CMD in the News

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CMD’s John Stauber (left) speaks in St. Paul, Minn., to international media outside a U.S. Department of Agriculture event with livestock industry lobbyists on mad cow risks in the United States. The next day the USDA revealed that mad cow disease had been confirmed in Texas, launching CMD into the media spotlight again on this issue.

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is at the forefront of identifying manipulative and deceptive PR and propaganda. Here are just a few examples of recent media appearances of the Center and its staff:

• Australian blogger Antony Lowenstein cites SourceWatch Editor Bob Burton's June 6 post, "Pfizer's Fickle Philanthropy." Lowenstein writes in his June 10 entry "Warm and fuzzy drugs," "PR Watch's Bob Burton debunks the 'generosity' of drug companies in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami."
• The New York Times' Melanie Warner cites the work of the Center in her June 12 article "Striking Back at the Food Police," which profiles the industry funded Center for Consumer Freedom. "According to documents [the Center for Media and Democracy] say were obtained from a former Consumer Freedom staff member, corporate contributors to the group as of 2002 included Coca-Cola, Wendy's and Tyson Foods, each of which gave $200,000. Cargill gave $100,000, according to the documents, and Outback Steakhouse gave $164,600."
• The New York Times reported on June 26, "With its statistical logic under regular attack, the United States has increased the number of [mad cow] tests to 388,000 in the past year, from 40 in 1990. . . . That system is 'bizarre, illogical and woefully inadequate,' said John Stauber, co-author of the book, 'Mad Cow USA,' which was first published in 1997. 'The bottom line,' he said, 'is that the U.S. government is afraid of putting in real food-safety testing because it would certainly find additional cases.'"
• CMD Research Director Sheldon Rampton was interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle's Carla Marinucci for her August 7 article "Price of Governor's Road Show: San Jose, nonprofit advocacy group foot bills for transportation-spending photo op." Rampton told Marinucci that while the governor's team may be abiding by the letter of the law, "the bottom line is transparency. There's an ethical problem anytime people engage in politics to change policy without the public knowing who's funding the effort."
• Jeff Bull's August 16 post "Drawing Lines on 'Astroturf'" on the BlueOregon blog, refers to an entry on the CMD's online project SourceWatch and its work covering astroturf. "It's one of these mediating quotes, from Sheldon Rampton of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), that provides the impetus for this post. The center offers a massive listing of what they call 'industry-funded organizations,' which they maintain and build using the 'wiki' model. I've already bookmarked it and simply view the CMD's service as unadulterated 'good stuff.' Moreover, I think they've got a useful take on how to look at the 'astroturf' phenomenon," Bull writes.
• Online Jounal's Carla Binion refers to an article written by CMD Senior Researcher Diane Farsetta in an August 28 article titled,"Cindy Sheehan, mainstream media and Bush propaganda." Binion writes, "The anti-Cindy Sheehan group called 'You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy,' is being promoted by the Republican PR firm, Russo March & Rogers, backed group, Move America Forward (MAF). Right-wing talk show host, Melanie Morgan, is an MAF vice chair. (For more on this, see Diane Farsetta's "Moving America One Step Forward and Two Steps Back")."