Flak

From Edward Herman & Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent Pantheon 1988, p. 26:

Flak and the Enforcers: The Fourth Filter
"Flak" refers to negative responses to a media statement or program. It may take the form of letters, telegrams, phone calls, petitions, lawsuits, speeches and bills before Congress, and other modes of complaint, threat, and punitive action. It may be organized centrally or locally, or it may consist of the entirely independent actions of individuals.

If flak is produced on a large scale, or by individuals or groups with substantial resources, it can be both uncomfortable and costly to the media. Positions have to be defended within the organization and without, sometimes before legislatures and possibly even the courts. Advertisers may withdraw patronage. Television advertising is mainly of consumer goods that are readily subject to organized boycott. During the McCarthy years, many advertisers and radio and television stations were effectively coerced into quiescence and blacklisting of employees by the threats of determined Red hunters to boycott products. Advertisers are still concerned to avoid offending constituencies that might produce flak, and their demand for suitable programming is a continuing feature of the media environment. In certain kinds of fact, position, or program are thought likely to elicit flak, this prospect can be a deterrent.

Examples

Flak Blogs: Bad news for countries

The blog has become a favorite tool for flak operations targeting newspapers, journalists or even entire countries. In the Fall 2007, a network of bloggers set out to develop blogs highlighting all negative things in given countries. Cnaan Liphshiz summarizes the effort:

What began six months ago as a brazen attempt to counter a perceived anti-Israel slant in the Dutch media, has evolved into a network monitoring the media in eight countries across the world. The idea is simple: Beat press bias at its own game by advertising only bad news about one place.

The principal behind this effort is Manfred Gerstenfeld, a hardline Zionist activist based in Israel, who developed "Bad News about the Netherlands" where many negative articles about the Netherlands (highlighting "menacing Muslim unrest") are compiled. Similarly, Genevieve Genevieve Benezra compiles "Bad News about France"; David Silon compiles "Bad News from L.A."; Kenneth Sikorski compiles "Bad News from Finland" and "Bad News from Sweden"; Leif Knutsen runs "Bad News from Norway"... All these bloggers are loosely connected, but they seem to share information and tactics. The central motif of these blogs is to bad mouth countries where the press is critical of Israel.