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Powerbase documents the communication, PR, spin and propaganda activities of public relations firms and the public relations industry. It also 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.
Powerbase focuses on transparency issues by profiling and cataloging 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 are working to increase our coverage of the 'revolving door' between politics and special interests.
Powerbase also 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, the Israel lobby and the terror experts and the associated terrorism industry, which can influence public opinion public policy in the 'war on terror'. Powerbase also documents the propaganda, communication, disinformation, and covert action activities of states, intelligence agencies, and their associated networks.
Powerbase includes public interest reporting on a wide range of 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 which is intended to monitor and catalogue both positive and negative activities in relation to spin, which we define accordingly. 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" here.
Powerbase has a policy of strict referencing, and is overseen by an editor, managing editor and several associate portal editors.
MEPedia
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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.
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Propaganda, conflict and war
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Propaganda | Terror Experts and institutions | Neoconservative networks | Counterinsurgency
Regional conflicts
Israel Lobby | The Conflict in the North of Ireland | Iraq War 2003 | Targeting Iran
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The alcohol industry and policy
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The alcohol portal aims to examine governance processes in the area of alcohol and public policy. The portal 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. You can see all pages on alcohol here. The portal focuses in large part on the most important policy actor which is the alcohol industry and its personnel, and in particular tries to uncover the links between the industry, alcohol lobby groupsand alcohol lobbyists and PR people. We also focus on the alcohol NGOs, which are often poorly funded and struggle to raise public health issues against the plethora of other alcohol policy groups and indeed the often covertly industry funded alcohol front groups. Lastly we also focus on the issue of the science of alcohol and examine the role that alcohol science and scientists play in the policy process.
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Elite networks and corporate power
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Industry sectors
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Popular articles
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To see which pages are most read check the list of most popular pages on Powerbase. To see the pages which do not exist but are most wanted by Powerbase users see the Most Wanted pages. The Priority profiles page lists organisations that Powerbase users would like contributors to help with.
Getting Started
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Looking for somewhere to start?
We welcome new contributors to Powerbase. In order 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 editor AT Powerbase.info saying who you are and what your interests are. 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 of the recently created but currently brief articles. If you look at the recent changes page you will see some noted as being 'stubs' - articles that may just be a line or two and needing 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 the pages which have been signaled by Powerbase Users as most wanted. In addition there is a page which includes 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
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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.
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