Media

Featured Participatory Project: Add to the Congresspedia Voting Record Resource Center

Submitted by Conor Kenny on

Wading through the thousands of votes that Congress performs each year can be an arduous task, but the CMD staff has created the Congresspedia Voting Record Resource Center to help you get to the bottom of what your senators and representative have been doing in Washington. There you'll find step-by-step instructions on how to add information on how they voted on topics like immigration, torture and children's healthcare to their "permanent record" - their Congresspedia profile.

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Main Source: 
Congresspedia Voting Record Resource Center
Topics: 
Citizen Journalism
U.S. Congress
Democracy

The Fakest Time of the Year: The 2007 Falsies Awards

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the year that the Falsies Awards have truly arrived!

Groucho maskHere at the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), we've dearly treasured our Falsies since we gave the first awards out in 2004. After 12 months of reporting on the cynical, manipulative and just plain anti-democratic pollution of our information environment, we love adding an extra dash of humor to our work. But this year's Falsies Awards are extra super special.

Greenwash Hoaxes

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

In January 2008, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will "examine carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates that claim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in one place to offset emissions elsewhere." It's part one of the agency's review of "green" marketing guidelines. The review was initially slated for 2009, but is being moved up due to the rapid increase in marketing things like carbon offset programs, a "$55 million market that is largely unregulated." A legal staffer for the U.S.

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Main Source: 
Washington Post, November 27, 2007
Topics: 
Activism
Corporate Social Responsibility
Cause-Related Marketing
Climate Change
Media
U.S. Government

The White House Appreciates Bloggers Who Regurgitate

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

In an interview with Texas Monthly, former White House counselor Dan Bartlett complains that many reporters are overly critical of President Bush. "White House correspondents have been tagged, unfairly, with not being tough enough on the administration and President Bush in the run-up to the [Iraq] war. ...

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Main Source: 
Texas Monthly, January 2008
Topics: 
Right Wing
Internet
Iraq
Journalism
Propaganda
U.S. Government

Columbus Discovers Local Fake News

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Emmy award-winning television reporter Andrea Cambern "might be the most trusted news anchor in Columbus," Ohio, writes Steph Greegor. "So she's believable when she appears in reports reinforcing the notion that the Ohio State University Medical Center is a fine facility. What those clips don't mention is that Ohio State paid Channel 10 for them.

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Main Source: 
The Other Paper (Columbus, Ohio), November 29, 2007
Topics: 
Journalism
Corporations
Ethics
Fake TV News
Health
Marketing
Public Relations

It's Our Web (If We Can Keep It)

Free Speech TV has launched the "It's Our Web" campaign, featuring a a short, entertaining animation explaining the dangers of media centralization and suggesting positive alternatives. "This is a truly pivotal time for the Internet, the most powerful and interactive medium humans have ever seen," says Steve Anderson, who produced the video. "New commercial incursions by big online media enterprises, including the widely disdained "Facebook Beacon," make explicit what new media giants have been doing quietly for some time; searching for new and evermore effective ways to sell our attention, our clicks and our private information to advertisers and marketers."

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