"The [pro-Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling] coalition was industry-driven. That was the exact opposite of how to do it," said Dutko Group lobbyist Stephen Brown.

The Center for Media and Democracy's John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton write, "Republican successes have not come quickly or easily. For more than four decades, conservatives have worked to build a network of grassroots organizations and think tanks that formulate and promote their ideas. They are now enjoying the fruits of this long-term investment." The right wing "has simply done a better job than anyone else of organizing from the grassroots up.

A new European organization, Spinwatch, has been launched to inform "journalists and the general public about the behind-the-scenes interests that influence - and occasionally create - the news." Co-founder David Miller "says the lies of non-existent weapons of mass destruction, and the general lack of questioning in the mainstream media, inspired him to take action," reports the Guardian. "Miller wants to recreate U.S.