Lamplight Explorer
Illuminate the web
Lamplight Explorer is an add-on for the Firefox (desktop) web browser that aims to make visible some of the forces that work to shape our media and politics.
The goal of the project is to promote a better understanding of the media and political landscape by surfacing rich and contextually relevant data to everyday users.
Key Features
- Flags websites owned/affiliated with big media organizations*
- Quickly discover which industries finance which Congress members**
- Track time on any site. Automatically track time by listed media orgs
* Lamplight draws on a database of more than 20 big media companies. Not all media organizations are included, but more will be added as time permits.
** All congressional finance data courtesy of The Center for Responsive Politics [opensecrets.org].
Media Tracking
The media ownership dataset represents an initial effort. The long-term vision is to open-source it to allow for broader community research and maintenance.
Tracked Media Orgs
- Advance Publications
- American Media Inc
- AT&T
- Comcast
- Gannett
- GateHouse
- Meredith
- National Amusements
- NewsCorp
- Nexstar
- Sinclair
- Tegna
- The Walt Disney Company
- Tribune
- Tronc
- Twenty-First Century Fox
- Univision
- Weigel
Note
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the media ownership dataset, the subject matter is both fluid and frequently opaque.
The media ownership landscape is in a state of constant flux and because many parent companies are privately held, not all data is available to the public.