Useful Links from TV set Persuasion Analysis | http://faculty.govst.edu/pa
Advertising
Univ of Texas / Department of Advertising has the "Ultimate Directory" of the world of advertising as ready reference for its students. It is huge (80 sub-categories, each leading to other links), well organized, and worth a visit.

adage.com is the website of Advertising Age, the industry's top trade journal, with weekly news and comprehensive coverage. Some of its articles of interest to the general reader are free; many are "Premium" (about $3 per article) primarily used by advertisers.

Commercialism & Consumer Issues
The federal government publishes a massive amount of consumer information and advice available free (online and by mail) designed for the average citizen. The Consumer's Resource Handbook is now the new 2006 Consumer Action Handbook. Use this free 175-page guide from the Federal Consumer Information Center to address your consumer problems and complaints. Find out about buying and leasing cars, protecting your privacy and yourself from fraud, shopping from home and more. Or, try several sources below, perhaps using your key words in the Search boxes there. Other helpful links are:

FTC (Federal Trade Commission) regulates business including TV; FTC Consumer about internet auctions, telemarketing, phone services, etc.,

FDA (Food & Drug Administration) regulates food, Rx & OTC drugs, nutrition, cosmetics; website also has a special Kids section.

CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Center) deals with safety issues, unsafe toys, ATVs, recalls; has a lively Kids section.

Recalls.gov (consolidated list of government agency recalls of consumer products)

consumerreports.org is the online service of Consumers Union which, since 1936, has published the monthly magazine Consumer Reports, the most trusted and reliable source for unbiased information about their comparison testing of specific products. Some advice is available free online on their home page; other information is for sale. (They are independent and must be self-sustaining.) But, every public library and many school libraries subscribe to Consumer Reports and it is usually the most used periodical for Reference Room reading. For ten years, Consumers Union also published a magazine for kids; activities from it are available online free at zillions.

citizen.org is the website of Public Citizen, the national public interest organization founded over 30 years ago by Ralph Nader. Its Home page has links to its many activist projects (auto safety, environmental issues, global trade, Congress Watch) plus a Consumers Corner with links to many other consumerist sites.

Center for Media Literacy - a major clearinghouse for educational resources in media literacy at all levels.

commercialalert.com Keeps track of -- and opposes -- commercialization in the classroom

Center for a New American Dream Consumerist group emphasizing the ethics of consumption, seeking "nothing less than a shift of American culture away from its current emphasis on consumption towards a more fulfilling, just and sustainable way of life."

Adbusters "Creative Resistance" (almost guerilla warfare) -- parodies and spoof ads against consumption.

Commercialism in Education Resource Unit , directed by Professor Alex Molnar, ASU, conducts research, disseminates information, and helps facilitate dialogue between the education community, policy makers, and the public at large about commercial activities in schools. Many links related to commercialism in the schools; most recent annual report (2003): "No Student Left Unsold"

MIT Media Lab

Political Language

University of Iowa Communication Studies -- academic site with many links about political advertising.

The official sites of White House and the White House Office of Global Communications

The official sites of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives

Project Vote Smart has detailed, nonpartisan information about thousands of candidates and officials, in five basic categories: backgrounds, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and performance evaluations.

League of Women Voters Since the Suffrage Movement in 1920, the LWV has been a nonpartisan group encouraging full political participation through voter information, civic involvement, elections and campaign reforms.


FactCheck.org (related to accuracy and deception in political ad claims) is a non-partisan "consumer service" project
of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. See: their summary of the "Whoppers of 2006"

Lots of short introductory essays "About Propaganda" on this commercial site which has many banners and popup ads.

Professional persuaders -- "political consultants" -- offer products and services to anyone:
for example, see Steve Grubbs: www.campaignsandelections.net


For special coverage of election campaigns:

Lively (sometimes partisan) political sites:

Alternet.org ( with an "editorial mix" of opinion)

FAIR.org (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting)

Rhetorica Politics/Press (Classical Rhetoric) with useful links

Snopes.com (keeps track of rumors -- political and others -- spread online)

TalkingPoints (progressive orientation)

TrueMajority.org (progressive orientation)

New American Lexicon (Republican text by Frank Luntz)

General

Thinking Straight - a huge listing of links related to logic, fallacies, critical thinking, persuasion, etc.

ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) -- Large database of educational materials not covered by standard search engines.

amazon.com -- A good place to get, quickly, diverse editorial reviews and readers' comments about specific books.See also, the variety of Listmania "Lists" associated with current political books of the 2004 Campaign.

google.com In addition to its standard searches, check out their new "Services & Tools"; use their Images section for ad pictures; on their News page (in left column) sign up for their "News Alerts" service, a daily report of key terms you select (e.g. kids and ads; schools and commercialism; political language; issue advertising).

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