Center for Media and Democracy

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The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a nonprofit American-based media research group founded in 1993 by environmentalist writer and political activist John Stauber.

1 Publications
2 Political affiliations
3 Funding
4 Criticism
5 References
6 External links

Publications

CMD publishes PR Watch, a quarterly newsletter edited by Laura A. Miller. Stauber and CMD research director Sheldon Rampton have written five books describing what they call the murky world of public relations. It also publishes Full Frontal Scrutiny, a website in joint venture with Consumer Reports WebWatch, which claims to "to provide consumers with a resource for investigating a particular organization they may hear about(...)". Another CMD project is the SourceWatch website (formerly called Disinfopedia), a Wiki, which CMD describes as "a collaborative project 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 interests."

Political affiliations

CMD has stated that it is not affiliated with a political party, but that it does not pretend to lack opinions or a point of view. It states its opposition to "the barriers and distortions of the modern information environment that stem from government- or corporate-dominated, hierarchical media." In contrast, it favors "grassroots citizen activism that promotes public health, economic justice, ecological sustainability and human rights."

Funding

The CMD states that it "...does not accept corporate, labor union or government grants", and maintains a lists of financial supporters on its website.^[1]

Criticism

ActivistCash.com, a website run by the Center for Consumer Freedom—itself the subject of much criticism and which the CMD describes as "a front group for the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries"^[2]—describes the Center for Media and Democracy, the sponsor of SourceWatch, as "a counterculture public relations effort disguised as an independent media organization... it is essentially a two-person operation" run by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber.^[3]