Think Tanks

Progressive Media - A PR War Room for Obama

by John Stauber — March 28, 2009 - 7:46am
  • Topics: Politics, Propaganda, Think Tanks

    • Liberal think tanks and advocacy organizations formed during the Bush/Cheney regime are working in close and well-funded coordination as a PR messaging machine for the Obama Administration's foreign and domestic policies. A Washington Post blog noted that the Center for American Progress is now running Progressive Media which was begun by Tom Matzzie and David Brock in 2008 and now "represents a serious ratcheting up of efforts to present a united liberal front in the coming policy wars." Progressive Media is a joint project with CAP and Brock's Media Matters Action Network and "headed by well-known liberal operative Tara McGuinness." Matzzie recently reminisced about his work with MoveOn's "Tara McGuinness, Eli Pariser and others" organizing Americans Against Escalation in Iraq. Today MoveOn, USAction and others in that coalition are working hard to push Obama's policies, including rationalizlng or defending his escalation of the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan as "sustainable security."

    Tanking Times for Conservative Think Tanks?

    by Sheldon Rampton — March 26, 2009 - 9:17am

    "Since the financial crisis began, the corporate and philanthropic foundations and donors who gird most think tanks have become stingier about their grants," reports David Weigel. He notes that the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank that was one of the most prominent cheerleaders for the Bush administration's policies, has had to cut back on projects and staff.

    Main Source: 
    Washington Independent, March 13, 2009

    The Monkeys and Their Organ Grinders

    by Bob Burton — March 6, 2009 - 5:26am
  • Topics: Global Warming, Energy, Think Tanks

    • Corporations wanting help in advancing their agendas often turn to think tanks.

    Profiling the Global Warming Skeptics

    by Bob Burton — March 3, 2009 - 2:51am

    The core of the small global network of global warming skeptics are once more gathering at a conference organized by the Heartland Institute, a corporate and foundation funded think tank based in Chicago.

    Main Source: 
    Project on the Heartland Institute's 2009 International Conference on Climate Change

    New Life for Old Newt

    by Sheldon Rampton — March 2, 2009 - 3:52pm

    Conservative think tanks like the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation have degenerated into "moribund blogging societies," say out-of-power conservatives. "These days, to hear Republicans tell it, the conservative movement’s intellectual and strategic thunderbolts seem to be emanating, instead, from ...

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, March 1, 2009

    Mixing Advocacy, Scholarly Research and Journalism: Can the New America Foundation Square the Circle?

    by Diane Farsetta — February 26, 2009 - 4:12pm
  • Topics: Journalism, Ethics, Think Tanks

    • In the spring semester of 2008, I was a fellow researching a paper on think tank ethics ("The Perils of Non-Profit Journalism") at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. I was thus pleased when the New America Foundation's President, Steve Coll, spoke at the Shorenstein Center on March 11, 2008, and expressed his commitment to high ethical standards for journalists, researchers and other think tank staff.

    The New America Foundation is a Washington, DC based think tank that has pioneered the introduction of journalism to the traditional think tank mix of advocacy and research. A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Steve Coll is the former Managing Editor of the Washington Post and spent 20 years at the Post as a reporter and editor. Currently, in addition to serving as New America's President, Mr. Coll writes a column for The New Yorker magazine. Launched in 1999, the New America Foundation currently employs more than 100 individuals and has an annual budget of over $10 million. Its Chairman of the Board is Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, Inc.

    Rethinking Think Tanks

    by Diane Farsetta — February 4, 2009 - 4:43pm

    "Fueled by tax-deductible donations and an explosion in philanthropic assets, think tanks have dramatically grown in size and influence during the past 100 years," writes J.H. Snider, himself a think tank fellow. "U.S. think tanks increased in number from eight in 1910 to 98 in 1960 and 1,106 in 2006. ...

    Main Source: 
    Politico.com, February 3, 2009

    Penn's Pakistan Project

    by Diane Farsetta — January 5, 2009 - 3:56pm

    Until March 2008, the major public relations firm Burson-Marsteller counted among its clients the Pakistan People's Party, as the Center for Media and Democracy previously reported. Burson-Marsteller promised to influence U.S.

    Main Source: 
    Politico.com, December 29, 2008

    Don't Worry, the Oil Industry Will Save Us

    by Diane Farsetta — December 5, 2008 - 9:28am

    At a December 2 "wonky event" on the "future of energy policy" sponsored by Third Way, there was a remarkably "wide range of groups represented around the table," writes Kate Sheppard.

    Main Source: 
    Grist, December 2, 2008
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