Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The former head of a GOP Marketplace, a Republican consulting group, has pleaded guilty to jamming get-out-the-vote efforts on election day in New Hampshire two years ago. The company used computer-generated phone calls to flood phone lines that were set up so voters could call for rides to the polls.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"When he appeared on Bill O'Reilly's Fox News Channel show last week, Georgetown law professor David Cole was impressed that the hard-charging host played, as part of his opening commentary, 'a balanced sound bite' from the chairman of the 9/11 commission," reports Howard Kurtz. "Cole was less impressed when an aggravated O'Reilly stopped the taping of 'The O'Reilly Factor' and killed the sound bite. And when Cole brought up the incident during his interview, he says, O'Reilly 'exploded,' called him an SOB and declared he would never be invited back."
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Not only are major news organisations rolling out blogs of their own, but in the past 12 months the influence of bloggers over their print, television and radio counterparts has grown massively," observes Paul Carr. "Consider a decision made by organisers of this year's Democratic National Convention (DNC), next month in Boston.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Michael Crowley looks at the Media Fund and Americans Coming Together (ACT), two liberal 527 committees who may spend as much as $150 million before Nov. 2 in an attempt to defeat George W. Bush. Although they are officially nonpartisan, 527s - used by both parties - use a loophole in election laws to get around limits on "soft money" spending by political parties.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
In "the latest instance in which the Bush administration has been accused of allowing politics to intrude into once-sacrosanct areas of scientific deliberation," the Health and Human Services Department asked the World Health Organization to allow the Department's secretary to review meeting invitations.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Citizens for a Sound Economy, a right-wing corporate front group opposed to everything Ralph Nader has struggled for, is working hard to help his 2004 presidential campaign in an effort to defeat John Kerry. "'Ralph Nader is undoubtedly going to pull some very crucial votes from John Kerry, and that could mean the difference in a razor-thin presidential election,' reads a script used by Citizens for a Sound Economy in its phone calls [to Republicans in the state of Oregon].
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"One of environmentalism's biggest foes - Ron Arnold—is back, peddling the idea that environmentalism breeds terrorism," reports Bill Berkowitz. "Arnold is the same man who once bragged to the New York Times that, 'No one was aware that environmentalism was a problem until we came along.' He's been so successful, says one environmentalist, that he's now 'within striking distance' of checking off every item on his 'wise-use' agenda."
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
With election season in swing, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Mike Leavitt has taken his show on the road, visiting key swing states to hand out pots of money for environmental projects. "Leavitt's recent wave of swing-state politicking has won his agency the moniker 'Election Protection Agency' in Beltway circles," reports Amanda Griscom.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Michael Moore's previous films have generated a cottage industry of conservative commentators eager to find examples of sloppiness and exaggeration, but as New York Times reporter Philip Shenon observes, "if 'Fahrenheit 9/11' attracts the audience Mr. Moore and his distributors are predicting, Mr. Moore may face an onslaught of fact-checking unlike anything he - or any other documentary filmmaker - has ever experienced.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The White House and Fox News are spinning furiously in response to the 9/11 commission's recent report, which contradicts one of the administration's key arguments for war with its finding that there was no working relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda.
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