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See also Powerbase's [[Special:Popularpages|most popular pages]] or a list of [[Special:Wantedpages|Most Wanted pages]] which do not yet exists. The [[Priority profiles]] page lists organisations we would like contributors to help with.
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See also Powerbase's [[Special:Popularpages|most popular pages]] or a list of [[Special:Wantedpages|Most Wanted pages]] which do not yet exist. The [[Priority profiles]] page lists organisations we would like contributors to help with.
  
 
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Revision as of 22:40, 23 November 2010

Welcome to Powerbase

Welcome to Powerbase - your guide to networks of power, lobbying, public relations and the communications activities of governments and other interests. Powerbase is a project of SpinWatch and several other organisations. (More about Powerbase here)

Powerbase portals

Alcohol | Climate | Counter-Terrorism | Foodspin | GMWatch | Health | Israel Lobby | Lobbying | MEPedia | Neoconservatives | Northern Ireland | Nuclear Spin | Pharma | Propaganda | Scotland | Spooks | Terror Expertise | Water

Powerbase documents the communication, PR, spin and propaganda activities of public relations firms and the public relations industry. It includes profiles on think tanks, front groups funded by industry and industry-friendly experts that can influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of transnational corporations or other special interests.

We focus on transparency issues by profiling and cataloguing the activities of lobbyists, lobbying firms and other corporate lobby groups. The relationship between special interests and elected representatives is catalogued in our MEPedia database and we also examine the 'revolving door' between politics and special interests.

Another focus is on communication, spin and propaganda in party politics and in war and peace. We also cover public interest reporting on many issues of public controversy including work on the nuclear debate, climate change, water, alcohol, food, genetically modified food and crops, and the pharmaceutical industry. The database is a public interest resource that monitors and catalogues both positive and negative activities in relation to spin. We include pages on whistleblowers, on critics and victims of spin, on those whose work is spun by others, and on those who are associated with public relations – as well as on those who practice and promote spin. See our definition of 'spin'.

Powerbase has a policy of strict referencing. It is overseen by an editor, managing editor and several associate portal editors.

Tag and Category Cloud

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MEPedia

EU Insigna.png

MEPedia profiles current Members of the European Parliament, focusing on issues of transparency, conflict of interest and the revolving door. It is a resource for members of the public across Europe to find out basic information about selected MEPs, their financial and political interests, and their voting history and comments on issues related to transparency, accountability and conflicts of interest.

Propaganda, conflict and war

Powerbase focuses on communication, spin and propaganda in party politics and in war and peace. The database contains collections of articles on British propaganda, the theory and practice of counterinsurgency, the neoconservatives, terror experts and the associated terrorism industry, which can influence public opinion and policy in the 'war on terror'. It also documents the disinformation and covert action activities of states, intelligence agencies, and their associated networks.

Propaganda | Terror Experts and institutions | Neoconservative networks | Counterinsurgency

Regional conflicts

Israel Lobby | The Conflict in the North of Ireland | Iraq War 2003 | Targeting Iran

The alcohol industry and policy

The alcohol portal examines governance processes in the area of alcohol and public policy. It aims to make connections between the alcohol industry, public policy makers and their relationships with the media, scientists and current research and debates within the field. We focus largely on the most important policy actor - the alcohol industry - and its personnel, and try to expose the links between industry, alcohol lobby groupsand alcohol lobbyists and PR people.

We also cover the alcohol NGOs, which are often poorly funded and struggle to raise public health issues against the plethora of other alcohol policy groups and the often covertly industry funded alcohol front groups.

We also examine the science of alcohol and the role that alcohol science and scientists play in the policy process.

You can see all pages on alcohol here.

Elite networks and corporate power

Industry sectors


New pages on Powerbase

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Popular articles

See also Powerbase's most popular pages or a list of Most Wanted pages which do not yet exist. The Priority profiles page lists organisations we would like contributors to help with.

Getting Started

Looking for somewhere to start?

We welcome new contributors to Powerbase. To contribute, you first need to register as a User.

  • Go to http://spinwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki_spinwatch.org and subscribe to the Users' email list. This will enable you to receive group emails from other Users in Powerbase.
  • Send an email to managing.editor AT Powerbase.info saying who you are and your interests. If you are approved as a User you will be sent a User name and password to enable you to log in and edit or contribute material.

If you are unsure where to start, you could expand some recently created but currently brief articles. Take a look at the recent changes page to see some noted as 'stubs' - articles that may just be a line or two and need to be fleshed out. So if you would like to add to some of those you would be most welcome.

There is an automatically updated page which includes pages which have been signalled by Powerbase Users as most wanted. There is also a page with a list of Things you can do to help.

Or if you would like some other suggestions closer to your interests you could drop Powerbase editor David Miller an email at editor AT Powerbase.info

Research and writing tips

How to research front groups | Resources for studying propaganda | Research using the web

Start Here


Powerbase history

Powerbase is a collaborative venture initiated by Spinwatch in collaboration with Lobbywatch, GM Watch Red Star Research and Corporate Watch, but put into effect by a wide variety of volunteers and independent researchers.

Contributors are now working on 19,141 articles.

Disclaimer: Powerbase is an encyclopedia of people, issues and groups shaping the public agenda. It is a project of the Spinwatch—email editor AT Powerbase.info.

Antispam note: To avoid attracting spam email robots, email addresses on Powerbase are written with AT in place of the usual symbol, and we have removed "mail to" links. Replace AT with the correct symbol to get a valid address. We regret the inconvenience this entails. Campaign for more effective antispam regulations.