(you may have to subscribe to some of these, but it's free; and for gosh sakes be careful--consumption of any of these sites may lead to permanent attitude alterations . . . in fact, you may think you've suddenly been transported to a parallel universe. I would have put the Wall Street Journal on here, but gosh darnit it costs). You'll find some redundancy--I want to make sure you see some of the good ones . . .

Tools	Iraq war	non-commercial sites	Columnists	Magazines
Media watchdog sites	Weblogs	Think tanks	News sites	Miscellaneous
Newswires

But first, some simple rules to keep in mind (I'd run through the 'fear/relief' technique, but hopefully you're already scared out of your wits by commercial media's sway over public opinion):

1. Avoid TV as a source of news (too short, too driven by ratings, too focused on the image, dumbed down, even PBS presents narrow range of viewpoints)
2. Never rely on one exclusive source--get your news from multiple sources;
3. Include within those sources some non-commercial outlets (less beholden to some of the filtering pressures)
4. Include at least one respected international source (e.g., American media consumers were woefully insulated from world public opinion prior to the US invasion of Iraq, and are the least-informed of any industrialized nation of the potential threats of global warming)
5. Check out a reputable watchdog site regularly to get a sense of the techniques of persuasion and deception media outlets and newsmakers use

If you have any candidates for inclusion, please please do tell.

tools
Some videos	For your viewing 'pleasure'
Pierce Library list of online databases	Don't overlook this page
Adbusters	"global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age."
Brand Hype	Keeping track of product placement for enquiring minds and busy consumers.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities	excellent site for picking apart policy and statistical manipulation, working to keep policy makers honest, hold number fudgers accountable.
Citizen journalism	Here's one take on what it is, how to practice it, from the Poynter Institute
Columbia Journalism review	Lots of resources, including a media ownership page.
CongressPedia	From the people who brought you Wikimedia and Wikipedia. Billed as a 'citizen's encyclopedia of Congress."
CorpWatch	Keep track of your favorite multinational corporation!
CREW	Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Now there's a concept ... they do reports and FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests when the government won't play nice.
Critical thinking resources	from the Foundation for Critical thinking--there are some pdf free downloads here, this one on detecting media bias and propaganda
DemocracyNow!	There's something to interest almost anyone on this site (except maybe a Limbaugh dittohead), video, audio, and text-based. One of the best news sites on the web--you won't recognize the networks as news after seeing this one.
Google	still the search engine standard--if you're unsure about something, google it with a search term or two to filter out unrelated garbage. There are many tools available on google now--government documents, images, maps, your home from space, check them out, they just make your searching more efficient and effective.
Google News search	Good enough to merit its own link--a good way to search for recent coverage of a topic
Government accountability project	I know, I know--politicians never lie. But just in case, here's a site designed to shame the tempted.
Hoaxbusters	Documents some of the most recent hoaxes making the Internet rounds (this is a full time job for a fleet of web surfers). General rule--if you got it forwarded to your email, it's BS --check it here or in snopes (above link)
Media Alliance	A voice for reform in a corporate wilderness. Their MediaFile page is a good source of info on what's currently going on (that we're not hearing about) in the sordid world of media and government.
mediatransparency.org	excellent site for looking to see who's behind what organizations. Especially good for looking at the money behind think tanks.
Multinational Monitor	Just what it sez . . . trying to keep the global captains of industry honest
National Priorities Project	You think you want to know how your tax dollars are spent? This site provides a glimpse at some of the opportunity costs of the 'war on terror'
NNDB	Looking to connect people and events? This is a good starting place. Check out the Rotten Library Page. Full of odd, offbeat stuff (potential time sink warning!)
open secrets	Another site that tries to peel off some of the layers of secrecy that have shrouded government activities in recent years.
Presidential debates	From the Museum of Broadcast Communications. Video footage from many debates, in 1960, and then 1976-2000.
