Minneapolis to hire influencers to spread messaging during trial over George Floyd's death

[soothsayer]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minneapolis-hiring-influencers-to-spread-messaging-trial-derek-chauvin-george-floyd-death/

The Minneapolis City Council has unanimously approved paying six social media influencers to spread city-approved messaging and updates throughout the upcoming murder trial of former officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged in George Floyd's death. On Friday, the council approved $1,181,500 for communication with the community during the trial, CBS Minnesota reports.

The city says social media partners will help dispel potential misinformation, and that the influencers will intentionally target Black, Native American, Somali, Hmong and Latinx communities with their messaging. Each influencer will be paid $2,000.

[abqtommy]

1. Sounds fishy to me.

[crickets]

2. Could go either way, depending on how it's handled.

Toussaint Morrison, an activist with a following of over 11,000 users on Instagram, uses his platform to educate the community. He's worried about bias behind information that will come from a city-funded influencer.

"The key word here is 'city-approved'", said Morrison. "What do you think the message is going to be? It's going to probably be pro-city. It's going to be anti-protest."

Trying to avoid protests is not necessarily a bad thing, but concern about the bias issue is real. Nobody's outright calling it state-sponsored propaganda, but...