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SourceWatch
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org. History CMD was founded in 1993 by progressive writer John Stauber in Madison, Wisconsin. Lisa Graves is the former president of CMD. Author Sheldon Rampton was formerly an editor of PR Watch, once a website that was one of CMD’s main outputs, but now run only as an archive, replaced by exposedbycmd.org. In a report released on April 6, 2006, CMD listed information on 77 television stations that had broadcast video news releases (VNRs) in the prior 10 months. CMD said that in each case the television station actively disguised the VNR content to make it appear to be its own reporting, and that in more than one-third of the cases, the stations aired the pre-packaged VNR in its entirety. In August 2006, the Federal Communications Commission mailed formal letters to the owner ...
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Video News Release
A video news release (VNR) is a video segment made to look like a news report, but is instead created by a PR firm, advertising agency, marketing firm, corporation, government agency, or non-profit organization. They are provided to television newsrooms to shape public opinion, promote commercial products and services, publicize individuals, or support other interests. News producers may air VNRs, in whole or in part, at their discretion or incorporate them into news reports if they contain information appropriate to a story or of interest to viewers. Critics of VNRs have called the practice deceptive or a propaganda technique, particularly when the segment is not identified to the viewers as a VNR. Firms producing VNRs disagree and equate their use to a press release in video form and point to the fact that editorial judgement in the worthiness, part or whole, of a VNR's content is still left in the hands of journalists, program producers or the like. The United States Federal ...
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Sheldon Rampton
Sheldon Rampton is an American editor and author. He was editor of ''PR Watch'', and is the author of several books that criticize the public relations industry. Career In 1995, Rampton teamed with John Stauber as co-editors of PR Watch, a publication of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). They were described as liberal, and their writings are regarded by some members of the public relations industry as one-sided and hostile, but their work drew wide attention. ActivistCash, a website hosted by Washington lobbyist Richard Berman (lawyer), Richard Berman, has castigated them as "self-anointed watchdogs," "scare-mongers," "reckless" and "left-leaning." Rampton and Stauber have in turn argued that the ActivistCash critique contains a number of "demonstrably false" claims. According to a review in ''The Denver Post'', their 1995 book, ''Toxic Sludge Is Good for You,'' offered "a sardonic, wide-ranging look at the public relations industry." After leaving the Center for Media an ...
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John Stauber
John Stauber is an American writer. Stauber has co-authored five books about government propaganda, private interests and the public relations industry. His work includes one book about how industry manipulates science ('' Trust Us, We're Experts''), one about the history and current scope of the public relations industry (''Toxic Sludge is Good for You''), and one about mad cow disease (''Mad Cow USA''), which predicted the surfacing of the disease within the United States. In July 2003, Stauber and Sheldon Rampton wrote ''Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq'', which argued that the Bush administration deceived the American public into supporting the war. In 2004, the two co-authored '' Banana Republicans,'' which argued that the Republican Party is turning the U.S. into a one-party state. The book argues that the far-right and its functionaries in the media, lobbying establishment and electoral system are undermining dissent and squelching ...
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Schumann Center For Media And Democracy
The Schumann Center for Media and Democracy (formerly The Florence and John J. Schumann Jr. Foundation) was established in 1961, by Florence Ford and John J. Schumann Jr. The foundation states that its purpose is to renew the democratic process through cooperative acts of citizenship, especially as they apply to governance, and the environment. It is based in Montclair, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area. Establishment John J. Schumann Jr was the former president of General Motors Acceptance Corporation. Florence Ford brought to the foundation wealth that she had inherited from her father Austin Ford, who was one of the founders of Bundy Manufacturing Company, a predecessor of IBM. Current officers and trustees of the foundation include the founders' sons Robert F. Schumann (chairman) and W. Ford Schumann (vice president) as well as Bill Moyers (president). Bill Moyers' son, John Moyers, was approved by the board of directors on Monday, October 9, 2006, to ...
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Capital Times
''The Capital Times'' (or ''Cap Times'') is a weekly newspaper published Wednesday in Madison, Wisconsin, by The Capital Times Company. The company also owns 50 percent of Capital Newspapers, which now does business as Madison Media Partners. The other half is owned by Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE). ''The Capital Times'' formerly published paper editions Mondays through Saturdays. The print version ceased daily (Monday–Saturday) paper publication with its April 26, 2008 edition. It became a primarily digital news operation while continuing to publish a weekly tabloid in print. Its weekly print publication is delivered with the '' Wisconsin State Journal'' on Wednesdays and distributed in racks throughout Madison. History Early years ''The Capital Times'' began publishing as an afternoon daily on December 13, 1917, competing directly with the '' Wisconsin State Journal''. ''The Cap Times'' founder, William T. Evjue, previously served as managing editor and business manager of ...