The Patriot Project	The creators of this site sought to defend those who are the targets of smear campaigns, especially when they involve the 'P' word (patriotism); no longer on the web, here's the sourcewatch skinny
Pew Research Center	They do lots of research studies on the media and public opinion, both in the US and internationally
PIPA	Program on International Policy attitudes--they regularly take the pulse of the public, both in the U.S. and abroad, on a variety of important issues, and also look at their consumption of mass media
PRwatch	Same as sourcewatch, but more focused on the PR industry
Project for excellence in journalism	If you want to know what the top stories of the day are, quantitatively, this is the place to check it out. They also have a page where they analyze some of the stories they think are important.
Political money line	Best site I've found for getting at the corrupting influence of money in politics--many different areas to search--lobbyists, campaign contributors--it's all here (but some requires subscribing).
Polling Report	'An independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion.'
Responsible shopper	This is a site that has profiles for many corporations, if you're interested in some of their practices. From Co-opAmerica.org
Retro Poll	An alternative means of public opinion polling that challenges conventional techniques of political polling, and the predictable results they produce.
Right Web	Good source for 'connecting the dots' between various neocon individual and organizational actors
Snopes.com	this is the site that debunks all of those stupid emails you get forwarded (like the tax on email, or the billion dollar Microsoft giveaway)
sourcewatch.org	Excellent site--sort of an encycopedia of media chicanery--you can search it for individuals, groups, etc.--your source for propaganda!
Sunlight Foundation	Trying, quixotic as it might be, to hold public officials accountable.
Votes database	from the Washington Post--votes from elected U.S. representatives and senators, going back to 1991, searchable in a variety of ways.
The war card	this is done by the Center for Public Integrity, and includes a database with 935 false statements made by White House officials in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion.
Rep. Henry Waxman's websites: Politics & Science Public statements made on Iraq Other investigations	Rep. Waxman has held the White House's feet to the fire. You'll find little of what's reported here in the mainstream press, but what you do find will help you understand this White House's obsession with managing TV media. This was done when the democrats were the minority party in Congress.
White House for Sale	Documenting financing in presidential campaigns (warning: may be some material here unsuitable for impressionable children learning about civics)
Wikimedia Commons	" provides a central repository for freely licensed photographs, diagrams, animations, music, spoken text, video clips, and media of all sorts "
Wikinews	Definitely looks different, works differently, than CNN or Fox . . .
Newswires
Associated Press	It's the big one, which can be good and bad
Bloomberg	Mostly business, economic news
Financial Times	from the UK--more than financial news
Inter Press Service	A progressive news agency (Different languages)
MercoPress	Covering South America
Progressive Newswire	From Common Dreams
Reuters
On the Iraq war
Bring Them Home Now	Link here to a page of resources, many of them grassroots organizations opposed to the Iraq War.
Cyberjournalist	Good coverage of Iraq, among other things--links to other sources available, too
Iraq Dispatches	Dhar Jamail's unvarnished coverage of the Iraq war
Iraq Veterans against the war	Much video footage and testimony from soldiers who've done tours in Iraq
Informed Consent	good weblog for news on Iraq. Juan Cole is a professor at the University of Michigan, and well-informed on goings-on in Iraq and the Middle East.
Voices in the Wilderness	'formed in 1996 to nonviolently challenge the economic warfare being waged by the US against the people of Iraq. Voices continues its work today, acting to end to the US occupation of Iraq.' Available, but no longer maintained.
Al Jazeera	Arabic news site. Much less filtered than mainstream U.S. media
mindprod.com	Don't go to this page unless you have a stomach for the real, and mostly innocent, casualties of war--very graphic images.
the Guardian (from the UK)	weblog special page
freerepublic.com	conservative weblog
mediamouse.org	Iraq Watch page (weekly summary of war coverage)
Soldier's angels	Created by the mother of an Iraq war veteran to support or 'adopt' those still in the field who have no support back home
Young Americans for Freedom	Here's some background
White House	Iraq home page
militarycity.com	the honor the fallen page, and the faces of valor page
think tanks of various stripes
Public Citizen	Non profit consumer advocacy group. "Public Citizen does not accept funds from corporations, professional associations or government agencies."
