Media Matters for America

Campaigns

• Tell Facebook: Stop Enabling Cambridge Analytica, The Trump Campaign, and Other Cheaters Like Them

  Facebook has repeatedly failed to protect the people who use it, and despite the outrage that arises when news of another failure is exposed, remarkably little has been done to fix the problems. Consumers have been left to deal with disinformation, predatory political ads, hate and harassment, and violations of privacy largely on their own. Recently, a series of stories broke that illustrate just how colossal these corporate failures are. It's so disturbing that at some point you start to wonder if, instead of just failing, Facebook has been intentionally enabling bad actors with its business model. On Friday, Facebook abruptly announced that it had banned Cambridge Analytica, the firm that did data targeting for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, from using the platform for "violating its policies around data collection and retention," as The Verge described it. [1] Basically, Cambridge Analytica downloaded the detailed personal records of more than 50 million Facebook users that it never should have had in the first place -- and Facebook waited years before finally doing anything about it. [2] While Facebook says it has suspended the company from its platform, and Cambridge Analytica claims the massive trove of personal information it acquired has been destroyed, it's very, very probable that copies of the database are still being used. Facebook says it has hired a firm "to determine the accuracy of the claims that the Facebook data in question still exists." [3] One probable owner? The Trump campaign. Trump's 2020 campaign manager and 2016 digital director Brad Parscale has bragged about the size and impact of the campaign's database, which it named Project Alamo and which was an apparent combination of Cambridge Analytica's data, Republican National Committee data, and the Trump campaign’s data prior to hiring Cambridge. Simply put: There are likely replicas of Cambridge's ill-gotten data out there, and unless Facebook puts a stop to everyone else that's using it, the company really isn't doing anything to fix the problem, instead just continuing its trend of employing inadequate half-measures. Auditing the developers of Facebook apps isn't enough. Without quick action to stop organizations with copies of data like this from this cheating, they'll keep using Facebook to manipulate unsuspecting people based on pilfered knowledge about them -- and their messages and ads will continue to have the upper hand on the platform. This isn't a PR crisis -- this is a democracy crisis. We have 50 million reasons to be mad at Facebook. Let's turn that anger into action by pressuring Facebook to protect consumers immediately instead of enabling the businesses that game the system with its platform. It's time to ban these cheaters. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/16/17132172/facebook-cambridge-analytica-suspended-donald-trump-strategic-communication-laboratories [2] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/data-war-whistleblower-christopher-wylie-faceook-nix-bannon-trump [3] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/facebook-cambridge-analytica-explained.html

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  Created by Angelo Carusone, Media Matters
• Tell the White House Press Corps: Stand In Solidarity Against Trump's Blacklist

  During a press conference following the November 2018 midterm election, Donald Trump berated CNN reporter Jim Acosta for asking questions that he didn’t want to answer. Later in the evening, the Trump administration revoked Acosta’s press credentials and barred him from entering the White House grounds. The White House Press Correspondents Association exists to advance the interests of and protective the White House Press Corps. They need to act. They need to make it a matter of policy that if one of their members if blacklisted, that the rest of the White House Press Corps will line up in solidarity -- and either refuse to participate in White House press events or only ask questions on behalf of the banned reporter/outlet until the ban is lifted. In response to the ban, many outlets and reporters publicly expressed concern. But, in a couple days their concern will fade and they will go about their business. We know this to be true because it’s happened before. Trump has a history of doing just this thing. During the 2016 campaign, he has literally banned the Des Moines Register from covering his events. He banned Univsion from attending his events. He revoked The Washington Post’s credentials for a period in retaliation for a headline that he didn’t like. He revoked Politico’s credentials for a while to punish them for an article he didn’t like. BuzzFeed--which Trump called "a pathetic pile of garbage" during a press conference--was on a blacklist starting in June 2015 and extending well into early 2017. The Daily Beast had been blacklisted as well and was frequently denied credentials as a result. Despite this long record and Trump’s increasingly brazen attacks against the news media, journalists covering Trump still haven’t learned. Time and time again, as one outlet after another is frozen out, reporters continue to go about their interactions with Trump and his people as if nothing is wrong. Enough is enough. Some principles are more important than competition among news outlets. If a free press has any hope of surviving Trump’s sustained attacks, we need the journalists covering Trump to step up and send a clear message: If Trump blackballs one of you, the rest of you need to stand in solidarity.

