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THIS WEEK’S NEWS
== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. Welcome to the launch of Congresspedia
2. The reviews are coming in on Congresspedia
== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
1. Food Labeling Lobbying
2. Women, Media, and…
3. Government PR: A Growth Industry
4. Bull Goes To China Shop
5. PR and Marketing, Sin Fronteras
6. New Pro-Nuke Front Group Hires Whitman, Moore
7. U.S. Army Reserves PR Help
8. White House Will Be Scott-Free
9. A New Brand for the Democrats: Hispanic-Friendly
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== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. WELCOME TO THE LAUNCH OF CONGRESSPEDIA
by Conor Kenny
Welcome to the debut of Congresspedia, the “citizen’s encyclopedia on Congress.” Congresspedia is a bold new experiment by the Center for Media and Democracy and the Sunlight Foundation in distributed citizen journalism. It is based on the wiki model (think Wikipedia) and is a subset of the Center’s SourceWatch wiki.
We are starting with 539 articles – one for every current member of Congress, the non-voting delegates, and former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham. However, we hope that this is only the foundation upon which Congresspedia contributors (like you!) will build upon by not just adding to those profiles but also by creating new articles on any subject related to Congress that falls within the bounds of our policies and article guidelines.
For the rest of this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4752
2. THE REVIEWS ARE COMING IN ON CONGRESSPEDIA
by Conor Kenny
The Washington Post covered Congresspedia and the Sunlight Foundation in a story today. Instapundit, while approaching with caution, says he thinks our wiki model “transcends partisanship.” We hope to keep it that way.
For the rest of this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4754
== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
1. FOOD LABELING LOBBYING
thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/041906/uniformity.html
“Corporate and food-industry lobbyists are stepping up their public-relations push for a controversial bill that would replace state food-safety laws with a federal labeling standard,” reports The Hill. More than 140 companies and associations are lobbying for the National Uniformity for Food Act, including Nestle, the Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers, American Beverage Association, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Opponents say the Act would gut state-level public health measures; 39 state attorneys general “slammed it as a danger to consumers.” One lobbyist from Patton Boggs told reporters, “Opponents have grossly mischaracterized the effects of the bill.” A Grocery Manufacturers of America spokesperson said, “States that have science to justify what they are doing have nothing to fear in this legislation.” Supporters in the food industry hope “to avoid the cost burden of tailoring marketing and production” to state specifications.
SOURCE: The Hill, April 19, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4750
2. WOMEN, MEDIA, AND…
www.wimnonline.org/WIMNsVoicesBlog/
The New York-based media analysis, education and advocacy organization Women in Media & News (WIMN) recently launched “WIMN’s Voices,” which it calls “the only women’s media monitoring group blog.” More than 50 women reporters, academics and activists are contributing to the blog, including Carolyn Byerly on media policy, Jean Kilbourne on advertising, Makani Themba Nixon on race, Laura Flanders on current events and the Center for Media and Democracy’s Diane Farsetta on public relations.
SOURCE: Women in Media & News, April 13, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4749
3. GOVERNMENT PR: A GROWTH INDUSTRY
www.odwyerpr.com/members/0425gsa.htm
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which acquires products and services on behalf of federal agencies, is “actively soliciting proposals from PR firms to be added to its list of pre-qualified contractors,” reports O’Dwyer’s. Currently, 171 PR firms are registered with GSA, “from the largest firms like Ketchum or Edelman to mid-sized and smaller shops.” GSA says there is the “potential for tremendous sales growth” in government purchases of PR and marketing services. Estimated government spending on “public relations services” in 2006 totals nearly $4.8 million. PR firms also compete for non-PR contracts, such as those involving integrated marketing and advertising. The government has allocated $82 million and $25 million, respectively, for work in those fields in 2006.
SOURCE: O’Dwyer’s PR Daily (sub req’d), April 25, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4748
4. BULL GOES TO CHINA SHOP
www.prweek.com/us/search/article/554001/Yahoo+
selects+Porter+Novelli+helm+global+public+affairs/
“A high-caliber, multinational and multifunctional team” is how Yahoo’s Stephen Davis, senior manager of international PR, describes their new PR firm, Porter Novelli. Given Yahoo’s recent record in China, the “high-caliber” metaphor may ring especially true for three Chinese internet users whose addresses are now c/o China Department of Prisons. Yahoo announced the new PR relationship in a mid-April email. A few days later, Reporters Without Borders, a U.S. government-supported nonprofit, announced that Jiang Lijun is the third Chinese activist whose identity was provided to the authorities by Yahoo’s Chinese subsidiaries, alongside Shi Tao and Li Zhi. “Little by little we are piecing together the evidence…that Yahoo! is implicated in the arrest of most of the people that we have been defending,” according to the Reporters Without Borders statement.
