Tech Central Station

Tech Central Station (TCS) - until fall 2006, run by Republican public affairs and lobbying firm DCI Group - describes itself as a web site "where free markets meet technology". TCS publishes daily original commentary, news and analysis, focused on economics, business, foreign affairs, technology, science, the environment, trade, and culture. Some contributors are associated with conservative think tanks including International Policy Network(IPN), the Sustainable Development Network (SDN), the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Scientific Alliance.

History
Started in 2000 by James K. Glassman, TCS was published by DCI Group. Some DCI Group clients were also sponsors of TCS. DCI Group is a Republican public affairs consulting and lobbying firm based in Washington DC.

In October 2006 O'Dwyers PR Daily reported that the DCI Group had sold its TCSDaily online journal to the editor of the site Nick Schulz. On its website, TCS states that "on September 19, 2006, DCI Group LLC announced the sale of TCS Daily to its editor, Nick Schulz. As part of this process, our previous sponsorship agreements have expired. Updates about the transition in ownership will be posted on this page as they are available."

Featured Authors

 * Kendra Okonski - During the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, Okonski wrote an article for the TechCentralStation web site, stating that "Africans are sacrificed on the altar of trendy green delusions." Okonski works as co-ordinator for the London-based IPN and as the press contact for the SDN. She formerly worked with the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI).
 * Paul Georgia writes on climate change issues, but gets basic physics wrong, indicating that either Tech Central Station's editors do not know basic science or that they do not review submitted pieces. Further lack of focus on scientific principles (as opposed to dogmatic or metaphysical ones) is evidenced by articles promoting the doctrine of Intelligent design.
 * Alan Oxley is a writer and editor of TechCentralStation's Asia-Pacific pages.
 * Sandy Szwarc

Funding
Current & past funders include:


 * AT&T
 * ExxonMobil
 * General Motors Corporation
 * Intel Corporation
 * McDonald's
 * Microsoft
 * NASDAQ
 * National Semiconductor
 * PhRMA
 * Qualcomm

In October 2006, two US Senators, Olympia Snowe, (R-Maine), and Jay Rockefeller, (D-W.Va.) wrote to ExxonMobil's chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson, asking that it "end any further financial assistance" to groups "whose public advocacy has contributed to the small but unfortunately effective climate change denial myth." The Senators singled out TechCentralStation as one such group. They wrote that "we are convinced that ExxonMobil's long-standing support of a small cadre of global climate change skeptics, and those skeptics' access to and influence on government policymakers, have made it increasingly difficult for the United States to demonstrate the moral clarity it needs across all facets of its diplomacy". 

Contact Information
Tech Central Station P.O. Box 33705 Washington, DC 20033 Phone: 800-619-5258 Fax: 202-572-6278 web site: www.techcentralstation.com email: info AT techcentralstation.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * DCI Group
 * Feather Larson & Synhorst DCI
 * TSE Enterprises
 * James K. Glassman

External articles

 * Nicholas Confessore, "Meet the Press: How James Glassman reinvented journalism--as lobbying", Washington Monthly, December 2003.
 * Andy Rowell and Bob Burton, &#8220;Rising Rhetoric on Genetically Modified Crops", PR Watch, Volume 10 No 1, First quarter 2003.
 * Pamela Jones, "A MS FUD Source Confirmed", Groklaw, November 2003.
 * Tim Lambert, "Tech Central Station flunks Physics," Deltoid, May 11, 2004.
 * "EDITOR'S NOTE: Digging deeper into criticism of 'Super Size Me,'" St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 20, 2004: "Glassman was identified as a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (a well-known and respected conservative Washington think tank) and as host of a Web site called TechCentralStation.com, whose publicist distributed the piece to newspapers. What we did not know when we prepared the article for publication was that McDonald's is one of the 'sponsoring corporations' of TechCentralStation.com. A reader made us aware of that Tuesday afternoon. In a telephone interview, Glassman emphasized that the Web site openly acknowledges the sponsorship connections to McDonald's (along with AT&T, ExxonMobil Intel and others) on its 'About Us' page. 'We don't have anything to hide on that score,' he said. Glassman also said he had never been paid by or received any compensation from McDonald's and that writing about "Super Size Me" was not a conflict of interest. Reminded that TechCentralStation.com had failed to note the McDonald's sponsorship when it distributed Glassman's commentary about the movie and McDonald's, Glassman said, 'I'll make sure that's absolutely clear in the future'"
 * "DCI Sells TCSDaily", O'Dwyers PR daily, October 27, 2006. (Sub req'd).
 * "DCI Sells TCSDaily", O'Dwyers PR daily, October 27, 2006. (Sub req'd).