SourceWatch
Encyclopedia
SourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy
(CMD). According to the project's website, it "aims to produce a directory of public relations
firms, 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 interest groups." The site is regularly referenced in mainstream news sources, such as the New York Times and the Sunday Times.
started SourceWatch on January 15, 2003 and launched it publicly with 200 articles created by the Center on March 10, 2003. According to SourceWatch's own statistics, it included almost 50,000 articles as of August 2010. The site's content is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License
.
The publisher of SourceWatch is Lisa Graves, the executive director
of the Center for Media and Democracy
and the managing editor
of the site is Anne Landman.
Sourcewatch is available on the web as a wiki
, maintained by a community of interested users worldwide. When SourceWatch began, any visitor to the site could edit existing articles and create new ones. In April 2006, however, SourceWatch changed its policy, requiring users to register and log in before editing its articles and restricting unregistered visitors to reading articles only.
The Center for Media and Democracy
sets the editorial and "security policies" under which SourceWatch operates. SourceWatch provides recommended editorial guidelines to its users. Some users, designated as "sysops", can protect individual articles so that they can be edited only by other sysops, as in Wikipedia
. Sysops can also block other users.
(CMD), a nonprofit American
-based news media research group
founded in 1993 by environmentalist
writer and political activist John Stauber
. In addition to SourceWatch, CMD publishes PR Watch
and BanksterUSA.
, a custom-made, free
and open source wiki software
platform written in PHP
and built upon the MySQL
database.
Center for Media and Democracy
The Center for Media and Democracy is a non-profit investigative reporting group. The CMD gives analysis and opinion on policies such as the economy, environment and national security...
(CMD). According to the project's website, it "aims to produce a directory of public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion
Public opinion
Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
and public policy
Policy
A policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
on behalf of corporations, governments and special interest groups." The site is regularly referenced in mainstream news sources, such as the New York Times and the Sunday Times.
Organizational information
On behalf of the Center for Media and Democracy, the Center's then-Research Director Sheldon RamptonSheldon Rampton
Sheldon Rampton was the American editor of PR Watch, and is the author of several books that criticize the public relations industry and what he sees as other forms of corporate and government propaganda....
started SourceWatch on January 15, 2003 and launched it publicly with 200 articles created by the Center on March 10, 2003. According to SourceWatch's own statistics, it included almost 50,000 articles as of August 2010. The site's content is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License
GNU Free Documentation License
The GNU Free Documentation License is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the rights to copy, redistribute, and modify a work and requires all copies and...
.
The publisher of SourceWatch is Lisa Graves, the executive director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
of the Center for Media and Democracy
Center for Media and Democracy
The Center for Media and Democracy is a non-profit investigative reporting group. The CMD gives analysis and opinion on policies such as the economy, environment and national security...
and the managing editor
Managing editor
A managing editor is a senior member of a publication's management team.In the United States, a managing editor oversees and coordinates the publication's editorial activities...
of the site is Anne Landman.
Editorial and security policies
The stated goals for registered users who are permitted to edit SourceWatch are "accuracy and fairness". Its editorial guidelines stress the importance of maintaining the accuracy of its source citations and admonish its editors to create articles that are "fair, accurate, and documented".Sourcewatch is available on the web as a wiki
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
, maintained by a community of interested users worldwide. When SourceWatch began, any visitor to the site could edit existing articles and create new ones. In April 2006, however, SourceWatch changed its policy, requiring users to register and log in before editing its articles and restricting unregistered visitors to reading articles only.
The Center for Media and Democracy
Center for Media and Democracy
The Center for Media and Democracy is a non-profit investigative reporting group. The CMD gives analysis and opinion on policies such as the economy, environment and national security...
sets the editorial and "security policies" under which SourceWatch operates. SourceWatch provides recommended editorial guidelines to its users. Some users, designated as "sysops", can protect individual articles so that they can be edited only by other sysops, as in Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
. Sysops can also block other users.
Mission statement
According to SourceWatch, it aims:to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. A primary purpose of SourceWatch is documenting the PRPublic relationsPublic relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
and propagandaPropagandaPropaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
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 opinionPublic opinionPublic opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....
and public policyPolicyA policy is typically described as a principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome. The term is not normally used to denote what is actually done, this is normally referred to as either procedure or protocol...
on behalf of corporationCorporationA corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s, governmentGovernmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s and lobby groups. Over time, SourceWatch has broadened to include others involved in public debates including media outletsMass mediaMass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s and government agenciesGovernment agencyA government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
. Unlike some other wikis, SourceWatch has a policy of strict referencing, and is overseen by a paid editor.
Related organizations
SourceWatch is published by the Center for Media and DemocracyCenter for Media and Democracy
The Center for Media and Democracy is a non-profit investigative reporting group. The CMD gives analysis and opinion on policies such as the economy, environment and national security...
(CMD), a nonprofit American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based news media research group
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
founded in 1993 by environmentalist
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
writer and political activist John Stauber
John Stauber
John Stauber is an American writer and political activist who has co-authored five books about propaganda by governments, private interests and the PR industry...
. In addition to SourceWatch, CMD publishes PR Watch
PR Watch
PR Watch is a web site, and until 2008 a quarterly newsletter, whose stated mission is to expose deceptive and misleading public relations campaigns. It particularly covers US environmental issues, but also covers topics ranging from labor rights to world affairs...
and BanksterUSA.
Format
The operation of SourceWatch depends on MediaWikiMediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
, a custom-made, free
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and open source wiki software
Wiki software
Wiki software is collaborative software that runs a wiki, i.e., a website that allows users to create and collaboratively edit web pages via a web browser. A wiki system is usually a web application that runs on one or more web servers...
platform written in PHP
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose server-side scripting language originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. For this purpose, PHP code is embedded into the HTML source document and interpreted by a web server with a PHP processor module, which generates the web page document...
and built upon the MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
database.
See also
- Center for Media and DemocracyCenter for Media and DemocracyThe Center for Media and Democracy is a non-profit investigative reporting group. The CMD gives analysis and opinion on policies such as the economy, environment and national security...
- Media transparencyMedia transparencyMedia transparency is the concept of determining how and why information is conveyed through various means.As used in the humanities,the topic of media transparency implies openness and accountability...
- Transparency (humanities)Transparency (humanities)Transparency, as used in science, engineering, business, the humanities and in a social context more generally, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed...
- Watchdog journalismWatchdog journalismWatchdog journalism aims to hold accountable public personalities and institutions, whose functions impact social and political life. The term "lapdog journalism", for journalism biased in favour of personalities and institutions, is sometimes used as a conceptual opposite to watchdog...
External links
- SourceWatch.org, SourceWatch is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and DemocracyCenter for Media and DemocracyThe Center for Media and Democracy is a non-profit investigative reporting group. The CMD gives analysis and opinion on policies such as the economy, environment and national security...
- PRWatch.org, Center for Media and Democracy, Publishers of PRWatch.