Defend the Press

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Koch-Funded Franklin Center "Watchdogs" Infiltrate State Capitols

by Rebekah Wilce — August 14, 2013 - 7:53am
  • Topics: Right Wing, Defend the Press, Media

    • As newsrooms across the country have cut staff reporters -- due in part to slipping ad revenue and corporate media conglomeration -- the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity has rushed to fill the gap, as the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has documented. The Franklin Center has 40 state news websites, with reporters in 34 states so far. Its reporters have received state house press credentials and its stories appear as news in mainstream print newspapers in each state without alerting readers to the heavy right-wing bias of the Franklin-related publications.

    News

    Clear Channel Stands Behind Limbaugh

    by Emily Osborne — March 6, 2012 - 9:35am
  • Topics: Activism, Defend the Press

    • After news of Rush Limbaugh's misogynistic insults towards Georgetown Law Student Sandra Fluke hit the airwaves, Ultra Violet, a non-profit online community "fighting to expand women's rights and combat sexism," launched an online petition targeting Limbaugh's advertisers. Limbaugh, the same man who was stopped at an airport for carrying illicit bottles of Viagra on a trip to the Dominican Republic, called Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute" after she testified before Congress arguing for the importance of contraception coverage by universities and employers, regardless of their religious affiliation. Adding fuel to fire, Limbaugh demanded that Fluke release tapes of her having sex to the public in exchange for contraception coverage.

    News

    The Day Egypt Disappeared

    by Mary Bottari — February 14, 2011 - 10:00am
  • Topics: Internet, Defend the Press, Democracy, International, Media, Propaganda, Secrecy

    • On February 11, 2011, after 30 years of dictatorship, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak announced he was stepping down. As ancient pharaohs slumbered inside, a crowd of over a million surrounded the rose-colored Cairo Museum setting off fireworks and jumping for joy as they peacefully forced a modern pharaoh to flee. This hopeful moment will be studied for years, and no topic will be more hotly debated than the role of social media in the uprising.

    A Victory for Ehren Watada -- and for Freedom of the Press

    by Sarah Olson — November 26, 2007 - 11:00am
  • Topics: Journalism, Iraq, Defend the Press, Human Rights

    • Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada saw his case move one step closer to resolution earlier this month when a federal court issued a preliminary injunction against a second court martial. The Army's prosecution of the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq has been in legal limbo since a February court martial ended abruptly when the military judge threw out a stipulation agreement and declared a mistrial.

    Journalists Jailed

    by Sheldon Rampton — October 19, 2007 - 2:10pm

    The executive editor and CEO of Village Voice Media were arrested Thursday night after publishing details of what they call "breathtaking abuse of the constitution" in a grand jury subpoena against their Arizona newspaper, the New Times.

    Main Source: 
    Arizona Republic, October 19, 2007

    "Just in Time" Censorship

    by Diane Farsetta — October 4, 2007 - 2:44pm

    It isn't just Burmese pro-democracy activists who have been denied Internet access by heavy-handed government censors. "OpenNet Initiative, which tracks Internet censorship, has documented signs that in recent years several governments -- including those of former Soviet republics Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- have closed off Internet access, or at least opposition Web sites, during periods preceding elections or times of intense protests.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, October 4, 2007

    Prisoner 345

    by Sheldon Rampton — July 25, 2007 - 4:51pm

    "For the past five years," Sami al-Haj, a cameraman for Al Jazeera, "has been the only journalist known to be held in Guantánamo Bay," reports Rachel Morris. Al-Haj was originally detained in December 2001 while trying to cross the border into Afghanistan with a team of other journalists. After examining his case, Morris can find little evidence to justify his detention.

    Main Source: 
    Columbia Journalism Review, July/August 2007

    Melanie Morgan Still Wants to Kill

    by Sheldon Rampton — July 25, 2007 - 10:36am
    Main Source: 
    Media Matters for America, July 20, 2007
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