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  Created by Angelo Carusone, Media Matters
• Tell 21st Century Fox : Release The Findings Of Your Investigation of Sexual Harassment at Fox News

  I’ve seen first-hand the impact of workplace sexism and sexual harassment. No one deserves to work in a place where he or she is objectified, belittled, and harassed with no recourse and no support. This case is so visible—and the alleged harassment is so extensive and alarming—it’s imperative that the investigation and its results don’t get swept under the rug. 21st Century Fox is already giving Ailes a massive payout just to walk away—reportedly in excess of $40 million! If 21st Century Fox is truly taking these allegations seriously, they’ll release the findings of their investigation to the public. Since former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment suit against the network’s chief executive Roger Ailes, dozens of other women have come forward with stories of Ailes’ sexism, harassment, and worse. Disturbingly, many of the allegations include details of how other Fox executives knew about and enabled his harassment of women at the network over his decades-long career. Getting rid of Ailes was a long overdue start. But we've long passed the point where Fox News can be trusted to run their own internal review, considering the toxic message of misogyny and sexism the network has cultivated over the years.

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  Created by Rachel Tardiff, Media Matters for America
• Tell Advertisers: Drop Fox

  Right now, companies that do business with Fox News are financially supporting bigotry, dangerous lies, and harmful conspiracy theories. Since the network is a propaganda operation, these companies are also financially supporting and enabling Trump's politics.

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  Created by Angelo Carusone
• Tell Congress: Save Public Broadcasting

  The White House just released a budget proposal that would eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which supports National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). We can’t let this happen. For 50 years, Americans have turned to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for local news, quality educational programming, and independent journalism without corporate or political influence, no matter where they live. In rural communities with few or no free broadcasting options, the CPB is a critical lifeline for information. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting relies almost entirely on the federal government for its funding. It’s one of the last remaining U.S. media groups that is insulated from commercial or political pressure -- and in today’s fragmented news landscape, the independent voices it supports are more valuable than ever. The threat is real: We’ve seen profit-driven outlets cozy up to Donald Trump to boost ratings and ad revenues. Last year, the president of CBS defended wall-to-wall coverage of Trump, saying that “it may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS” -- because “the money’s rolling in.” NBC refused to part ways with Trump as executive producer of its reality show The Celebrity Apprentice. And CNN continues to try to appeal to Trump by hiring his former campaign officials. Over the next six weeks, Congress will consider Trump’s request to cut the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and legislators will release their own budget proposal. We can’t afford to lose the unique voices and perspectives that PBS, NPR, and hundreds of local stations across the country contribute to our public debate -- and it’s time to make sure our representatives know it. Take action now: Don’t let Trump wipe out public broadcasting!

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  Created by Cynthia Padera, Media Matters
• Tell Advertisers: Boycott Sean Hannity

  At this point, if a company is sponsoring Sean Hannity's show, they are essentially supporting a Trump propaganda operation. It needs to stop. Sean Hannity has a long record of right-wing chicanery, lies, and vitriol. But his program has morphed into something more dangerous than just partisan hackery -- he’s been exposed as a full-blown propagandist who conspires with the Trump administration to spread fabricated stories, smear detractors, and undercut the rule of law. 21st Century Fox (Fox News' parent company) won't hold him accountable. So, there are two options: 1) Do nothing; or 2) Take action to hold Hannity accountable. Spreading misinformation is Hannity's business model, and now he’s doing it on behalf of the Trump administration. His propagandizing has become so odious that he was condemned by some of his coworkers, who reportedly told The Daily Beast that the host was "'embarrassing' the network" and that "some people need to be fired. It's past time for Hannity to go. If Fox won’t fire Hannity, then advertisers should run as fast as they can, or else they run the risk of being complicit in his deceit and recklessness. Advertisers will get burned if they continue to associate with Hannity -- plain and simple. It's up to this grassroots movement -- individuals, organizations, and hundreds of independent organizers -- to keep up the pressure. Together, their efforts and your participation will have a tremendous impact. --------- Here are a few of Hannity's top advertisers: - DirecTV - Dollar Shave Club - Mercedes Benz - Mitsubishi - NutriSystem Full list here: https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/05/23/these-are-sean-hannitys-advertisers/216607

