Advocacy Groups Blur Media Lines

[MountainLaurel]

The Madison County Record, an Illinois weekly newspaper launched in September that bills itself as the county's legal journal, reports on one subject: the state courts in southern Illinois. A recent front page carried an assortment of stories about lawsuits against businesses. In one, a woman sought $15,000 in damages for breaking her nose at a haunted house. In another, a woman sued a restaurant for $50,000 after she hurt her teeth on a chicken breast.

Nowhere was it reported that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce created the Record as a weapon in its multimillion-dollar campaign against lawyers who file those kinds of suits.

"We wanted to educate that their county is the laughingstock of the country" because of the large number of lawsuits filed there, said Stanton D. Anderson, chief legal officer for the chamber, which is a part owner of the Record.

The chamber is one of a growing number of advocacy groups that blur the distinction between legitimate media and propaganda to promote their causes. One group has produced a made-for-TV thriller, intended for a cable network, to dramatize the danger of unprotected nuclear materials. Two lobbying consultancies have set up Web sites on politics and government that direct readers to position papers from pressure groups. The National Rifle Association, which already has a national radio show, is thinking about buying its own radio stations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38184-2004Dec5.html?sub=AR

Well, here it is: Our confirmation that the media is literally a mouthpiece for the powers that be. We can never read something or hear a story on the radio without doing a background search on the source to find out who's paying for it.

:scared:

[Willy Lee]

1. I live in Madison County.

Ridiculous lawsuits are rampant, no doubt about it. The Madison County Record just moved to our historic downtown... I had no idea it was run by the Chamber of Commerce. Little surprise there.