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SourceWatch
URL	http://www.sourcewatch.org/
Commercial?	No
Type of site	Wiki, database
Registration	Available
Available language(s)	English
Owner	Center for Media and Democracy
Created by	Sheldon Rampton
Launched	2003
Current status	active

SourceWatch (formerly Disinfopedia) is an internet site that is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). It was created by the CMD's research director, Sheldon Rampton. 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 interests."^[1]

[edit] Foundation

Rampton created SourceWatch on January 15, 2003, and launched it publicly with 200 articles on March 10, 2003. According to SourceWatch's own statistics, it included over 15,000 articles as of March 2007.^[2] The content of Sourcewatch is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

The editor of SourceWatch is Bob Burton, who began to edit it part-time in October 2003. As its editor, Burton, who also serves as the project's main contact person, provides oversight as a public relations analyst.^[3]

[edit] Editorial and security policies

The stated goals for registered users who are permitted to edit SourceWatch are "accuracy and fairness."^[4] Its editorial guidelines stress the importance of maintaining the accuracy of its source citations and admonish its editors to "Be fair".^[5]

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, henceforth requiring users to register and log in before editing its articles and restricting unregistered visitors to reading articles only.^[1]

The Center for Media and Democracy sets the editorial and "security policies" under which SourceWatch operates. SourceWatch provides recommended editorial guidelines to its users but reserves privileges to modify content and to delete articles for its administrators, referred to (as in other wikis) as "Sysops".^[1]^[6] Information about "administrators" ("sysops") in SourceWatch is hyperlinked via its "FAQ".^[7]

[edit] 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 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. Over time, SourceWatch has broadened to include others involved in public debates including media outlets, journalists and government agencies. Unlike some other wikis, SourceWatch has a policy of strict referencing, and is overseen by a paid editor.^[2]

[edit] Sponsor

Further information: Center for Media and Democracy

The sponsor of SourceWatch is the Center for Media and Democracy (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, a quarterly newsletter edited by Laura A. Miller. The creator of SourceWatch, Sheldon Rampton, is CMD's research director.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Editorial Policy," SourceWatch, last updated May 23, 2007, accessed June 25, 2007.
^ ^a ^b About SourceWatch (Site history).
^ "Bob Burton", PR Watch, Center for Media and Democracy, December 24, 2006, accessed June 25, 2007.
^ SourceWatch: Article guidelines", SourceWatch, accessed June 25, 2007.
^ For more information, see "Generally accepted policies" and, particularly, "Be fair" (and related links), SourceWatch, accessed June 25, 2007.
^ For further information about editing and security policies, see also: "SourceWatch: How to Fix an Error", SourceWatch: "Errors and Complaints", and "Security", both accessed June 25, 2007.
^ "FAQ", SourceWatch, accessed June 25, 2007; see "SourceWatch:List of Administrators". (It appears not to be specified at such links the procedure whereby SourceWatch users acquire status and privileges as administrators. For such administrative policies in Wikipedia, cf. Sysops. SourceWatch states in its section in "Generally accepted policies" on "How are these policies formulated?" that its policies and guidelines are based "by and large" on those of Wikipedia. There appears to be no featured link, however, to specific policies governing the granting of "sysops" ("administrator") status to SourceWatch users. It may not be clear to a SourceWatch user, therefore, how such sysops are nominated and approved.)

[edit] External links

SourceWatch.org - SourceWatch is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy
PRWatch - Center for Media and Democracy, Publishers of PRWatch.

[edpol-0] "Editorial Policy," SourceWatch, last updated May 23, 2007, accessed June 25, 2007.

[AboutHist-1] About SourceWatch (Site history).

[PRWbios-2] "Bob Burton", PR Watch, Center for Media and Democracy, December 24, 2006, accessed June 25, 2007.

[artguide-3] SourceWatch: Article guidelines", SourceWatch, accessed June 25, 2007.

[pol-4] For more information, see "Generally accepted policies" and, particularly, "Be fair" (and related links), SourceWatch, accessed June 25, 2007.

[Fix-5] For further information about editing and security policies, see also: "SourceWatch: How to Fix an Error", SourceWatch: "Errors and Complaints", and "Security", both accessed June 25, 2007.

[FAQ-6] "FAQ", SourceWatch, accessed June 25, 2007; see "SourceWatch:List of Administrators". (It appears not to be specified at such links the procedure whereby SourceWatch users acquire status and privileges as administrators. For such administrative policies in Wikipedia, cf. Sysops. SourceWatch states in its section in "Generally accepted policies" on "How are these policies formulated?" that its policies and guidelines are based "by and large" on those of Wikipedia. There appears to be no featured link, however, to specific policies governing the granting of "sysops" ("administrator") status to SourceWatch users. It may not be clear to a SourceWatch user, therefore, how such sysops are nominated and approved.)

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