) and I agree." But be aware that some newspapers, especially local newspapers, give preference to locally written opinions and many won't accept people copying and pasting someone else's writing.

"A letter from a student at UMBC has been published under different names in publications around the country."
Theresa, that's not what Bryan wrote.
His post says:
"Bruce Goldfarb, the local editor for Arbutus, quickly identified that the letter was eerily similar to a letter published June 29 in The Gainesville Sun. A number of the paragraphs are identical."

Andrew, as one journalist to another--I never said he wrote that. I said that's what the description under the post says, and I am correct. It sets up the story and that's what everyone reads when they look at the page, and that's what draws them to the story. If that's not correct--and it isn't--it should be changed.

Patch Blogs
Bryan P. Sears
Planned Parenthood Letter: Astroturf Or Coincidence?

By Bryan P. Sears | Wednesday, July 11 | 31 comments

Insider Politics
A letter from a student at UMBC has been published under different names in publications around the country.
Patch Blogs

What used to be a journalist is now nothing more than a hound looking for readers. Very sad. Paid for readers, not journalism. Keep sniffing.

FIFA I love your liberal cowardice,you wait what four days to post another attack on Bryan.Did it take you four days to think it up ? Also love the FOX News comments. Seeing as they are the only company putting money into News divisions today, if your not paying attention to Fox your not getting the News.CNN has cut there overseas bureau in half and MSNBC is now part of NBC because they are going to combine departments and cut down staff. Fact is the ratings for your News services are less combined than one O'Reilly hour. Oh and since I posted On 7/12?12 Tribune has been granted the ability to get rid of profit losing divisions. The ediditorial and News areas have been told to expect job combining.

Oh my God ,You didn't wait for your Talking points so you just used Sarah Palin.My how original.I'd much rather be compared to Sarah Palin than Joe Biden. Fact is even Bin laden said Biden couldn't run this country but you and your co horts bring up her name? And knuckleheads oh that hurt .Hey you left out the Koch brothers,can't you follow orders.But tell me what part of my post was wrong and please use facts.Not like your Lying local leader Marty O'Liar. They caught him in the national press this weekend didn't they? How does it feel to follow a leader thats National Party is trying to distance themself from? That is from your own networks.
Well I got to go the real news is on I'm sorry America knows it as Fox.

Small "k" Kevin, I don't need to say a word, the Pied Piper has you by the short ones and you just follow along. Your BFF Hannity is on, go record it.

Hey goofball fox 45 started at 10:00 pm I said i was going to watch the news.Geez it must be hard not to understand English.

But now your picture makes sense all your friends must call you goof ball and you thought they were saying golfball. plus there probably telling you to put your comments down a hole and you misunderstand and think they mean putt those ideas in a hole. Finally your starting to make sense.

Wow got to go to the toilet comments .Man you hurt me , now you can tell all your handlers I bullied him to shut up .Isn't that your play book ?When you get frustrated Bully them,like my earlier postto Bryan I'm getting recognition ,You hit near the truth and the play book says BULLY them.So original Palin,Ailes,toilet ! Your such a journalist ! But at least you realize your comments belong down the toilet.Your words not mine .

Maybe I should not have posted. The flood of emails way off topic is a bit much. Why not send the political bickering emails directly to each other? Not every topic needs to devolve into right vs. left. (please?)

Great comment FIFA see that it only took you 10 hours to come up with . Birther ? Oh your just so creative .