Difference between revisions of "SourceWatch:Purpose"

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< [[SourceWatch:About|About SourceWatch]]
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{{helpbar}}
  
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'''SourceWatch''' is a free encyclopedia of people, issues, and groups shaping the public agenda, including activist groups and government agencies but especially [[public relations firms]], [[front groups]], and [[industry-friendly experts]] that try to manipulate public opinion. It catalogues descriptions and details of  as well as the criticisms that are made of these groups from different perspectives.
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[[SourceWatch:About|About SourceWatch]]
  
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A number of individuals and organizations have previously attempted to compile similar guides and directories, but the sheer number of ever-changing groups has prevented anyone from developing a comprehensive list. The goal of SourceWatch is to create the largest and most up-to-date guide in history, both in terms of breadth and depth. We also want SourceWatch to become a reliable resource. It is an ambitious goal, and it may take many years to achieve it.
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<big>'''The [http://www.prwatch.org '''Center for Media and Democracy'''] (CMD) publishes [[SourceWatch:Purpose|'''SourceWatch''']]</big>, this collaborative, specialized encyclopedia of the people, organizations, and issues shaping the public agenda.''' SourceWatch profiles the activities of [[front groups]], [[public relations professionals|PR spinners]], [[industry-friendly experts]], [[industry-funded organizations]], and [[think tanks]] trying to manipulate public opinion on behalf of [[corporations]] or government. We also highlight key public policies they are trying to affect and provide ways to get involved. In addition, SourceWatch contains information about others who help document information about PR spin, such as reporters, academics, and watchdog groups.
  
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== What is "disinformation"? ==
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To get started, there's a link to your left on the basics of how you can help write history.  We also have guides, such as [[How to research front groups|how to research front groups]] and uncover [[Resources for studying propaganda|propaganda]] tactics, such as the use of the "[[third party technique]]," as well as [[Research using the web|great insider tips for web researching]].
  
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Disinformation is deliberately misleading information announced publicly or leaked by a government, intelligence agency, corporation or other entity for the purpose of influencing opinions or perceptions.
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Launched in 2003, SourceWatch now has <b>{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} articles</b>, as of today, thanks to interested contributors like you, and over six million new visitors to its pages a year and many returning visitors who rely on our articles regularly.
  
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Unlike [[misinformation]], which is also a form of wrong information, disinformation is produced by people who ''intend'' to deceive their audience.
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Welcome to the '''SourceWatch''' community! [[Arn Pearson]], Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy, publisher of SourceWatch, PRWatch, and BanksterUSA
  
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A group might plant disinformation in reports, in press releases, in public statements or in practically any other routine, occasional or unusual communique. Disinformation can also be leaked, or covertly released to a source who can be trusted to repeat the false information.
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==What is SourceWatch's role in increasing transparency and public scrutiny?==
  
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A common disinformation tactic is to mix truth, half-truths, and lies. Disinformants sometimes seek to gain the confidence of their audience through emotional appeals or by using semi-neutral language interlaced with threads of disinformation.
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SourceWatch provides simple tools to attract public participation in documenting information about the people, companies, and entities attempting to shape public opinion. With the experience of the [[Center for Media and Democracy]] (CMD) in researching and writing about spin and propaganda, CMD believes it is vital to a working democracy to increase public scrutiny and public awareness of the people and companies shaping public policy.  We think it is imperative to provide useful information about key policies and document disinformation about these issues.  And, it is important to help people understand options for addressing these problems.
  
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It may be easier to ask and answer questions like "at what point does opinion or advocacy ''become'' disinformation?", "can history or ideology ''remain'' simplified without being disinforming?", and "what concept ''equals'' what other concept in this opinion, advocacy, history, or ideology?"  Such distinctions are studied in the fields of [[w:conceptual metaphor|conceptual metaphor]], [[w:information warfare|information warfare]], [[w:psychological operations|psychological operations]], [[w:scientific method|scientific method]], [[w:historical method|historical method]] and the [[w:sociology of knowledge|sociology of knowledge]]. 
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==Who owns SourceWatch?==
  
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One distinction that most students of these topics accept is that someone with an economic self-interest is rarely, if ever, a neutral observer.
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The [http://www.prwatch.org Center for Media and Democracy] (CMD) is the publisher of SourceWatch.  CMD owns the server and domain names related to SourceWatch. The articles in SourceWatch are released by their authors under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]], so the articles are [[w:open content|open content]].  See [[SourceWatch:Copyright]] and [[SourceWatch:Readers' FAQ]] for information on how you can use SourceWatch content. Other publications of CMD, including our PR Watch web site, remain copyrighted property and should not be used without permission.
  
