Over the past several years, I have written about how corporate front groups, largely funded by corporatists like the Koch brothers and their network of fake grassroots (“astroturf”) groups, manipulate the media to serve their corporate bottom lines. They use this network to amplify their corporate messages, disguised as “reporting” or “news”, jacking up their search engine hits, and ensuring […]

Ya gotta admit, it’s terrific clickbait, though, right? Yesterday, the Washington Post ran a piece titled “Obama suggests requiring everyone to vote”. It was total clickbait that went nuts on Facebook. Other media outlets followed suit but it was the WashPo piece that went viral. And it’s pretty provocative, right? I mean, what sort of dictator would take away your […]

Independent journalists like Team Eclectablog tell you what you need to know — and we tell it like it is. Have you ever watched cable news or read a mainstream media post and wondered who was paying them to slant the story? The influence of corporate sponsors happens on both sides of the aisle at some networks and news outlets. […]

In Frederick County, Maryland, there lives a man named Kirby Delauter. Delauter is an anti-tax, anti-liberal City Council member and he hates the “liberal media”. He hates the “liberal media” so much that, when they published an article that mentioned him, he immediately took to the Book of Faces to issue a threat to the journalist who had the unmitigated […]

First, you need to be clear on what you stand for. Then you need to make sure everyone knows exactly what that is. While LOLGOP was posting an excellent piece on how Democrats fell short of making the best possible case for voters to elect them (and if you haven’t read it yet, you really should), I was posting along […]

The other day, the Michigan Chronicle endorsed Rick Snyder for Governor. The endorsement blew the minds of a LOT of people who felt it ran completely counter to what the Chronicle stands for. Chronicle editor Bankole Thompson responded this morning to the endorsement, a move that will also likely blow a few minds. Good Morning: Yesterday on WDET-101.9FM (Detroit Public […]

The Detroit News published an op-ed yesterday by a man so well-known for being a corporatist shill and profiteer that running it must have been a decision made by the News‘ advertising department. The piece was penned by a Richard Berman and attempts to lay the entire blame for the poor quality of Detroit Public schools at the feet of […]

UPDATE: I hadn’t taken into account that the National Heritage Academies actually began their ad blitz at the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News on Sunday. This post has been updated to reflect that. It’s Day Four of the explosive Detroit Free Press exposé of Michigan charter schools and also Day Four of the National Heritage Academies complete takover of […]

I don’t normally hammer on the mainstream media journalists in Michigan. The job they do is very difficult and they are doing it with fewer and fewer resources all the time. I also try to cultivate a reasonably positive relationship with them because I know the relationship between full-time journalists and bloggers is often contentious. That said, when a journalist […]

What the heck did Chris Christie SAY when he was in Michigan last month??? Progress Michigan ran an anti-Rick Snyder digital billboard in Lansing, Ann Arbor, and Allen Park today — Tax Day — as part of the effort to raise awareness of Republican tax hikes on seniors, middle class, and poor Michiganders over the past three years. Actually, it’s […]

This news is three weeks old but I wanted to highlight it because Michigan Radio is one of the premier news sites in our state, one I am proud to support with a monthly donation. The station won the Michigan Association of Broadcasters “Public Radio Station of the Year” in March. In a state with so many excellent public radio […]