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  Created by Angelo Carusone, Media Matters
• Tell The News Media: Stop Obsessing Over Donald Trump

  The news media is completely obsessed with Donald Trump. This obsession is hurting our democracy and is rewarding Trump for extremism and bigotry. ABC, NBC, CBS and all the cable news channels are guilty of this. Consider the following... 1) Network news has covered Donald Trump more than the entire Democratic field combined. Notably, ABC World News devoted 81 minutes of coverage to Donald Trump. By contrast, they have only given about 20 seconds of coverage to Bernie Sanders over the entire year. 2) So far this year, Donald Trump has accounted for 27% of all campaign coverage on the nightly news programs. 3) CNN has mentioned Donald Trump more than the rest of the Republican field combined and about 1.5x more than the Democratic field combined. 4) MSNBC has mentioned Donald Trump 56,748 times. By contrast, MSNBC has mentioned the entire Democratic field combined 34,807 times. 5) Fox News has had Donald Trump on air 1,366 minutes since the beginning of his announcement. That's nearly 2.5 times more airtime than the candidate with the next most airtime. 6) Even worse, the news media goes out of their way to give Trump special privileges. They let him call in to shows at significantly higher rates than other candidates. This matters a lot because it enables Trump's consumption of airtime by allowing him to appear on multiple shows by phone without concern for scheduling conflicts and logistics. Not to mention, the constant breaking in to cover the same old stump speech that Trump has been giving for months. And those are just a few examples that illustrate how out of control this has gotten. This hurts our democracy by crowding out coverage of other important issues and other candidates. And all it really does is reward Donald Trump's extremism and bigotry. Enough is enough. It's time for the news media to stop their obsession with Trump.

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  Created by Angelo Carusone, Media Matters for America
• Tell Facebook: Fix Your Fake News Problem

  In the wake of the 2016 election, one thing has become increasingly clear: there is a huge problem with the news that tens of millions of Americans get from Facebook. According to a recent Pew poll, 62% of Americans now get news on social media, with Facebook overwhelmingly being the most popular platform. And yet too often it was not news that Americans found on Facebook, but rather fake stories dressed up as the news. Evidence shows that Facebook is riddled with lies. One report even found that teenagers in Macedonia were able to game Facebook and get their Trump propaganda posts shared into the news feeds of millions. Earlier this year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sat down with conservatives who complained that right-wing news was suppressed on Facebook. It was after that meeting that Facebook fired their human editors and replaced them all with algorithms. This decision further unleashed fake news on Facebook. A new bombshell report revealed that Facebook knew about the fake news problem and had the ability to do something about it, but declined to fix the issue out of fear that the right-wing would complain. If we have learned anything from the past two decades, it is that it is crucial not to cave to right-wing bullying and manipulations. Despite overwhelming data and insider reporters, Mark Zuckerberg refuses to even acknowledge the problem publicly. (Which is odd given that he was willing to sit down with discredited right-wing misinformers over totally unsubstantiated cries of bias) Join us in asking Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook to take two concrete steps: 1) Acknowledge the problem of the proliferation of fake news on Facebook. 2) Commit to taking action to fix the problem. It’s high time that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook fix their fake news problem and address the fever swamp/cesspool of misinformation that Facebook has become. If that hurts liberals, so be it. If that hurts conservatives, so be it. If that hurts teenagers publishing fake news in Macedonia, so be it. Let the chips fall where they may. It’s time for the truth to have its day. That’s all we’re asking for.