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==Is disinformation just lying?==
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==Who is responsible for the articles on SourceWatch?==
  
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No.  The word "lying " usually implies an awareness of spreading untruths. Long study in [[w:psychology|psychology]], e.g. [[w:false memory syndrome|false memory syndrome]], [[w:groupthink|groupthink]], suggests that honest advocates of a view can rarely tell when they have accepted some questionable premise or evidence along with the valid evidence for that view.  This suggests a constructive role for their opponents in 'culling' that evidence and moderating extreme points of view among front groups, and industry experts.  Such views may reflect not a desire to disinform, but rather a biased [[w:mind-set|mind-set]] or [[w:paradigm|paradigm]] where some central dogma has become accepted as true.
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This is a collaborative endeavor.  Many people have contributed to different parts of this project, and anyone can do so, including you! All you need to know is [[SourceWatch:How to edit a page|How to edit a page]]. It would also be good to know what you are talking about or to have a passion for the truth about these issues or the public's right to know more about them.  You can see who is responsible for the most recent versions of any given page by clicking on the "History" link.
  
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==Why are PR firms a threat?==
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==Getting Started==
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* First you need to [http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Special:Userlogin&type=signup register].
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* Then you need to know [[SourceWatch:How to log in|how to log in]] and set your preferences.
  
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[[w:Public relations|Public relations]], the profession that trades in influence and in altering mind-sets and conceptual metaphors in public life, often has both economic self-interest and a commitment to a point of view.  Thus an extreme scrutiny on activities and [[w:ethical code|ethical code]]s of such professions is advised: the statements it produces must usually be considered ''disinformation by definition'', at least by opponents, until proven otherwise.
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== Contribute an Article or an Edit==
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* How to follow the [[SourceWatch:Policy|policies for contributors]]
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* How to [[SourceWatch:Contributing|add an article or edit articles]]
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* How to [[SourceWatch:Manual of Style|follow our manual of style]]
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* How to [[SourceWatch: Editorial Policy| stay within the bounds of our editorial policy]]
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* How to [[SourceWatch:Uploading Images & PDFs|upload images and key documents]]
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* How to find [[SourceWatch:Help|our ''how to'' pages]]
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* How to get answers to [[SourceWatch:FAQ|Frequently Asked Questions]]
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* How to test out how wiki editing and formatting works by playing in the editing [[SourceWatch:Sandbox|sandbox]]
  
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==How can the public fight back?==
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==More Details==
  
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When such activities are genuinely against the public interest, wise members of the public seek tools to regain [[w:mindshare|mindshare]] for what they see as 'truth'.  Holding disinforming groups up to scrutiny is an ongoing process, a process far more important than labeling any particular point of view, or metaphor, or idea, as "disinforming".  It is a cornerstone of any [[democracy]].
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* Finding [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes]]: see the articles that SourceWatch contributors are working on with the most recent changes listed first
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* Tracking [[Special:Newpages|new articles]]
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* Requesting [[SourceWatch:Requested articles|an article or information]]
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* Fixing [[SourceWatch:Find or fix a stub|a stub]], which is the small starting kernel for an article
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* Getting better [[SourceWatch:Searching|search]] results
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* Using [[SourceWatch:Categories|categories]] to link articles and build the SourceWatch index
  
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==What is this project's role in increasing public scrutiny?==
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==Errors or Complaints==
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* Fixing [[Help:How to fix or report an error|errors]]
  
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Because of its global scope and experience with prior projects like [[w:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]] and others by [[PRwatch]], hopefully a project like '''SourceWatch''' can support the public scrutiny process more effectively than was possible with prior methods.  If not, then also hopefully, that will become obvious and a more effective successor that will serve public purposes better can evolve, learning from this project's flaws and successes.  So this project will likely serve as it is, and inspire successors.  Our hope is based on use of very open and simple tools that have proven capable of attracting mass public participation:
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==Other Policies==
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* [[SourceWatch: General disclaimer]]
  
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==What is "wiki"?==
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== Some Quick History ==
  
