Center for Media and Democracy

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a nonprofit liberal watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes PR Watch, SourceWatch, BanksterUSA, and ALECexposed.org.

History

CMD was founded in 1993 by progressive writer John Stauber in Madison, Wisconsin. Lisa Graves is president of CMD. Author Sheldon Rampton was formerly an editor of PR Watch.

In a report released on April 6, 2006, CMD listed information on 77 television stations that it said had broadcast video news releases (VNRs) in the prior 10 months. CMD said that in each case the television station actively disguised the VNR content to make it appear to be its own reporting, and that in more than one-third of the cases, the stations aired the pre-packaged VNR in its entirety. In August 2006, the Federal Communications Commission mailed formal letters to the owners of the 77 television stations, asking for information regarding agreements between the stations and the creators of VNRs, and asking whether there was any "consideration" given to the stations in return for airing the material.

Common Cause

Common Cause is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and political advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Lyndon Johnson.

Organizational overview

Common Cause's stated mission is to "work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process."

Common Cause's past president and CEO was Robert W. Edgar, a former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He served from 2007 until his death in April 2013. His successor, Miles Rapoport, former President of Demos, began work with the organization in March 2014.

During Rapoport's tenure, the organization has sought to address climate change, gun control, student debt, and the minimum wage. Common Cause has also targeted the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative group, partially on the grounds that ALEC opposes climate change legislation.

Lisa Graves

Lisa Graves is an American progressive who currently serves as Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).

Career

Graves is a graduate of Cornell Law School. She previously served as the Chief Counsel for Nominations on the United States Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice during the Clinton Administration. Graves has also worked for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Graves joined the progressive watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy in 2009 as executive director. Graves has investigated and reported on so-called "dark money" donations to conservative nonprofit organizations. Graves was interviewed about the Center for Media and Democracy project "ALEC Exposed" in the 2012 Bill Moyers documentary film, United States of ALEC.

Graves won a bronze award from the Milwaukee Press Club for Best Investigative Stories or Series of 2011 for the Center for Media and Democracy piece "Group Called Citizens for a Strong America 'Operates out of a UPS Mail Drop but Runs Expensive Ads'".

Press Conference (TV series)

Press Conference was a public-affairs television series aired in the United States in the mid-1950s.

Press Conference was similar in format and content to the long-running Meet the Press and was moderated by one of that program's creators, pioneering female journalist Martha Rountree. On the program, a current newsmaker, generally but not always a politician, was questioned by a panel of newspersons in a typical press conference format. As usually done in a traditional press conference, the subject was allowed to make an opening statement (although not all chose to do so) prior to fielding questions.

Press Conference was launched on NBC in July 1956, but that fall moved to ABC. Initially shown in prime time, the program drew only a minimal, public-affairs oriented audience running against two high-profile Sunday night variety series, The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS and The Steve Allen Show on NBC; however, its appearance helped ABC to meet the public-interest requirements imposed on U.S broadcasters by the Federal Communications Commission. Press Conference was moved to Sunday afternoon for three months in early 1957, prior to returning to prime time in April of that year under a new title, Martha Rountree's Press Conference. The program ended in July 1957.

Media

Media may refer to:

Communications