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Schwab Charitable Fund
The Charles Schwab Corporation is an American multinational financial services company. It offers banking, commercial banking, investing and related services including consulting, and wealth management advisory services to both retail and institutional clients. It is on the list of largest banks in the United States by assets. it had $10.10 trillion in client assets, 36.5 million active brokerage accounts, 5.4 million workplace retirement plan participant accounts, and 2.0 million banking accounts. It also offers a donor advised fund for clients seeking to donate securities. It was founded in San Francisco, California, and is headquartered in Westlake, Texas. It has over 380 branches, primarily in financial centers in the United States and the United Kingdom. Founded as First Commander Corporation in 1971 and renamed to Charles Schwab & Co. in 1973, the company leveraged deregulation of the 1970s to pioneer discount sales of equity securities. After a flagship opening in S ...
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The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ...
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The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area and has a national audience. As of 2023, the ''Post'' had 130,000 print subscribers and 2.5 million digital subscribers, both of which were the List of newspapers in the United States, third-largest among U.S. newspapers after ''The New York Times'' and ''The Wall Street Journal''. The ''Post'' was founded in 1877. In its early years, it went through several owners and struggled both financially and editorially. In 1933, financier Eugene Meyer (financier), Eugene Meyer purchased it out of bankruptcy and revived its health and reputation; this work was continued by his successors Katharine Graham, Katharine and Phil Graham, Meyer's daughter and son-in-law, respectively, who bought out several rival publications. The ''Post ...
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Alternative Weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Its news coverage is more locally focused, and their target audiences are younger than those of daily newspapers. Typically, alternative newspapers are published in tabloid format and printed on newsprint. Other names for such publications include alternative weekly, alternative newsweekly, and alt weekly, as the majority circulate on a weekly schedule. Most metropolitan areas of the United States and Canada are home to at least one alternative paper. These papers are generally found in such urban areas, although a few publish in smaller cities, in rural areas or exurban areas where they may be referred to as an alt monthly due to the less frequent publication schedule. Content Alternative papers have usuall ...
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Isthmus (newspaper)
''Isthmus'' is a free alternative newspaper based in Madison, Wisconsin (US). Founded by Vince O'Hern and Fred Milverstedt in 1976, the paper is published monthly on the first Thursday, with a circulation of 35,000. In 2020 the newspaper became a nonprofit, joining a growing number of local news outlets turning to community support to fund operations. ''Isthmus'' offers local news, opinion, sports and coverage of the arts, dining and music scenes. ''Isthmus'' takes its name from the land mass that forms the heart of Madison's downtown and houses the twin engines of the city's economy, the University of Wisconsin—Madison and the Wisconsin State Capitol. The paper was founded by Vincent P. O'Hern and Fred Milverstedt, the latter a Madison area journalist and the former a Madison transplant originally from Detroit. It was O'Hern and Milverstedt who came up with the paper's somewhat ominous original motto, "To the Death," a mantra that, according to O'Hern, "expressed our deter ...
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Donor-advised Fund
In the United States, a donor-advised fund (commonly called a DAF) is a charitable giving vehicle administered by a public charity created to manage charitable donations on behalf of organizations, families, or individuals. To participate in a donor-advised fund, a donating individual or organization opens an account in the fund and deposits cash, securities, or other financial instruments. They surrender ownership of anything they put in the fund but retain advisory privileges over how their account is invested, and how it distributes money to charities. Details A donor-advised fund is an account at a sponsoring organization, generally a public charity, where an individual can make a charitable gift to enjoy an immediate tax benefit and retain advisory privileges to disburse charitable gifts over time. The contribution a donor makes to their donor-advised fund is 100% irrevocable and destined for a final 501(c)(3) organization. Donor-advised funds provide a flexible way for donors ...
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the Gannett, Gannett Company in 2016.Gannett Completes Acquisition of Journal Media Group
. ''USA Today'', April 11, 2016.
In early 2003, the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' began printing at a new facility in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin, West Milwaukee. In September 2006, the ''Journal Sentinel'' announced it had "signed a five-year agreement to print the national edition of ''USA Today'' for distribution in the northern and western suburbs of Chicago and the eastern half of Wisconsin".


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