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A [[w:WikiWiki|WikiWiki]] is a collection of interlinked web pages, any of which can be visited and edited by anyone at any time ([[w:collaborative software|collaborative software]]). The concept and software was invented by [[w:|Ward Cunningham]]. You can even edit the page you are reading right now; just click "Edit this page" (to the left or below) on this page! However, if you don't have anything to add or correct here, and you just want to see the Wiki in action, edit the [[SourceWatch:Sandbox]] page instead of this one. See also [[SourceWatch:Editing FAQ]] and [[w:What is a wiki for|What is a wiki for?]]
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* July 3, 2004: SourceWatch is [http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?BiggestWiki the world's 14th biggest wiki website] by mere article count.
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* March 10, 2003: SourceWatch is publicly launched.
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'''What if someone tries to vandalize or insert disinformation into the SourceWatch itself?'''
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* January 15, 2003: SourceWatch is first created.
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* December 18, 2002: [http://www.prwatch.org PR Watch] editor [[w:Sheldon Rampton|Sheldon Rampton]] attends a conference in Amsterdam hosted by [http://www.world-information.org World-Information.org] and first learns about the creation of [[w:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]].
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:The [http://www.prwatch.org Center for Media and Democracy], which sponsors the SourceWatch, has other channels through which we can expose and embarrass people who attempt to manipulate its content, such as the [http://www.prwatch.org/spin/index.html Spin of the Day] and [http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/subscribe_sotd.html Weekly Spin] features of the PR Watch web site. The SourceWatch software includes a number of features that make it possible to detect and manage vandalism. In keeping with our philosophy of creating a community-based "information commons," these features enable the entire community of Internet users to collaborate in overseeing its content, in effect serving as a sort of online "neighborhood watch committee":
 
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:#Visitors to the site are invited to create [[Special:Userlogin|individual user IDs]]. This makes it easy to track the editing activities of each logged-in user. Anonymous contributions by users who do not log in receive closer scrutiny than known and trusted users.
 
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:#Logged-in users can log out if they feel they need to say something that they are less than usually certain of, or which they feel will be subjected to ad hominem argument, or if they wish to disagree with their published positions.
 
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:#Logged-in users can create their own individual "watch lists" that let them keep an eye on articles that they feel deserve particular monitoring. They can also call up a list of all [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes to the entire site]].
 
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:#The software keeps an archive of all past versions of each article, making it easy to undo malicious or misguided changes by reverting to a previous version.
 
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:#Trusted users can be given "sysop" status, which lets them ban users who engage in vandalism. If a particular page becomes a target for repeat vandalism attempts, sysops can also mark that page as "protected," so that only other sysops can change it. (To request sysop status, send an email, specifying your user ID name, to bob AT SourceWatch.org.)
 
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:#There will be some means of public accountability of the sysops and others with special priveleges, for now by notifying editor AT prwatch.org of activities you consider to be endangering the public policy purpose of the service as it is mandated above.
 
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'''Since anyone can contribute information, why should anyone trust the SourceWatch as authoritative?'''
 
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:As the authors of a book titled [http://www.prwatch.org/books/experts.html Trust Us, We&#8217;re Experts], SourceWatch creators [http://www.prwatch.org/bios.html Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber] have given quite a bit of thought to the question of what makes information credible. The SourceWatch intentionally avoids invoking "trusted authority figures." Instead, its credibility will depend on the degree to which articles are well-written and backed with supporting documentation, terms of art from "less social" sciences where these are applicable, and the degree to which credibility specialists themselves feel they can stake their credibility on trusting it.
 
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'''How will the SourceWatch address questions of bias, particularly with regard to controversial topics?'''
 
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:Rather than using the terminology of "objectivity" or a "neutral point of view," we prefer the concepts of "fairness and accuracy." It is "fair and accurate," for example, to say that most climate scientists believe human activities are contributing to global warming, so there is no need to take a "neutral point of view" with regard to this question. Of course, bias is an issue in any information system, but SourceWatch&#8217;s users will constitute a community of peers whose combined influence helps compensate for the bias of single individuals.  Systemic bias, e.g. due to contributor psychographics or demographics, will be overcome by a variety of measures to promote equity of viewpoints.
 
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:As an &#8220;encyclopedia of propaganda,&#8221; the SourceWatch is bound to deal with controversial topics. However, the [[w:Wikipedia:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]] system upon which it is based has shown considerable ability to produce articles that examine controversial topics in a fair and accurate way.  Indeed, some of the most controversial topics yield the best articles, e.g. [[w:Capitalism|capitalism]].
 
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'''When did SourceWatch start?'''
 
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: On December 18, 2002, [http://www.prwatch.org PR Watch] editor [[w:Sheldon Rampton|Sheldon Rampton]] attended a conference in Amsterdam hosted by [http://www.world-information.org World-Information.org] and first learned about the successful [[w:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]] project to develop a free open content encyclopedia. Using Wikipedia as a model, he created SourceWatch in January 2003. The project was publicly launched on March 10, 2003.
 
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'''Who owns SourceWatch?'''
 
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: The owner of the server and the domain names is the [[w:|Center for Media and Democracy]] (CMD). However, the articles are released by their authors under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]], so the articles are [[w:open content|open content]]. Therefore, it cannot be said that the owner of SourceWatch articles is CMD. See [[SourceWatch:Copyrights]] and [[SourceWatch:Readers' FAQ]] for information on how you can use SourceWatch content. (Please note, however, that other sections of the PR Watch web site remain copyrighted property of the Center for Media and Democracy and should not be used without permission.)
 
