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The Center for Media and Democracy was founded in 1993 as an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, public interest organization. CMD's mission is to promote transparency and an informed debate by exposing corporate spin and government propaganda and by engaging the public in collaborative, fair and accurate reporting."Spins" of the Week
FreedomWorks Behind Tea Party Tax Protests
activism astroturf right wing
Source: Atlantic.com, April 13, 2009
The "tea party" anti-tax movement is not as spontaneous as its organizers would like you to think. Chris Good writes, "Here is the organizational landscape of the April 15 tea party movement, in a nutshell: three national-level conservative groups, all with slightly different agendas, are guiding it. All are quick to tell you that the movement is a bottom-up affair and that its grassroots cred is real. They are: FreedomWorks, the conservative action group led by Dick Armey; dontGO, a tech savvy free-market action group that sprung out of last August's oil-drilling debate in the House of Representatives; and Americans for Prosperity, an issue advocacy/activist group based on free market principles. Conservative bloggers, talk show hosts, and other media figures have attached themselves to the movement in peripheral capacities. Armey will appear at a major rally in Atlanta, FreedomWorks said. All three groups vehemently deny that the movement is a product of AstroTurfing -- fake grassroots activism organized from the top down -- as some on the left have claimed."
AIG Tight-Lipped About the Cost of Spin
economy public relations U.S. Congress
Source: Time, April 10, 2009
AIG spokesman Nick Ashooh has defended the company -- which received $180 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds -- over criticism of its hiring of four PR firms. Michael Weisskopf reports that Sard Verbinnen & Co. "helps to structure statements on the bailout, Kekst & Co. focuses on sales of assets to pay back federal loans, Burson-Marsteller handles controversial issues and Hill & Knowlton fields inquiries from Capitol Hill and prepares congressional testimony for company officials." Ashooh declined to detail how much is being spent on the firms, stating that "contracts are proprietary." Congressman Peter Welch was unimpressed. "That's the whole culture of concealment that's helped some of our bigger financial enterprises get away with murder," he said. Taxpayers, he argued, are "entitled to know how company money is being spent" without information being "dressed up with the benefit of high-priced media folks."
LA Times "Innovates" with Front Page Fake News
advertising Fake TV News journalism
Source: Associated Press, April 9, 2009
The Los Angeles Times is breaking new ground in the fake news business. The Associated Press reports that the paper "took the unusual step Thursday of running a front-page advertisement that resembles a news story. The ad for the new NBC program Southland [is] labeled as an advertisement at the top but occupies space previously reserved for news. The text is adjacent to a graphical display ad for the show at the bottom of the page. ... The Times said the ad was designed to stretch traditional boundaries. 'The delivery of news and information is a rapidly changing business and the Los Angeles Times is continuously testing innovative approaches,' a newspaper statement said. 'That includes creating unique marketing opportunities for our advertising partners.' Times spokeswoman Nancy Sullivan declined to say how much the newspaper was paid. NBC Universal spokesman Cory Shields did not immediately return a call seeking comment."
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