Common Dreams - Veracity

Dear Ron,

This week another report was released about the money pouring into politics and overtaking our airwaves with a deluge of ads -- unchecked for veracity, undisclosed as to funding origin and yet allowed to dominate.

Yet again the contrast to Common Dreams coverage -- with our policy of no advertising and no special interest underwriting -- couldn’t be stronger. As independent media we bring you the news that matters and the true analysis of not only all the candidates, but all the issues you care about.

Free Press released, Money, News and Deception in Denver this week in which they investigated ad buys and local press fact checking of the top five private special interest groups that are largely underwriting the ad war of the current campaigns.

These groups have signed contracts with Denver’s news affiliates to air 4,954 ads in the local market, paying more than $6.5 million to secure the spots. Yet Denver’s primary news affiliates devoted only 10 minutes and 45 seconds to fact-checking ads from these groups -- giving their viewers a ratio of one minute of news for every 162 minutes of political ads. And even when their own reporters found inaccuracies and outright lies they continued to take in the money and air the ads with virtually no rebuttal -- blurring the lines between truth and fiction.

And this pattern is repeated in every media market. Indeed it is yet another reason to seek your news from independent -- reader supported -- news outlets like Common Dreams.

We have survived for the past 15 years because our readers find us necessary and informative and continue to support this work, not because we accepted money from questionable sources that might taint our coverage. That will never happen.