Alethea Cited in PR Daily's Recap of New York Times Reporting on Anti-Data Center Propaganda

PR Daily's "Daily Scoop" newsletter recapped a New York Times investigation into how foreign actors are capitalizing on genuine American skepticism of AI data centers, citing tactics ranging from AI-generated local "news" comics to propaganda videos aimed at specific communities.

Drawing on the same Times reporting, PR Daily featured commentary from McKenzie Sadeghi, Principal Analyst at Alethea, on why data centers make such an attractive target for engagement-driven operators. As Sadeghi put it, the topic is "locally salient in all 50 states," constantly in the news cycle, and taps into pre-existing "anti-China, anti-tax, 'selling America' grievance."

The coverage points to a challenge Alethea works on daily with its clients: as it gets easier to manufacture the appearance of grassroots outrage, communicators can't merely rely on instinct to distinguish a real wave of local concern apart from an engineered one. The ability to actually trace where the narrative originated and how it spread is of critical importance to determine the best path forward.

Read the full story here.