Citizen Journalism

Featured Participatory Project: ID the Candidates Supporting the "Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq"

by Avelino Maestas — May 27, 2008 - 11:25pm

On March 27, a coalition of Democratic House candidates and military experts unveiled the "Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq." As one of the more solid commitments to end the war, it has generated a lot of buzz lately as more than 50 candidates have endorsed it. With the Iraq War as the foremost issue this season, an endorsement of the plan is a critical piece of information about a U.S. congressional candidate, so we need your help to add it to the profiles of candidates that make up Congresspedia's Wiki-the-Vote project.

Main Source: 
Congresspedia, May 27, 2008

SourceWatch Provides More Disclosure than Congress

by Diane Farsetta — April 30, 2008 - 5:32pm

The post-Abramoff lobbying disclosure reforms have started -- and so far, they're underwhelming. "Confusing shortcuts are already being mapped and loopholes mined," reports Jeanne Cummings.

Main Source: 
Politico.com, April 29, 2008

Featured Participatory Project: Outing Front Groups

by Bob Burton — April 16, 2008 - 3:00am

Often readers and citizen journalists will come across a name of a group that seems a little at odds with the policy message they are promoting. Some of these names were added to the SourceWatch page on front groups with the intention of returning to create an article on that at a later date.

Main Source: 
Sourcewatch, April 16, 2008

The Legion of Lobbyists Behind a "Consumer" Group

by Bob Burton — April 8, 2008 - 12:50am
  • Topics: Astroturf, Citizen Journalism, Front Groups, Democracy, Lobbying, Politics, Public Relations, U.S. Government

    • Consumers for World Trade (CWT), which describes itself as being a "network of consumers," is enthusiastic about everything from the right of the U.S. President to negotiate free trade agreements, slashing import duties and quotas on items such as footwear and apparel and opposing mandatory country-of-origin labeling. You'd be right in thinking this doesn't sound like a normal consumer group, but exactly who they are is not immediately obvious. A little digging though, reveals that CWT is just another front group trying to wrap a self-serving corporate message in a public interest name.

    New Participatory Project: Maximum Weirdness: Tobacco Industry Brainstorming Documents

    by Anne Landman — April 7, 2008 - 2:25pm

    A rock cocaine cigarette filter? A cigarette that delivers birth control and sexual stimulant drugs to the smoker at the same time? A geriatric brand? All of these are actual ideas for new products and promotions that were recorded at cigarette company "brainstorming" meetings.

    Main Source: 
    Tobaccowiki.org, April 7, 2008

    Featured Participatory Project: Help Find the Superdelegates Whose Endorsement is "Wobbling"

    by Conor Kenny — April 2, 2008 - 8:41am

    The Superdelegate Transparency Project on Congresspedia is picking up steam as it looks more and more likely that the superdelegates will decide the Democratic presidential nominee. Our citizen journalist-generated list of superdelegates is being covered by everyone from the New York Times to CNN (video link).

    But as the pressure on them picks up, many superdelegates are switching sides or hedging their bets.

    Main Source: 
    Superdelegate Transparency Project on Congresspedia

    New Participatory Project: Help Us Tidy Up the TobaccoWiki "People" Database

    by Anne Landman — March 18, 2008 - 4:05pm

    We can use your help cleaning up Tobaccowiki's database of people involved with the tobacco industry. Many of the descriptions in the database are currently in fragmented sentences. For example, the entry for Mike Malik says, "(Manager, Direct Communications, Philip Morris c.

    Main Source: 
    Tobaccowiki.org, March 19, 2008
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