Bias in Not-For-Profit Online News - PEW Study

The question of bias in "news" is like being asked ... "Do you still beat your dog?" On The Media: Ideological Bias at Non-Profit News Organizations takes up the story via a Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. The report  investigates The New Landscape of NON-Profit News Sites.

My quick take away from their story is how incredibly tiny (2 and 3 people, sometimes with one reporter) these organizations are. Second the more "funders" you have the more "independent" you are. Lastly PEW is advising us all to be informed and asking these organizations to be more transparent about agendas and funding!

Two asides -

1. Why did OnTheMedia not include any direct links to the PEW study ... I had to go looking!
2. The PEW site has a three-way interface to the report, the data and a guide.

The links are worth following ... and interestingly harder to set up than usual to make it more certain they will remain correct and active over time!

#Bias in #Not-For-Profit Online #News - #PEW Study

Who is Luther Olsen? I think he likes school vouchers?

It appears from the "special interest" groups supporting Luther Olsen that he is all in favor of public schools ... but is he really?! Just watched an ad (6:20pm, WISC-TV, 7/28) put out for him by "The American Federation for Children" ... take a look at their website ... excerpt below .. click for site ... sure not a local group ... more out of state money pouring in to support him!

The American Federation for Children is a leading national advocacy organization promoting school choice, with a specific focus on advocating for school vouchers and scholarship tax credit programs. The American Federation for Children is a 501(c)(4) organization. We are affiliated with the American Federation for Children PAC, a political committee that supports and opposes state-level candidates for elected office, and we work closely with our educational partner, the Alliance for School Choice, a 501(c)(3) organization, to promote the benefits of—and the need for—school choice.

Luther Olsen supported by Out-of-State "Club for Growth 

William A. Gates: Looks who’s getting out-of-state backing - Mail Bag CapTimes

Read more: http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/mailbag/article_57dfb1b7-b541-51d5-b156-80d4c703ceae.html#ixzz1TRgzJZFs

Thunda in Wisconsin - video reminder

Remember back when there was "Thunda Round the Rotunda" as loud as our summer thunderstorms ... let's vote in the recalls ... so the message gets through!

#Thunda in #Wisconsin Around the Rotunda - Square #2011 - video reminder

TPM: Simac? Is This Wisconsin Republican Running From Her ‘Nazi’ Name-Calling Past?

7/26 From the Talking Points Memo 7/26 - (to see click title)

What do you do when you're a tea party organizer with a history of inflammatory comments comparing America's public schools to Nazi Germany? If you're Wisconsin state Senate candidate Kim Simac, the answer may be liberally apply the delete key to your online past.
Simac is the Republican candidate in the Wisconsin recall election in state Senate district 12, which means she's hoping to unseat incumbent state Sen. Jim Holperin (D). Thanks to the strange political dance that is the Wisconsin recall process, Simac will face Holperin in a general election contest later next month.

Shaping Opinions - Pessimist or Optimist ??? From Slashdot

The original Slashdot entry can be seen by clicking the title!  I have included most of the description here! It provides further references to the source! Hmmmm! What do you think?  Are we "unshakeable" or is the TeaParty?

An anonymous reader writes "Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. 'When the number of committed opinion holders is below 10 percent, there is no visible progress in the spread of ideas. It would literally take the amount of time comparable to the age of the universe for this size group to reach the majority,' said SCNARC Director Boleslaw Szymanski. 'Once that number grows above 10 percent, the idea spreads like flame.' The findings were published in the July 22, 2011, early online edition of the journal Physical Review E."

Shaping Opinions - Pessimist or Optimist ??? From Slashdot  -- #Guns #NRA #Parkland #NeverAgain #PinkHats #MeToo

Luther Olsen supported by Out-of-State "Club for Growth"

Just saw two ads back to back (Channel WISC 3 about 6:15pm Sunday 7/24) ... the first attacked Fred Clark and the second said Luther Olsen was a wonderful politician being attacked by out-of-state special interests!  That inspired me to rerun a sort of negative/truthful add about Olsen .... who do you believe?

 Fred Clark .... need to recall Luther Olsen ... video

The Club for Growth sponsored the attack ad on Democratic Candidate Fred Clark  ... ironically there is no one on their Board of Directors from Wisconsin ... so an out-of-state special interest group is indirectly supporting Olsen by attacking his Democratic opponent ... how funny is that?!

Here is a list of the Club for Growth Board members  ... see anyone from Wisconsin ????

Board of Directors

JACKSON T. STEPHENS, Little Rock, AR
Chairman

THOMAS L. RHODES, New York, NY
Chairman Emeritus

RICHARD GILDER, New York, NY
Chairman Emeritus

HOWARD RICH, Philadelphia, PA

FRAYDA LEVIN, Mountain Lakes, NJ

KEN BLACKWELL, Cincinnati, OH

JOHN CHILDS, Vero Beach, FL

CHRIS CHOCOLA, Bristol, IN

Who are these people ??

One person, George Mitchell, from Whitefish Bay, WI is on the Leadership Council of Club For Growth.

This OnMilwaukee.com has some additional insight -

In 2005, the state group took in $94,950, according to campaign watchdog Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Most of that came from four donors: $25,000 from retired Racine businessman Fred Young and $10,000 each from Wausau paper company executive San Orr, Milwaukee school voucher advocate George Mitchell and conservative Sheboygan businessman Terry Kohler.

Update: WPR & WPT - WisconsinMoneyMatters (Schools Impact)

This new site, an arrangement by Wis Public Television and Wis Public Radio, is about important public policy issues in Wisconsin.  We should all follow them, encourage them, promote them (i.e.,Twitter) so that our fellow Wisconsinites and even a broader audience get a perspective about what is going on in the state.

School districts, collective bargaining being changed are a couple of recent topics.  I am afraid that you can rely on Governor Walker, the Fitzgerald boys, the Republican Party and TeaParty along with Senator Johnson and Representative Ryan and Sensenbrenner will all do what they can to prevent any message they do not like from continuing!

Click on the title to see more about them!

Watch the full episode. See more Here and Now.

Update: #WPR & #WPT - #WisconsinMoneyMatters (Schools Impact) #Vouchers #wiunion #wivote #voterId #Gogebic #walker