We're amazed by the results of our John McCain News Hunt. Thanks to our partners at Huffington Post's OffTheBus, we've signed up over 800 new members, who have already done over 1,100 reviews of news stories on John McCain this week! Together, we've broken several new records for NewsTrust -- thank you all! When we checked your stats the morning of June 6, the 'Off The Bus 10+ Reviews Club' had grown dramatically as well. Besides charter members Paul Peete, Harv Roth, Cat Bemis, Andrew Spencer, Ardent Hollingsworth and Andrew Urban, some of our new regulars include: Randy Morrow, Pamela Rogers, Sandy Stone, Denise Clendening, Jennifer Hageman, Michael Evelyn, Lee Beckom, Max Blum, Richard Riehl, John Bracken, Angie M. Santiago, Tom Maertens, Elaine Meyer, Mark Siet, and Randi Swindel, Jeff Clark, Kyrston Banks, Jan Scott, Peter McManus, Deborah Plummer, Sharon McIntosh and Larry Miller. Kudos to you all for your fine work!
There are only two days left, and THERE'S PLENTY MORE TO GET DONE. Here's what you can do:
* REVIEW STORIES. We've reviewed over 150 stories on John McCain since Monday, June 2nd -- and are well on our way towards our goal to review 200 stories by Monday evening, when our News Hunt ends. So we need to submit and review an additional 50 stories between now and Monday, June 9 at 9pm Eastern.
All you need to do is get a NewsTrust account, and then go straight to our John McCain News Hunt homepage. Try to review unrated stories that have already been submitted, but do not have enough reviews to be rated yet (marked with gray stars on this special unrated story list).
Ty to find good journalism from across the political spectrum, so we can review media coverage from all angles. Knowing who is being cited by the best sources on the center and right can provide some perspective when trying to learn more about McCain. Another thing might be to look for good sources in McCain's home state of Arizona and to see what's being said by those who, presumably, should know him best.
For more tips on how to join our news hunt, check our welcome page for new members.
* SUBMIT ADDITIONAL STORIES FOR REVIEW Troll the web, and submit McCain stories - audio, video, print - from the last week. We especially need more pieces from TV and radio sources, as well as viewpoints in the right and center.
If you've been participating all along, here are a few highlights of media coverage of McCain's stand on key international issues, using the classification system developed by OntheIssues.org. I go into more depth at the Newstrust blog, here.
While international issues earlier this week concentrated on foreign policy and war and peace, the top story on our site yesterday was Charlie Savage writing for the New York Times in his article, "Adviser Says McCain Backs Bush Wiretaps." In this piece, Savage traces a change in MCCain's stated position on presidential power regarding warrantless surveillance in a move that is winning praise for McCain from conservatives who previously doubted him. He interviews legal scholars and attempts to interview McCain and his top aide, but they declined his requests. Off The Bus member Jeff Clark weighed in on Savage's piece: "Excellent journalism. It gives a chance for the McCain side to explain (read: obfuscate) its position, but doesn't fudge the facts or hesitate to bring up a sharp critic like Greenwald. With journalists like Charlie Savage and more stories like this one, NYT might begin to restore its tarnished reputation."
On the issue of free trade, our associate editor Kaizar Campwala found a great story yesterday in Marketwatch, "Pushing Obama to the left: McCain's move to center means Democrats can't presume anything", by Darrell Delamaide. And on the issue of energy, Off the Bus member Tony Westbrooks submitted Carl Pope's June 3 blog post at the Huffington Post, "Global Warming Symphony #1: The Overture," which reported that "McCain has signaled that he won't participate in the debate" on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 (S. 3036.)
We cannot begin to tell you how exciting it has been for us at NewsTrust to collaborate with Huffington Post's OffTheBus team this week. Thanks to all of you who have submitted and reviewed, so far. If you have a moment, be sure to add your photo to your member profile (in the preferences section), so we can see who you are ;o). We're looking forward to leasrning what else you can find by the time we wrap things up on Monday, June 9th at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Beth Wellington, with Kaizar Campwala, Fabrice Florin and the whole NewsTrust Team