Activism

It Was a Very False Year: The 2005 Falsies Awards

As Father Time faded into history with the end of 2005, he was spinning out of control.

Groucho mask Over the past twelve months, the ideal of accurate, accountable, civic-minded news media faced nearly constant attack. Fake news abounded, from Pentagon-planted stories in Iraqi newspapers to corporate- and government-funded video news releases aired by U.S. newsrooms. Enough payola pundits surfaced to constitute their own basketball team -- Doug Bandow, Peter Ferrara, Maggie Gallagher, Michael McManus and Armstrong Williams. (They could call themselves the "Syndicated Shills.")

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Freeport Fronts Its Way into Activists' Emails

Submitted by Bob Burton on January 1, 2006 - 9:06pm

The New York Times reports that the Louisiana-based mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold worked closely with Indonesian military intelligence officers to monitor the email and phone calls of environmental activists concerned about the impacts of the company's Grasberg mine in Indonesia's Papua province.

Main Source:

New York Times, December 27, 2005

Topics:

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Coke's PR Connects Canada and Colombia

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on December 27, 2005 - 5:38pm

After students at two Canadian universities, McMaster and the University of Guelph, voted down campus exclusivity deals with Coca-Cola, "the world's largest soft-drink company has launched a counter-offensive in hopes of heading off further boycotts." In December, Coke reps visited McMaster and the University of British Columbia.

Main Source:

Associated Press, December 27, 2005

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Stauber & Rampton Think Outside the Big Box

Submitted by Laura Miller on December 9, 2005 - 3:03pm

Join the Center for Media and Democracy's John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton in Madison, Wisc., on December 15 for a talk on corporate PR and its cost to democracy. Stauber and Rampton will speak following a preformance of Walmartopia, a new musical comedy by Catherine Capellaro and Andrew Rohn, the creators of Temp Slave, the musical. "Walmartopia—a future so horrible, it must be stopped!

Topics:

Activism

Corporations

Public Relations

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Swiss Freeze Biotech Rollout

Submitted by Bob Burton on November 30, 2005 - 4:35am

Swiss citizens backed a five-year moratorium on commercial release of genetically modified plants and animals, despite opposition from their government and industry groups. Fifty-five percent of the voters backed the moratorium. The ballot initiative followed the collection of 100,000 signatures opposing a 2004 law approving commercial release of genetically engineered crops. "All the farmers' organisations were behind this proposal, which they see as a chance for Swiss agriculture," Daniel Ammann, a spokesman for the pro-moratorium coalition, told Reuters.

Main Source:

Reuters, November 28, 2005

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Protesters Arrested

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on November 25, 2005 - 9:19pm

"About a dozen antiwar protesters, including Daniel Ellsberg and the sister of Cindy Sheehan, were arrested Wednesday morning while camping on a roadside near President Bush's ranch" in Crawford, Texas, reports Rosalind S. Helderman. The activists ran afoul of a new county law that was passed following this summer's protests to prohibit parking and camping on public lands near Bush's property.

Main Source:

Washington Post, November 24, 2005

Topics:

Activism

Iraq

Human Rights

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Frances Moore Lappé in Madison Wednesday November 16

Come hear from and speak to this long-time food and democracy activist and author or co-author of fifteen books, including the groundbreaking Diet for a Small Planet.

Topics:

Activism

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Handbook for Cyber-Dissidents

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on October 28, 2005 - 12:42pm

Reporters Without Borders has published a "Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents," with technical instructions and advice for people who want to use the internet as a means of expression in repressive societies.

Main Source:

Reporters Without Borders

Topics:

Activism

Citizen Journalism

Internet

One Step Forward (But Two Back) in the Fight Against Fake News

"Myself and others felt violated by the first bill," said Doug Simon, the founder, president and CEO of D S Simon Productions, a major producer of the faux television news reports known as video news releases (VNRs).

Doug (Pee Wee) Simon Simon was referring to the Truth in Broadcasting Act (S 967). In its original incarnation, this bill would have required a "conspicuous" disclosure to accompany any government-produced or -funded prepackaged VNR or the radio equivalent, an audio news release (ANR).