All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians by Phil Elwood
The author managed to repeatedly "fail up". He did not make it through school or a job. Then he got a job as a staffer for a congressman. He was able to use the recommendation to get into George Washington. He got kicked out. He then got into Georgetown. He then got jobs working in public relations. In these jobs he had enormous expense accounts and worked to support those with even more. He helped derail the US world cup effort by advocating for kids instead of international events. He helped babysit the son of a Lybian dictator in Las Vegas, ringing up millions in expenses. He knew many of the strategies for making even the worst people appear better. He was involved in money laundering operations and supporting those that were trying to throw US elections. After a run-in with the FBI, he decided to focus on clean efforts.
His story is a cautionary tale of how easy we can be manipulated. The PR firms help influence writing and control of public opinion. We may think we are getting unbiased reporting, but we are what we hear is publicly curated. The best PR experts are behind the scenes and never known. When we hear about them it is because they have not done a good job or things have backfired excessively. Do we really live in a free society?
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