Media

Time To Pay for Payola Pundit Armstrong Williams

Perhaps, in the case of Armstrong Williams, the third time will be the charm.

Armstrong WilliamsThe first two official investigations failed to hold anyone accountable for what can only be described as a textbook case of government propaganda. The results of the third investigation, by the Federal Communications Commission, were announced recently (PDF file). The FCC found Williams and two media companies to be at fault, issuing a citation against Williams and proposing fines of $40,000 against Sonshine Family Television and $36,000 against Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Fake Interviews for Everything?

"There's sensitivity to sponsored news right now," admits KEF Media Associates' Yvonne Goforth, adding that her firm is doing more to target satellite media tours (SMTs) -- sponsored and often scripted television "interviews" -- to local TV stations.

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Keeping Investigative Journalism Alive

A new non-profit group called Pro Publica wants to counter the decrease in real investigative journalism. "The plan is to do long-term projects, uncovering misdeeds in government, business and organizations." Pro Publica will be led by Paul E. Steiger, who served as the top editor of The Wall Street Journal for 16 years. It is the creation of Californians Herbert M.

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TV "Expert" Doesn't Disclose His Fellow Travelers

Florida's Broward County paid a travel writer $10,000 to mention Fort Lauderdale, "during a summer media tour that took him to 16 news stations in 37 days," reports the Miami Herald. Joel Widzer "seemed to have little trouble finding stations willing to interview him and air the footage of Fort Lauderdale's coral reefs and spas that the public relations firm, Plus Media, provided producers. A follow-up report ...

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Burmese Citizen Journalists Defy Military Junta to Tell Story of Protests

Photos of injured Burmese monks taken by a citizen journalistDespite the danger of defying a military junta that is determined to quash the current wave of protests, and Internet penetration of only 1%, Burmese citizen journalists, activists, and former professional journalists have shared news and images with the

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Czech President the Anti-Gore, Says U.S. Think Tank

"President Vaclav Klaus is getting help from a right-wing U.S. think tank ... to spread a message many see as anti-environmentalist and some Czechs say reflects badly on their country," reports the Prague Post.

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