Center for American Progress	Liberal think tank--extensive coverage of current events, 9/11 commission, Iraq War. They have a very nice database of claims versus facts from the White House and beyond. Pick a topic, a speaker, and enjoy!
PRwatch	trying to keep the PR industry honest. By the authors of 'Trust us, we're experts!' They even have a 'Spin of the Day' page
Cato Institute	Conservative think tank. Cato's mission is to "increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace."
Heritage foundation	Conservative think tank. Heritage was founded in 1973 by brewery magnate Joseph Coors together with prominent activist Paul Weyrich and wealthy benefactors Richard Scaife and Edward Noble.
American Enterprise Institute	Conservative think tank. "The Institute is an independent, nonprofit organization supported primarily by grants and contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. AEI is strictly nonpartisan and takes no institutional positions on pending legislation or other policy questions."
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities	Excellent for critiquing policy makers on statistical manipulation, and shedding light on economic policy spinjobs.
Brookings Institution	Centrist think tank. Check out some of their funding sources. "The Brookings Institution is an independent, nonpartisan organization devoted to research, analysis, education, and publication focused on public policy issues in the areas of economics, foreign policy, and governance."
Commonweal Institute	Liberal think tank. "The Commonweal Institute is a multi-issue research and educational institute - a think tank - and communications organization committed to advancing moderate and progressive principles through message leadership and strategic marketing and aggressive communication of ideas."
Take Back the Media	Ecclectic assortment --the chronology of 9/11 is worth checking out
google directory search on 9/11	Brings up many sites that focus on events surrounding 9/11
Institute for Public Accuracy	"IPA increases the reach and capacity of progressive and grassroots organizations (at no cost to them) to address public policy by getting them and their ideas into the mainstream media." Norman Solomon is Exec. Director
Media reform information center	Lots of resources, links on this site
Alternative media watch	left-leaning, some highly regarded authors
townhall.com	this is mission control for the right-leaning authors
Center for justice and democracy	for the other side of the 'tort reform' debate
google's news search	great place to get the latest news stories--this filters out all the other kinds of websites you'd normally get with a google search.
some media watchdog sites
alternet.org's media culture page	a wide variety of stuff on this page, mostly left-leaning
factcheck.org	Okay site for seeing some of the distortions floating around; I find it reflects mainstream biases, though
Bag news notes	'where the left wing can get pretty graphic' (good analysis of news imagery)
mediawatch	This is a 'meta' site that links to other watchdog sites
FAIR	Fairness and accuracy in reporting. Respected analysts and critics of journalistic ethics
mediachannel.org	from their site: "MediaChannel is a media issues supersite, featuring criticism, breaking news, and investigative reporting from hundreds of organizations worldwide. As the media watch the world, we watch the media. "
moveon.org	revolutionizing grassroots political activism
Reclaim the media	Works to change media policy, support citizen journalism, and cultivate media literacy.
Buffalo Report	excellent site for sniffing out pure propaganda
Danny Schechter's News dissector	good blog site for analyzing the news; Schechter's good at war coverage
spinsanity	an equal opportunity site for criticizing the deceptive use of spin in the media (they go after the left or the right). No longer updated, but still worth checking out.
mediatransparency.org	excellent site for looking to see who's behind what organizations. Especially good for looking at the money behind think tanks.
AIM (Accuracy in Media)	from them: "AIM is a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight (without that nuisance of rigorous documentation ...) on important issues that have received slanted coverage." They forgot one thing: corporate-sponsored.
CPJ	Committee to Protect Journalists (from others, not from themselves), especially deals with journalists working in combat zones
Independent Press Association	'the alternative to monopoly media'
Astroturf Alert!	You may think it's a grassroots organization, but can you see the roots? Here's wikipedia's description and here's Sourcewatch's.
google directories	If you're looking for a specific kind of site, this is a good way to search (try this one)
open secrets	Another site that tries to peel off some of the layers of secrecy that have shrouded government activities in recent years.
