Submitted by Bob Burton on
The Obama administration has denied a request made under the Freedom of Information Act for the names of all visitors to the White House visitors between January 20 and May.
Recently the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice asked me to write an article for them with my ideas of how grassroots activists could better use the Internet for real change. As a member of the group, I was happy to tackle that assignment, and here are my thoughts.
Barack Obama owes his election in no small part to his brilliant use of social networking websites, email, cell phone texting and blogs, all utilized in unprecedented ways by his campaign staff to promote, organize and fund his unlikely victory. He employed techniques pioneered by online groups such as MoveOn and took them to an entirely new level. Thanks to Obama's use of the Internet, politics in America will never be the same. It's crucial that peace and social justice activists at the state and local levels understand and harness these new technologies in organizing for fundamental social change.
I can't say it much plainer than this: Help! Our Center for Media and Democracy needs your support to keep our work alive and well. Many of you reading this appeal have assumed that others have been lending a hand, but we need your support as well. Please give now by clicking and contributing online here.
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Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
As he campaigns to become Indonesia's next president, Prabowo Subianto is often asked about his past. Prabowo was a commander in Indonesia's notorious military special forces unit, Kopassus, under the dictator Suharto.
Sixteen years after founding the Center for Media and Democracy and our publication PR Watch, I'm moving on this June to new challenges. The search for my replacement began last week, and we hope that by summer CMD will have a new executive director. I believe that CMD needs a high-energy executive director especially skilled at taking us to our next level of success. At age 56 I want a less demanding life with more personal time.
The House and Senate both convened their inaugural sessions of the 111th Congress at noon Tuesday with 65 new faces. There were 39 Democrats (plus two non-voting members who caucus with Democrats) and 24 Republicans. (See the complete, citizen-authored profiles of the freshmen at Congresspedia.)
Submitted by John Stauber on
Ari Melber of The Nation adds his thoughts to growing speculation about the future role of Barack Obama's unprecedented army of linked-in netroots supporters.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
As part of its bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, China pledged to expand press freedom.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC), the peak body for PR professionals and lobbyists in the UK, is horrified that the opposition Conservative Party is proposing that government agencies be banned from hiring lobbyists.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The election of Barack Obama as America's next president has prompted a number of analyses of what has been described as "one of the most effective presidential campaigns that's ever been run." Now the Obama team is showing that it intends to use some of the same new internet technologies that made it "
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