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  Created by Angelo Carusone, Media Matters
• Tell Facebook: The Weekly Standard Is Not Fit To Fact-Check

  Facebook has a checkered history of addressing fake news and misinformation: Last year, after the social media giant fired its human editors following a conservative hissy fit, fake news stories immediately made their way into the “trending topics” section of the website. Then, after the scope of Facebook’s fake news problem became more evident, Mark Zuckerberg dismissed and downplayed the problem. And now, Facebook is under fire for allowing Russian trolls to hijack the network’s advertising platform during the 2016 election without consequence. Because of all this and pressure from people like you, the social media giant last winter announced a partnership with independent, nonpartisan news outlets -- like The Associated Press, PolitiFact, Snopes, and FactCheck.org -- to analyze and fact-check news stories. But now, The Weekly Standard, a right-wing publication with a history of partisan lies, is reportedly in talks with Facebook to become a fact-checking partner in the platform’s fight against fake news. The Weekly Standard is different from Facebook’s current fact-checking partners. Over the past two decades, the outlet has routinely pushed right-wing talking points and misinformation, including by serving as the foremost media booster for the Iraq War. Most recently, the Standard published a piece headlined “Death Panels: Sarah Palin Was Right,” referring to a GOP lie fabricated in 2009 regarding nonexistent health care rationing by malevolent bureaucrats. The false claim was so notorious that PolitiFact, which is already a partner on Facebook’s fake news initiative, deemed it its 2009 “Lie of the Year.” And The Weekly Standard has no experience fact-checking. Instead, it’s now looking to hire for its first ever fact-checker in order to look legitimate and gain access to special capabilities on the back end of Facebook. But lack of fact-checking experience aside, the Standard -- which bills itself as “A Weekly Conservative Magazine & Blog” -- has a clear agenda and partisan history that should disqualify it from being designated a nonpartisan fact-checker. The potential collaboration is allegedly “part of Facebook’s attempt to ‘appease all sides’” -- but what the site is really doing is caving yet again to conservative pressure, this time by treating nonpartisan fact-checkers that have to routinely call out right-wing lies as “liberal.” We’ve seen Facebook try to play this game before, and it ended disastrously. This isn’t about excluding or censoring conservatives from the fight against fake news; indeed, researchers and experts have called on conservatives to help fight the problem, and the social media giant could certainly use the help. But given The Weekly Standard’s history, Facebook has no place partnering with the outlet to provide neutral and independent analysis.

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  Created by Angelo Carusone, Media Matters
• Public Health Info Should Be Free: Remove Paywalls from Coronavirus Articles

  Preventing transmission of the novel coronavirus is an urgent public health issue. Access to information on this rapidly evolving situation is essential to individual and community safety. Keeping vital information behind a paywall prevents nonsubscribers from accessing important information, and it disproportionately affects people with fewer financial resources. The Seattle Times recently announced that it would allow unlimited public access to stories about the virus. Other major newspapers should follow their lead for the safety of the public. [1] To give a sense of the scope of information being held back, Harvard epidemiologist Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding analyzed reporting about coronavirus from major papers between January 1, 2020, and February 20, 2020, and found thousands of coronavirus-related articles behind paywalls at seven large papers [2]: The New York Times: 1,012 The Washington Post: 981 The Wall Street Journal: 749 Los Angeles Times: 490 The Miami Herald: 463 The Boston Globe: 340 Chicago Tribune: 292 The novel coronavirus has the potential to touch the lives of billions of people. The public must be empowered with reliable and up-to-date information in order to take practical safety measures and prevent transmission of the virus. Sharing accurate information also guards against the spread of unnecessary panic. Access to these resources is also an issue of equity -- lower income populations that are not able to afford newspaper subscriptions are excluded when paywalls lock them out. With the decline of local newspapers, information increasingly flows from national outlets. [3] Public health and awareness are at stake -- all people have a right to protect themselves, their families, and their livelihood and deserve access to high-quality reporting and insight from scientific experts.

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  Created by Angelo Carusone, Media Matters