"If McDonald's [3] makes the case that fast food is nutritious or ExxonMobil [4] argues against higher taxes, it looks like simple self-interest. But when an independent voice makes the case, the ideas gain credibility. So big corporations have devised a form of idea laundering, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to seemingly independent groups that act as spokesmen under disguise. Their views wind up on the opinion pages of the nation's newspapers - often with no disclosure that the writer has financial ties to the companies involved. A few examples: James K. Glassman [5], a prominent syndicated columnist, denounced Super Size Me, a movie critical of McDonald's. Readers were not told that McDonald's is a major sponsor of a Web site hosted by Glassman. ... Steven Milloy [6], an analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute [7], wrote a column in the Washington Times [8] that sided with the oil industry against windfall profits taxes. Readers weren't told that groups closely affiliated with Milloy have received at least $180,000 from ExxonMobil. By having others deliver their talking points, the companies stay above the fray, said John Stauber [9], whose Center for Media and Democracy tracks corporate front groups. 'What these companies are doing is paying somebody else to attack their critics while keeping their fingerprints off the attack.'"