Jul 25, 2016

MMMM # 545 -- The Not Really News News Site

Back to the The "Alabama News Center" again!

     I posted previously ---on July 11---about a web site that poses as a "news site" but is really a PR page.
     I reported that the site originally had a grayed-out reference to Alabama Power as a sponsor, but it had been changed to a more clearly visible "Alabama Department of Commerce".

    UPDATE: Now it has changed back to the original hidden producer name...Alabama Power. But  you would never know that unless you look carefully. It is again grayed out, top right on the main page.
     Utilities have the right, and maybe the obligation, to inform  customers about issues.
     But why hide behind a name like "Alabama News Center". Why not call it "Alabama Powers's News Center" so visitors know they are reading a biased report on the news? And what was up with the oh so brief Alabama Commerce Department sponsorship?

###

     How did the media get the name D.B. Cooper within hours of the celebrated skyjacking? The Columbia Journalism Review has the story. "Cooper" hijacked a passenger plane in 1971 and parachuted out it with his hijack money. And he was never seen again. Now we at least know how he came to be identified (falsely) as D.B. Cooper.

  




[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a longstanding regular feature of www.TimLennox.com] 


 

1 comment:

  1. Tim,

    AlabamaNewsCenter.com is a news aggregator site like google. The content you are referring to was produced by the Department of Commerce for their MadeInAlabama website. The byline is even Made In Alabama.

    Chris

    ReplyDelete