Reptiles Are Always Out To Buy The News

Koch Industries buying ads to refute news stories

"Koch Industries has launched a website and is buying advertisements on Google and Facebook to counter news stories critical of the politically-active company.

Charles and David Koch, owners of Koch Industries, were principle financiers of Wisconsin's Republican Governor Scott Walker and the tea party movement. They are also supporters of groups like Americans for Prosperity, the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation.

In response to a story by the Center for Public Integrity that outlined Koch’s multimillion-dollar lobbying network in Washington, Koch Industries has started an ad campaign targeting the nonprofit organization.

The Center for Public Integrity has a screen shot of the Google ad, which says "Slanted Reporting on Koch: Bias, hidden agenda at the Center for Public Integrity" after a search for the words "Center for Public Integrity" and "Koch." A similar ad is also apparently on Facebook.

The ad links to the company's website, kochfacts.com, which contains a number of responses to "media inaccuracies" along with other statements from Koch Industries.

The Center for Public Integrity said the company refused to respond to a reporter’s questions when the story was published last week, but Koch retorted that their concerns about the objectivity and fairness of the reporter were "met with indignation."

"The story is based on Koch’s own reports, hardly controversial material that would warrant the ad hominem attack on a reporter who was objectively doing his job," Center for Public Integrity Executive Director Bill Buzenberg said in response to the ad campaign. "Rather than answer our repeated efforts to get their side of the story or to address issues that are irrefutably factual, it seems as though Koch simply wants to use advertising to bully and chill a free press."

New DHS Reality Television Show to Feature Janet Napolitano

"Cable network AMC, home to critically lauded dramas “Mad Men,” “The Walking Dead” and “Breaking Bad,” plans to launch a pair of reality shows exploring the high-pressure world of advertising and the behind-the-scenes drama at the Department of Homeland Security.

“The Pitch,” about the creative process at ad agencies, and “Inside DHS,” an veil-lifting look at the government division that fights terrorism, will be the network’s first two unscripted shows. A third, a docu-series about renowned boxing trainer Freddie Roach, is still in development.

The first of the shows, “Inside DHS,” comes from Pilgrim Films & Television’s Craig Piligian (“The Ultimate Fighter,” “My Fair Wedding”). Stillerman describes the series, airing in the fall, as “the real story of the day-to-day battle to keep us safe, prepared and resilient.”

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