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'''Who is responsible for the articles on SourceWatch?'''
 
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:This is a [[w:collaborative|collaborative]] endeavor.  Many people have contributed to different parts of this project, and anyone can do so.  ''Including you!'' All you need to know is [[SourceWatch:How to edit a page|How to edit a page]]. It would also be good to know what you are talking about.
 
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:You can learn who is responsible for the most recent versions of any given page by clicking on the "History" link. But remember, if you spot an error in the latest revision and you don't correct it, then you share responsibility for the error. So [[be bold in updating pages]]!
 
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:If you are uncertain or find the wording confusing, quote the material on the associated talk page and leave a question for the next more knowledgeable reader or editor.  This helps eliminate errors, inaccuracies or misleading wording more quickly and is highly appreciated by the community.  Thank you!
 
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'''I want to contact the project by e-mail. What's the address?'''
 
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:Contact the [http://www.prwatch.org Center for Media & Democracy] (bob AT SourceWatch.org) or [[user:Sheldon Rampton|Sheldon Rampton]] (sheldon AT prwatch.org). Otherwise, see the next question.
 
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'''Where can I talk about SourceWatch with others?'''
 
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: If you want to communicate with a specific user, leave a message on his or her personal talk page; you can find a list of registered SourceWatch users at [[Special:Listusers]]. ''PR Watch'' also hosts a [http://www.prwatch.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=22 SourceWatch web forum]. Finally, if you're looking to talk about a specific article or page, the best place to put your comments is on that page's Talk section.
 
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'''What is Wikipedia?'''
 
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: See [[How does SourceWatch relate to Wikipedia?]].
 
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'''Can I add Wikipedia articles to SourceWatch?'''
 
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: Sure, and vice versa -- but please bear in mind that the purposes and editorial policies of SourceWatch and Wikipedia are somewhat different, so an article that is appropriate for one may not be appropriate for the other. See [[SourceWatch:Differences between SourceWatch and Wikipedia|Differences between SourceWatch and Wikipedia]].
 

Latest revision as of 16:35, 24 October 2018

SourceWatch Help

Start here:

Advanced tools:

More info:

Other help:


About SourceWatch

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) publishes SourceWatch, this collaborative, specialized encyclopedia of the people, organizations, and issues shaping the public agenda. SourceWatch profiles the activities of front groups, PR spinners, industry-friendly experts, industry-funded organizations, and think tanks trying to manipulate public opinion on behalf of corporations or government. We also highlight key public policies they are trying to affect and provide ways to get involved. In addition, SourceWatch contains information about others who help document information about PR spin, such as reporters, academics, and watchdog groups.

To get started, there's a link to your left on the basics of how you can help write history. We also have guides, such as how to research front groups and uncover propaganda tactics, such as the use of the "third party technique," as well as great insider tips for web researching.

Launched in 2003, SourceWatch now has 68,584 articles, as of today, thanks to interested contributors like you, and over six million new visitors to its pages a year and many returning visitors who rely on our articles regularly.

Welcome to the SourceWatch community! Arn Pearson, Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy, publisher of SourceWatch, PRWatch, and BanksterUSA

What is SourceWatch's role in increasing transparency and public scrutiny?

SourceWatch provides simple tools to attract public participation in documenting information about the people, companies, and entities attempting to shape public opinion. With the experience of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) in researching and writing about spin and propaganda, CMD believes it is vital to a working democracy to increase public scrutiny and public awareness of the people and companies shaping public policy. We think it is imperative to provide useful information about key policies and document disinformation about these issues. And, it is important to help people understand options for addressing these problems.

Who owns SourceWatch?

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is the publisher of SourceWatch. CMD owns the server and domain names related to SourceWatch. The articles in SourceWatch are released by their authors under the GNU Free Documentation License, so the articles are open content. See SourceWatch:Copyright and SourceWatch:Readers' FAQ for information on how you can use SourceWatch content. Other publications of CMD, including our PR Watch web site, remain copyrighted property and should not be used without permission.

Who is responsible for the articles on SourceWatch?

This is a collaborative endeavor. Many people have contributed to different parts of this project, and anyone can do so, including you! All you need to know is How to edit a page. It would also be good to know what you are talking about or to have a passion for the truth about these issues or the public's right to know more about them. You can see who is responsible for the most recent versions of any given page by clicking on the "History" link.

Getting Started

Contribute an Article or an Edit

More Details

Errors or Complaints

Other Policies

Some Quick History

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