SOURCE: PR Week (sub req’d), April 13, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4747
5. PR AND MARKETING, SIN FRONTERAS
www.prweek.com/us/search/article/554009/Extending
+online+newsrooms+reach+RSS+feeds/
In its “PR Toolbox” section, PR Week addresses how to market “to the growing Hispanic population.” The answer: radio. “There are now approximately 700 Spanish-language radio stations in the U.S.” And, according to Rise Birnbaum of the broadcast PR firm Zcomm, “Spanish-language stations are even more receptive than general-market ones” to audio news releases and radio media tours. In a separate article, PR Week further examines Hispanic marketing. Porter Novelli’s Fernando Figueredo says, “It wasn’t really the 2000 census, it was 2002 that all of a sudden we were the number one ethnic minority. … Over the past two years, we’ve seen a lot more attention to the market,” including by “many of the major companies.” But “in the advertising world they’re only spending 2% of the total buy even though [Hispanics account] for 14% of the market. In the PR world … it’s probably less than 2% of the total PR buy.”
SOURCE: PR Week (sub req’d), April 17, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4746
6. NEW PRO-NUKE FRONT GROUP HIRES WHITMAN, MOORE
www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/
news/114578149582040.xml&coll=2&thispage=1
With help from the PR firm Hill & Knowlton, the industry group Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) launched the “Clean and Safe Energy Coalition.” NEI is fully funding the group and paying its spokespeople, former Environmental Protection Agency head Christine Todd Whitman (who now heads the lobbying firm Whitman Strategy Group) and Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore (who now heads the PR firm Greenspirit Strategies). NEI’s Steve Kerekes said the new group will allow NEI to provide “a unifying platform that supporters of nuclear energy can add their voices to.” The group was launched two days before the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. Like NEI, the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition says that “nuclear power is clean, emitting none of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming,” and “new nuclear plants could provide the 50 percent boost in energy supplies the government projects are needed by 2025 without cramping lifestyles.”
SOURCE: The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), April 23, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4745
7. U.S. ARMY RESERVES PR HELP
www.odwyerpr.com/members/0420reserve.htm
Management Analysis Technologies, a small Virginia-based marketing and consulting firm owned by a Vietnam veteran, won “a competitive review to advise the Office of the Chief of the Army Reserve on its strategic communications,” reports O’Dwyer’s. The contract is worth $510,000 a year and involves “internal and external communications efforts targeting soldiers, families, the public, and Congressional audiences” on the Army Reserve’s “vision of the future.” Specific responsibilities include “researching, writing, editing and reviewing executive-level communications like speeches and Congressional testimony, as well as development of external PR and evaluation and support of existing programs like the Reserve’s Ambassador Program.” Additionally, the firm will “find and book media opportunities for Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. James Helmly.” The PR firms Lincoln Group and CorpComm Group were among those submitting unsuccessful proposals for the Army Reserve contract.
SOURCE: O’Dwyer’s PR Daily (sub req’d), April 20, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4744
8. WHITE HOUSE WILL BE SCOTT-FREE
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192260,00.html
“White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Wednesday he is stepping down, while President Bush’s top presidential adviser Karl Rove is giving up his policy portfolio,” reports FOX News and Associated Press. McClellan will leave the White House in two to three weeks. One possible replacement for him is FOX News radio host Tony Snow, who previously wrote speeches for President George H. W. Bush. Other people who have “been approached about the position” include former Pentagon spokesperson Victoria Clarke and former Coalition Provisional Authority spokesperson in Iraq Dan Senor. Rove’s portfolio change has been called a “demotion.” A “senior administration official” said that “Rove is giving up oversight of policy development to focus more on politics with the approach of the fall midterm elections.”
SOURCE: FOX News, April 19, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4743
9. A NEW BRAND FOR THE DEMOCRATS: HISPANIC-FRIENDLY
thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/041206/news1.html
“ A group of former Clinton administration officials not fully satisfied with the Democratic National Committee’s outreach to the Hispanic community are participating in a soon-to-be launched multimillion-dollar effort to brand the Democratic party among Hispanic residents,” reports Alexander Bolton. “Liberal activists and Democratic strategists” see the recent, large immigration rights rallies as “an opportunity to roll back President Bush’s close to 40 percent support among Hispanics in 2004.” The New Democrat Network, which formed a “Hispanic Stragegy Center” (HSC), People for the American Way, and the Service Employees International Union are involved in the effort. HSC’s goal is “to help incubate groups … that could help Hispanic residents become more politically active.” Maria Echaveste, a member of HSC’s advisory board, said that the Democratic Party’s Hispanic outreach is “within the context of each state’s plan.” That concerns her, as “state parties have been an obstacle to real inclusion of minority groups.”
SOURCE: The Hill, April 12, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4740
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