Consumer Reports WebWatch and the Center for Media and Democracy (our partners on Congresspedia) joined forces to launch Full Frontal Scrutiny, a blog-driven, wiki-based site dedicated to exposing fake, corporate-funded front groups that are pushing agendas, while hiding their true identity or agenda. Full Frontal Scrutiny will give consumers, voters and citizens a resource for investigating organizations they run across in the media or elsewhere that have popped up to promote a particular opinion or bill in Congress. We love the banner on the site that include this quote from Jonathan Adelstein, commissioner at the FCC: "The American public deserves to know when someone is trying to persuade them." The organizers say it’s this spirit that is their motivation for exposing "hidden persuaders." This is a new battle being waged in the spirit of transparency.

Earlier today, for instance, the site posted a report titled Tricky Wiki, an expose of how public relations pros spin the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

 

"Workers at an array of corporate titans have altered their firms’ Wikipedia entries, in apparent violation of the site’s ideals," including ExxonMobil shining up their environmental record, a pharmaceutical giant making claims that their cancer drugs are better than a rival’s, and PepsiCo deleting references to potential health problems caused by its soft drinks, to name a few.

Craig Newmark, Sunlight board member, has checked it out and is impressed. "I’ve taken a good look at all involved, and they’re for real, CU and CMD have outstanding records for integrity and accuracy," Craig writes at The Huffington Post.