Center for Media and Democracy / Consumer Reports WebWatch: Collaborate on Blog-Driven, Wiki-based Site Inviting Contributions from Interested Readers
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2008
11:00 AM
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CONTACT: Center for Media and Democracy / Consumer Reports WebWatch
Sheldon Rampton, Center for Media and Democracy: (608) 260-9713;
Beau Brendler and Jorgen Wouters, Consumer Reports WebWatch: (914) 378-2600
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The Center for Media and Democracy and Consumer Reports WebWatch Collaborate on Blog-Driven, Wiki-based Site Inviting Contributions from Interested Readers
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MADISON, WISCONSIN - January 29 - Full Frontal Scrutiny (www.frontgroups.org), a new Web site launched today created to expose the work of hidden persuaders on the Web, television, newspapers and other media, is a joint project of two non-profit organizations with a strong history of independent public interest investigative reporting online.
Full Frontal Scrutiny is a joint venture between Consumer Reports WebWatch and the Center for Media and Democracy. The site seeks to shine a light on front groups -- organizations that state a particular agenda, while hiding or obscuring their identity, membership or sponsorship, or all three. Google the term "front groups" and the number one return is CMD's extensive articles on its SourceWatch site.
WebWatch and CMD will create original content for Full Frontal Scrutiny, debuting today with an investigation of front group activity in the popular online information resource Wikipedia. The information includes a guide to help consumers get the most out of that site and other information sources on the Web, and with a history of front groups and their nefarious activities. Full Frontal Scrutiny will also publish selected content from WebWatch and from the CMD's SourceWatch site, as well as aggregating news about front groups from other reliable sources.
The joint venture grew from WebWatch's mission to create guidelines for Web site credibility, which it has successfully done for travel, health, search sites and others. WebWatch's credibility guidelines emphasize that the most trustworthy Web sites clearly disclose their address, identity, purpose, mission, corporate parents and sources of funding. CMD's SourceWatch site, open to contributions from the public, has indexed and reported on hundreds of organizations whose offline or online presence fails the transparency test, by omission, obfuscation, or deception.
Sheldon Rampton is the Research Director for the Center for Media and Democracy, and the creator of its popular site www.SourceWatch.org, a collaborative, online encyclopedia of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public's perceptions and agenda. Said Rampton, "Full Frontal Scrutiny will be like no other site on the Web. Fakers, phonies and front groups beware -- you will be exposed."
"For six years, Consumer Reports WebWatch has evaluated sites against five simple guidelines for credibility and trustworthiness," said Beau Brendler, WebWatch's director. "Who owns the site? What's its purpose and mission? Does it disclose sources of funding or key relationships with third parties? These are important questions for consumers to ask about any Web site, and they're also remarkably effective for ferreting out sites that intend to spin, obfuscate or dress up an unpopular agenda."
Full Frontal Scrutiny will focus on front groups in the health, personal finance, electronics and Internet, automotive, home, environment, travel and other topic areas of particular interest to Consumers Union and within its expertise.
About The Center for Media and Democracy:
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a non-profit, non-partisan, public interest organization that strengthens participatory democracy by investigating and exposing public relations spin and propaganda, and by promoting media literacy and citizen journalism. CMD serves journalists, researchers, policymakers and citizens at large by watchdogging the pollution of our information environment.
CMD does not accept grants from corporations, governments, or labor unions. It relies on funding from individuals and private foundations.
About Consumer Reports WebWatch:
Consumer Reports WebWatch is the Internet integrity division of Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports Magazine, the Consumer Reports on Health and Money Adviser newsletters, BestBuyDrugs.org, and a variety of sites advocating consumer rights in the marketplace.
They assist Consumer Reports' editorial division in evaluating the credibility of Web sites, investigate and research Web sites on behalf of consumers, and advocate for consumer-focused Internet policy and governance. Consumer Reports WebWatch accepts no advertising or outside funding, other than from non-profit foundations.
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