Index on censorship	Fighting a global war against censorship.
Univ. of Texas media watchdog reviews	Students were assigned to critique different sites--you can at least see what they thought of them (some critiques are better than others), and what other campuses are looking at with respect to mass media.
Republican spin generator	Thanks for bringing up the site in class, Cassandra. Write your own spin. This is actually pretty useful for understanding some of those key themes that politicians try to focus the public on.
adbusters	unusual critique of advertising industry
newshounds	They watch Fox, so you don't have to!
Media matters	good at uncovering deception and untruth, mostly from the right (the deception, that is). Up to date. Founded by David Brock, a neocon turncoat.
FrontPageMag	David Horowitz is on a well-funded junket to expose liberal thinking in academe
American politics journal 'pundit pap'	This is an entertaining, but pretty insightful analysis of spin. To the left.
Newswatch	'news about the news'
media research center	'The Leader in Documenting, Exposing and Neutralizing Liberal Media Bias'
freedom forum	'interactive museum of news'
center for media and public affairs	analysis of the news
Newsweek watch	an analysis of some of the anti-feminist perspectives that find their way into the weekly news magazine
truth in media	homemade in every way . . . always good to be wary of entities that claim truthfulness in their names
Pew research ctr for the people and press	Pew does lots of public opinion polling--reasonably balanced site
chronwatch	'media watchdog and conservative news site', targeting the San Francisco Chronicle
daily howler	one of several fact checkers--will hit from the right or left
American journalism review	by the College of Jouranlism at the University of Maryland
on the media	good critique site--the stories are provocative (from a public broadcasting station)
who's lying?	Don't read this if you think the right and left are balanced in their use of deceptive tactics ...
Nat'l Institute on media and the family	focused on the effects of TV on children, mostly
timeswatch	Keeping a conservative eye on the NY Times' allegedly leftist reporting (the Times may be barely left of center ... unless it's covering a war, but it is considered the paper of record--an important source)
sourcewatch.org	Excellent site--sort of a reference site for all kinds of media chicanery--you can search it for individuals, groups, etc.
ZNet's alternative media page	ZNet has an extensive page of links to alternative media sites
ZMag print periodicals	right column on this page--many interesting, alternative sites
newspapers, sites
AP newswire	good source for fastbreaking news. Many news outlets subscribe to AP and run their stories in their own papers.
Christian Science Monitor	centrist, good reputation
CNN	right-of-center Time-Warner site
Fox News	Unofficial news agency of the White House? You decide.
MSNBC	owned by GE, using Microsoft technology, right-of-center
New York Post	owned by Rupert Murdoch--way right of the Washington Times, tabloidish
New York Times	maybe slightly left-of-center (except for war coverage)
Wall Street Journal	Accessed through Pierce Library
Weekly Standard	This is an influential paper/site. Editor William Kristol is one of the spokespeople for the neoconservative movement.
newsmax	conservative news site
USA Today	Pretty centrist (in a corporate way ...)
WorldNetDaily	One of the most incendiary right wing news sites this side of Rangoon (depending on which direction you're traveling)
Washington Post	slightly left-of-center (war coverage has been to the right, though)
Washington Times	to the right--ever heard of Rev. Sun Myung Moon?
Some international sites
Agence France Presse	From Yahoo's site
Asia Times	The further from the U.S., the more bold the journalism becomes
al Jazeera	an important news outlet in the Arab world
AllAfrica	"AllAfrica Global Media is a multi-media content service provider, systems technology developer and the largest electronic distributor of African news and information worldwide."
BBC	BBC radio is the choice of much of the world with short wave ( from the U.K.)
imra	covers events in the Middle East
The Guardian	daily from the U.K.
Globe and Mail	from Canada. It's actually sort of conservative. For Canada (but liberal in comparison with mainstream American papers).
