This kind of manipulation of media and victims has been done before

If they were a real support network, the whole world would know about the UN hearings in Fall 2013 and how the Pope was almost brought to his knees. SNAP would have used the local groups they set up in cities across the country over last 20 years to publicize such an accomplishment.  Instead, crickets. Now hardly anyone knows the UN sanctioned the Vatican for clergy sex abuse. And the Pope was not brought to his knees at all. That kind of manipulation of the message is easy today in the USA:

On the effort to discredit Michael Moore by health insurance industry, from Deadly Spin chapter 4* -  "The Campaign Against Sicko"

"APCO, a D.C. PR firm, worked behind the scenes to 'reframe the debate. They set up a front group called 'Health Care America' who tested the phrase ‘government takeover.’ 

After the release of Sicko, Health Care America, a "non-partisan non-profit health care advocacy organization released the following statement:  'The reality is government run health systems around the world are failing patients, forcing them to forgo treatments or seek out of pocket care in other countries.' Sicko made $20 million as opposed to $125 million made by Fahrenheit 9/11.  APCO had succeeded in getting their talking points into most of the stories that appeared about the movie.

“AND NOT A SINGLE REPORTER had done enough investigative work to find out that insurers had provided the lions’ share of funding to set up Health Care America.”  [CofA emphasis] 

Just like not one reporter ever dug to find out who SNAP was and why the same two or three people showed up everywhere in the world when the pedophile priest story broke, claiming to represent the survivors. 

-Kay Ebeling 

* Quotes are from Deadly spin : an insurance company insider speaks out on how corporate PR is killing health care and deceiving Americans

Author: Wendell Potter