Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Jon Elmer, Christopher Parsons, J9 ...
Pacific Free Press, Canada - Nov 16, 2008
... Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, ...

Guerrilla News Network
The Eisenstadt Hoax: A Real-life Example of a "Fake Fake"
Guerrilla News Network - Nov 14, 2008
By Sheldon Rampton There is a minor controversy bouncing around right now on the internet, and I’d like to do what I can to set the story straight. ...

There is a minor controversy bouncing around right now on the internet, and I'd like to do what I can to set the story straight. The controversy involves two incidents:

1. The day after the U.S. presidential election, Fox News reporter Carl Cameron gave an interview with Fox commentator Bill O'Reilly. During the interview, Cameron said that McCain's advisors had told him about their unhappiness with Sarah Palin as a vice-presidential running mate. Citing anonymous sources within the McCain campaign, Cameron recited a litany of complaints, including their claim that Palin was so ignorant she didn't know Africa was a continent.
2. A blogger who calls himself "Martin Eisenstadt" stated a few days ago that he was the anonymous source for Cameron's story. Earlier today, however, the New York Times reported that "Martin Eisenstadt doesn't exist. His blog does, but it's a put-on. The think tank where he is a senior fellow -- the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy -- is just a Web site. The TV clips of him on YouTube are fakes. And the claim of credit for the Africa anecdote is just the latest ruse by Eisenstadt, who turns out to be a very elaborate hoax that has been going on for months."

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Compléments documentaires
Monde Diplomatique, France - Nov 13, 2008
JOHN STAUBER ET SHELDON RAMPTON, L’Industrie du mensonge. Lobbying, communication, publicité et médias, Agone, Marseille, 2004. ...

Actor Audie Murphy was the most highly-decorated soldier in World War II, from which he later suffered insomnia, depression, and nightmares. Today some people want to use him as a propaganda symbol in support of current wars.Viral emails have emerged as a form of stealth propaganda recently, most noticeably in the recent U.S. presidential campaign, when Barack Obama was dogged with false claims that he was a Muslim, that he was refused to salute the American flag, that he was not a U.S. citizen and so forth. The Washington Post reported earlier this year that Danielle Allen, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, attempted to trace the chain of one of those emails and found what the Washington Post called "valuable insight into the way political information circulates, mutates and sometimes devastates in the digital age." She noted that the anonymous nature of viral emails, combined with the word-of-mouth way that they spread, makes them hard to counter. "This kind of misinformation campaign short-circuits judgment," she said. "It also aggressively disregards the fundamental principle of free societies that one be able to debate one's accusers."

Recently a friend forwarded me a viral email that has apparently been circulating since at least June of this year. I haven't seen it previously, but a Google search turned up several copies on various websites. This particular viral message was unrelated to Obama or the presidential campaign but carries its own load of rhetoric aimed at shaping public opinion. On the principle that these subterranean propaganda campaigns ought to be openly discussed and exposed, I thought I'd respond to this one publicly.

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Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Steve Filipovic, David Swanson, J9 ...
Pacific Free Press, Canada - Nov 11, 2008
... Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, ...

Conservatives Admit Mistakes As They Plot Return To Power
Investor's Business Daily (subscription) - Nov 6, 2008
"I wouldn't rule them down for the count," said Sheldon Rampton, research director at the Center for Media and Democracy, a liberal watchdog group. ...

Oil giants try to polish image before latest gusher
Seattle Times, United States - Oct 30, 2008
"That's a game that oil companies have been playing for a while, but they've been pumping more money into it lately," said Sheldon Rampton, ...

Los Angeles Times
Oil companies pour on charm before posting fat profits
Los Angeles Times, CA - Oct 27, 2008
"That's a game that oil companies have been playing for a while, but they've been pumping more money into it lately," said Sheldon Rampton, ...

Annenberg's FactCheck.org has published an analysis of the "spin and hype" in the final U.S. presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. Elsewhere on the blogosphere, people have been speculating about the "true identity" of Joe Wurzelbacher ("Joe the plumber"), whose brief encounter with Obama has become the centerpiece of McCain's effort to paint Obama as a socialist who wants to raise everyone's taxes.

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Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook - Thanksgiving Special
Pacific Free Press, Canada - Oct 15, 2008
... Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, ...

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook - Thanksgiving Special
Pacific Free Press, Canada - Oct 13, 2008
... Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, ...

Adweek
Pick a Pro: Rivals Play Media Match Game
Adweek, NY - Oct 5, 2008
Sheldon Rampton of PR Watch, a watchdog group, warns that opening the floodgates to publicists can sully news gathering. "We're living in an environment ...

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Janine Bandcroft, John McNamer ...
Pacific Free Press, Canada - Oct 4, 2008
... Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, ...

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Jay Mowat, David Swanson, Danny ...
Pacific Free Press, Canada - Sep 28, 2008
... Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, ...

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Mickey Z, Jon Elmer Sept. 22, 2008
Pacific Free Press, Canada - Sep 21, 2008
... Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, ...

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Mickey Z, Jon Elmer Sept. 22, 2008
Pacific Free Press, Canada - Sep 21, 2008
... Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, ...

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Chris Genovali, Peter Bardon and ...
Pacific Free Press, Canada - Sep 14, 2008
... Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, ...

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dr. Bob Bowman, Nat Smith, J9 Mon ...
Pacific Free Press, Canada - Aug 31, 2008
... Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, ...

VUE Weekly
Exposing the bullshit industry
VUE Weekly, Canada - Aug 27, 2008
... which is to put your client’s message in someone else’s mouth,” explains Sheldon Rampton, the research director with the Center for Media and Democracy, ...