Journalism

Tell the Washington Post "No More Fake News"

by Lisa Graves — January 10, 2010 - 1:02pm

Please sign our petition by clicking this link.

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CMD

Thank You for Saying "No More Fake News!"

by Lisa Graves — January 10, 2010 - 10:05am

Thank you for telling the Washington Post "no more fake news!"

We expect journalism's leading papers to report their own stories and not pass off canned "news" written by obviously biased sources as "news."

We'll deliver this petition to the Washington Post's ombud and let you know of any response we get.

Please share this link to our petition with your friends.

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Washington Post

Wash Post Called Out for Outsourcing "News" to the Fiscal Times

by Anne Landman — January 7, 2010 - 12:44pm
  • Topics: Journalism, Media, Propaganda

    • A conspicuously biased news article printed in the Washington Post on December 31, 2009 is raising the eyebrows of public policy experts, bloggers, media watchdogs other news outlets alike. Sign our petition to tell the Post no more fake news!

    Titled "Support grows for tackling nation's debt," the article discusses a proposal to create a government commission to examine America's growing debt. The new commission, according to the article, would be charged with exploring "how to rein in skyrocketing spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security," but the article failed to mention other significant sources of government spending, like the $663 billion military budget.

    The story points to growing support for such a commission among political figures, but fails to mention the 40 or so prominent organizations that oppose the plan, including the NAACP, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AARP, Common Cause, the AFL-CIO, and the National Organization for Women (NOW). The article was not written by Post reporters, but was produced by a startup "news" organization called the Fiscal Times, whose byline describes it is an "independent news publication that reports on fiscal, budgetary, healthcare and international economic issues." But is it truly "independent"?

    Newsweek Is Neck Deep in Oil & Conflicts

    by Lisa Graves — November 6, 2009 - 12:14am
  • Topics: Advertising, Journalism, Corporations, Energy, Environment

    • TPM Muckraker has exposed the fact that Newsweek is teaming up with the American Petroleum Institute (API) to host a "briefing" for Members of Congress on climate and energy policy. The briefing is timed to coincide with, surprise, the Senate getting ready to take up climate and energy policy in advance of next month's COP15 world conference on global warming policy.

    API's Lobbying Is Up and Against Slowing Global Warming

    According to TPM, API has already spent $3.9 million directly lobbying in the first part of this year, primarily influence "cap-and-trade" legislation regulating the use of "carbon credits" or pollution emission credits, as well as on the Waxman-Markey climate change bill. (During the Bush administration, API spent only about $3 to $4 million a year on directly lobbying Congress.) But, according to Guidestar, API (a registered non-profit) has revenues of around $200 million a year, primarily from oil companies, as of the last public report in 2007. And, it spent over $70 million on advertising that year alone.

    Another Reason to Worry: The Associated Press' New "Standard" for "News" Is Popularity

    by Lisa Graves — October 20, 2009 - 5:33pm

    The Associated Press, which is increasingly relied upon by traditional papers dealing with staff cutbacks and by new media news re-"broadcasters" such as Yahoo, is signaling a worrisome shift in what it considers "news." Here is an excerpt from the Columbia Journalism Review's recent story about the AP's strategy retreat at Lake Placid:

    “'[T]oo often,' [senior managing editor John] Daniszewski writes, 'we expend precious time and scarce resources on work that does not excite and does not get used'—going forward, AP journalists need to 'focus on what gets used a

    Main Source: 
    Columbia Journalism Review, October 16, 2009

    Wall Street Journal Becomes "Top" U.S. Paper: Memories of Memogate and Manny Miranda

    by Lisa Graves — October 15, 2009 - 9:14am
  • Topics: Right Wing, Journalism

    • The Associated Press reported this weekend that new figures show that the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has become the top circulated paper in the United States, toppling USA Today which had a 17% decline in circulation in the first half of 2009. USA Today still has a bigger print circulation than the WSJ, at 1.88 million papers, but WSJ's 350,000 electronic subscribers put its total circulation at over 2 million a day.

    New York Times Admits Shutting Out Single-Payer

    by Anne Landman — October 14, 2009 - 1:28pm

    The media analysis group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) issued an action alert September 22 titled "NYT Slams Single-Payer" that described lopsided reporting in a New York Times article about "Medicare for all," a form of a single-payer health care system.

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    Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, October 13, 2009

    Yet Another PR Ploy: The Un-Spokesperson

    by John Stauber — October 10, 2009 - 1:59am

    The Seattle Times' Jonathan Martin reports, "In response to a request to talk with [T-Mobile] CEO Robert Dotson and other executives this week, I got an email back from the PR firm Waggener Edstrom Worldwide that ended with a strange request.

    Hi Jonathan, Thank you for your phone call this afternoon and your patience while I looked into your request. While we won't be able to provide you with an interview we are able to provide the following statement. ... Please note that if you plan to use this statement in your piece, I am not a T-Mobile spokesperson and to use my name would be inaccurate.

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    Seattle Times, October 9, 2009

    Size Matters, Reality Doesn't

    by Diane Farsetta — September 15, 2009 - 1:55pm

    "Size matters," notes Columbia Journalism Review, in a post on the September 12 "Tea Party Express" rally in Washington DC (where some protester signs read, "Bury Obama Care with Kennedy").

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    Columbia Journalism Review, September 14, 2009

    Prying Doors Open at The Economist

    by Bob Burton — June 25, 2009 - 5:26am

    "The Economist," bemoans Andy Rowlands, the director of corporate, issues and technology practice at the public relations giant Burson-Marsteller, "is one of the most influential, but also most difficult places to secure coverage." The former head of PR for the London-based magazine (now a PR consultant), Eileen Wise, suggests that persistence pays off.

    Main Source: 
    PR Week, June 23, 2009
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