Spinprofiles

SpinProfiles is a free encyclopedia of people, groups and issues shaping the public agenda, from PR and lobbying firms, to government agencies. Launched in early 2009, SpinProfiles is a collaborative venture initiated by Spinwatch. in collaboration with Lobbywatch, GM Watch, Red Star Research and Corporate Watch.

It is being compiled by a range of contributors interested in the activities of PR and lobbying firms, corporate lobby groups and think tanks. It also includes sections on war and conflict propaganda, neoconservatives, and the ‘terrorism industry’, as well as the covert activities of states, intelligence agencies, and their associated networks.

There are now over 7,800 articles on SpinProfiles within 15 separate ‘portals’. These are the main entry points to the site and each is monitored by a different editor. The portals include: Alcohol, Foodspin, Pharma, Water, Spooks, Terror Expertise and Lobbying. The latter, features a map of the many lobbying groups around Westminster. A new portal, MEPedia, which launched ahead of the European elections in June 2009, documents the potential conflicts of interest of Members of the European Parliament.

In a short space of time, SpinProfiles has achieved a high Google ranking, and attracted some media interest. Material from SpinProfiles GMWatch portal, for example, was covered in the Guardian and information from the  SpinProfile of corporate lobby group, Sense About Science, has featured in The Times Higher Education, Private Eye and Ecologist Magazine.