Nigeria indymedia center	among others--there are lots of independent media sites
UK indymedia	UK's version of indy media
Non commercial news sites
Alternet	What is says, pretty much; there is also an interesting Media Culture page
Alternative Press Review	Includes stories, reviews, and critiques from a variety of non-commercial medial sources
Asheville Global Report	Endorsed by Project Censored
Bag news notes	'where the left wing can get pretty graphic'
Black Agenda Report	labeled 'the journal of African American thought and action,' but so much more. Excellent source of information on African politics also.
Center for Digital Democracy	Using the internet for something besides pushing products ...
Counterpunch	also with news and opinion from the left-of-center
Common Dreams	Common Dreams is a 'filter' news site--it picks up stories and editorials from other outlets around the world. Pretty liberal. The news articles are on the left and right columns; opinion in the middle.
Consortium News	Run by investigative journalist Robert Parry
Democracy Now!	Amy Goodman's campaign to take back the media from corporate control. Radio, TV and Web--invaluable, solid journalism with video, audio and text. YOu just won't recognize your country if you're not used to Cable News Lite . . .
EurekAlert!	" EurekAlert! is an online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society."
Free Press	A wealth of resources dedicated to transforming the current monopoly on public access by large media conglomerates.
High Country News	Good coverage of environmental issues, especially in the West
The Hill	A good source for news on Congress--especially stories you won't see in--guess where?? The mainstream press!
Huffington Post	Arianna Huffington's weblog--she has an affinity for going after corruption and scandal
Indymedia	What is says--again, you'll see much here that you won't see elsewhere (this is the DC site)
independent media center	links to lots of independent media sites from here
Inter Press Services News Agency	"an independent voice from the South and for development, delving into globalisation for the stories underneath."
Media Channel	Another site dedicated to media transformation and critique of the current state of commercial news. A treasure trove of resources--don't get lost.
National Public Radio	They're heavy on audio files--I'd recommend listening, low end of your dial, mornings and after 5:00 pm.
Op-ed news	decent place for analysis, if you're hungry for context
Open democracy	Good source of news you won't find on commercial sites
Progressive Newswire	from Common Dreams--a newswire site for progressives--works just like AP or any other, but on a shoestring budget and the stories are, well, different.
TomDispatch	An excellent source for investigative journalism and smart reporting from Tom Englehart
National Review	Influential old-conservative (as opposed to neo-conservative)
One World	Read what the rest of the world deals with. Be forewarned: you won't find much on Ben and J-Lo here.
Pacific News Service	News you'll get few other places. Check out their newswire, too. They are a source of diversity and ethnic news.
Talking points memo	Josh Micah Marshall (left-leaning--good spin analysis--try to forgive him for supporting the Iraq invasion for so long)
Third World Traveler	if you didn't think the American mass media was missing something, you will after you see this site (although American mass media misses almost everything but the commercials). More articles and analysis than current news, though.
Truthout	sort of like commondreams--left-of-center site with news, opinion
Tompaine	independent web news site (left-of-center)
The Grist	Source of environmental news.
TomDispatch	An excellent source for investigative journalism and smart reporting from Tom Englehart
US Indymedia
WorldChanging	Full of stories on the environment you're not likely to find in one place
Village Voice	Used to be a New York paper, now part of Village Voice Media, pretty progressive, good writing, strong on arts and culture, sort of a liberal libertarian streak
Yurica Report	As it sez, 'reporting on government and corporate corruption, art, politics and culture'
Web logs (blogs--where does that news go that doesn't pass through network filters, you ask?)
All Spin Zone	good BS detectors . . .
Americablog	Covers politics well, but also has an interesting perspective on issues affecting the gay community.
atrios / eschaton	Atrios is a 32 year-old recovering economist . . .
Bring them home now	War protestors, includes postings from soldiers who are in Iraq or who have finished their duty
The carpetbagger report	'Reality-Based Commentary, Analysis, and Tirades on Politics in America'. Infrequent but intelligent.
Crisis Papers	Smart political commentary. They also collect what they consider the best arcticles of the week.
