Activism

The Power of Congresspedia: Linking Articles on Legislation to Profiles of Members of Congress

I've blogged previously about how the Congresspedia staff is working with research and advocacy organizations to build articles on federal legislation, but one particular aspect of these collaborations deserves highlighting: the ability to link the Congresspedia profiles of members of Congress to those on pieces of legislation.

Recognizing Citizen Journalists at Work

Thanks to the following volunteer editors (all new!) who helped on last week's participatory project: Tgeliot, Jmckendr, Dsohead, JerryB, OrigamiGuy, Rshechter, Shannonkona, and DrXyzzy. Special thanks to Alexlitel who did about 500 pages, completing every remaining entry that needed to be finished on this editing ask! The week before we also got help from users Mediamouse, Polly Sigh, and Louse129 in response to our request for editing assistance.

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New Participatory Project: Tracking the Most Influential Lobbyists

Examining and exposing the activities of lobbyists and their firms is an important aspect of the Center for Media and Democracy's work. Now you can help, via our online collaborative encyclopedia, SourceWatch!

SourceWatch has many articles related to this industry, but because the players and the issue change frequently, our resources can always use some updating. The Hill recently released a list of the most powerful individual lobbyists at http://thehill.com/business--lobby/the-new-sheriffs-in-town-2007-04-24.html.

Can you help us track these influence peddlers? Go to SourceWatch and do a search for one of the lobbyists on The Hill's list. If you find an article, please add the quote from the article in The Hill by saying, "According to the April 25, 2007 issue of The Hill, lobbyist X is ...." and add the link to the article. If The Hill lists a lobbyist who is not already in SourceWatch, please create a short "stub" article on him or her (with the lobbyist's name, The Hill info, and any other information you might find on him/her).

If this is your first time editing, you can register as a SourceWatch volunteer editor here , and learn more about adding information to the site here and here. Thanks for joining the CMD truth squad!

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New Participatory Project: Help Track PR Firms on SourceWatch

Exposing the activities and ethical shortcomings of public relations firms has been a focus of the Center for Media and Democracy's work since its founding in 1993. Now you can help, via our online collaborative encyclopedia, SourceWatch! The SourceWatch article on public relations firms links to entries on more than 200 PR firms. The trade publication O'Dwyer's maintains a list of the top-grossing U.S.

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Spin Doctor Claims Greenwashing Is Dying

E. Bruce Harrison, who began his PR career by helping the pesticide industry attack Rachel Carson and her classic 1962 environmental book "Silent Spring," now proclaims that the era of corporate greenwashing is almost over. In an opinion column, he writes that greenwashing in the 1990's "meant the company was painting over bad stuff with good words.

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DC Voting Rights March Hailed as Success; House to Consider Bill Soon

Rain and cold temperatures were not enough this past Monday (April 16) to deter residents of the District of Columbia (including newly-elected Mayor Adrian Fenty) from marching in support of long-awaited voting rights in Congress. An estimated crowd of 3,500 turned out for the largest gathering regarding the issue in decades, which featured a march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol.

New Participatory Project: Adding Examples of Greenwash to SourceWatch

In the last few weeks we have fielded inquiries from journalists around the world seeking recent local examples of greenwashing. Given that the article on greenwashing has ranked up amongst the top 50 articles in terms of the number of readers over the last few months, we figure it is time to add some recent case studies. So, if you have an example that springs to mind, here's your chance to add it to our collection.

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