SourceWatch is a free online service to help you locate information about people and organisations in the news. This is important because the media is being increasingly fed by special interests of course, and if you’re looking for the agenda behind any particular story it really helps to find out the who, why, what of the agencies involved.
It’s actually a wiki, so anyone can edit (although it’s moderated to stop abuse) and I particularly enjoy the Falsies Awards every year. If you’re at all interested in ‘greenwashing’, ‘astroturfing’, or other examples of agenda driven media manipulation this is a must bookmark.
SourceWatch is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. A primary purpose of SourceWatch is documenting the PR and propaganda activities of public relations firms and public relations professionals engaged in managing and manipulating public perception, opinion and policy. SourceWatch also includes profiles on think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests.