Left-leaning blogs	Recommended by the Crisis Papers web authors--a good list
Right-leaning blogs	Here's a list from the QandO blog
Cyberjournalist	Good coverage of Iraq, among other things--links to other sources available, too
Daily Kos	good current 'anti-news' coverage
Danny Schechter's News dissector	good blog site for analyzing the news; Schechter's good at war coverage
Free Iraq	From an Iraqi scientist
Healing Iraq	"Daily news and comments on the situation in post Saddam Iraq by an Iraqi dentist"
Huffington Post	Arianna Huffington's weblog--she has an affinity for going after corruption and scandal
juancole.com	good weblog for news on Iraq. Cole is a professor at the University of Michigan, and very well-informed on goings-on in Iraq.
Mark Crispin Miller	Covers issues that are largely ignored by mainstream press-recently focusing on voting machine fraud. Miller is a media and TV critic, and a professor at New York University.
LeanLeft	the title says it all--critical of the current White House
What is blogging ?	a short CNN piece)
Iraq Dispatches	Dhar Jamail,s unvarnished coverage of the Iraq war
Iraq the Model	This is a pro-American blog (and this is a story about it)
The pesky fly	smart, left leaning
Plastic.com	one of many blog, or weblog, sites--they have lots of breaking political stories you won't see in many outlets
Science blogs	This is a good resource--if you're checking out some issue relying on scientific expertise, you'll probably find it discussed on one of the many weblogs accessible from here.
Tapped	From the American Prospect--good news analysis, especially on welfare issues
Media Citizen	Covers news but in the context of the broader battles over corporate influence in mainstream media
Political Animal	Kevin Drum from Washington Monthly. Good discussion of hot political issues.
PressThink	Jay Rosen is Professor of Journalism at New York University, and offers clear-eyed insight into the sordid world of media and politics
loadedmouth.com	Left o' center, rich in sarcasm
the Gadflyer	good dissection of the news (leans left)
Ezra Klein	there was a schism at the gadflyer . . . (left-leaning)
Keith Olbermann	He's network (MSNBC), but hasn't been fired yet . . .
Pandagon	'we bring angry things to light' (well, life, actually. or left.)
Slashdot.com	another blog site. Focuses a bit more on tech stuff.
Warblogs	what it sez (mostly left)
Talking points memo	Josh Micah Marshall (left-leaning--good spin analysis--try to forgive him for supporting the Iraq invasion for so long)
Wonkette.com	Interesting stuff that is must-read for political types in DC--hard to pigeonhole the wonkette (Ana Marie Cox).
The Volokh Conspiracy	news analysis from the right . . .
rogerailes	Wanna learn spin? This is the man behind Fox News Network
Michelle Malkin	air-blown feedback from the right
Powerline	from the right
Technorati	This is an interesting site--it's a search engine of weblogs--so find out what's being discussed right now. I linked to the politics page.
Instapundit	more news analysis from the conservative side of the spectrum
Columnists of some repute (not saying what kind ...), w/ online articles
Townhall	(mission control for conservative columnists)
Eric Alterman	a mainstream critic of mainstream media.
Dave Barry	save the toilet! He's funny, but for the last several years has repeated too many booger jokes--too bad he can't get 'seriously funny' occasionally
Joe Conason	a respected and feared investigative journalist
Marie Cocco	good on health care, BS detection
Ann Coulter	Looking for right wing slander and character assassination? Ann's your woman. She claimed for a long time to be a constitutional scholar. Her style is, well, literary homicide?
Matt Drudge	best on the Web for unfounded rumor and innuendo. He has broken some pretty bogus stories over the years, and is seen by many as a mouthpiece for conservatives looking to smear one of their critics.
Joe Galloway	Writes for McClatchy News on the war
Glenn Greenwald	Constitutional lawyer turned author
Seymour Hersh	excellent investigative journalist who writes for the New Yorker--a few columns can be accessed from this page
Molly Ivins	Knew George W. Bush like her own nephew ... may she rest in peace.
David Ignatius	writes on international issues, moderate
Michael Kinsley