PR Watch 9/2/05

	THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, February 9 2005
	THE WEEKLY SPIN, February 9, 2005 --------------------------------------------------------------------- sponsored by the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy www.prwatch.org To support our work now online visit: https://www.egrants.org/donate/index.cfm?ID=2344-0\|1118-0 --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to further information about media, political spin and propaganda. It is emailed free each Wednesday to subscribers. SHARE US WITH A FRIEND (OR FIFTY FRIENDS) Who do you know who might want to receive Spin of the Week? Help us grow our subscriber list! Just forward this message to people you know, encouraging them to sign up at this link: www.prwatch.org/cmd/subscribe_sotd.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK’S NEWS == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. The PR Plan Behind Big Tobacco’s Big Victory 2. Call Me Stupid 3. How Indonesia Wins Friends and Influences U.S. Foreign Policy == SPIN OF THE DAY == 1. Expanded Role In White House For ‘Bush’s Brain’ 2. No PR Firm Left Behind 3. Anti-Propaganda Propaganda? 4. The Sword Employs the Pen 5. Armstrong Williams In Context 6. A Quiet Revolution In Business Lobbying 7. Anti-WiFi “Sock Puppets of Industry” 8. Flat Earth Award Recognizes Global Warming Skeptics 9. Conservative Media Machine As Polluting Factory 10. Burson-Marsteller’s Bromine Front Groups 11. Anti-Social Tendencies 12. Loving the Alien 13. Of Terrorists and TV Stations 14. Front Groups in the News ---------------------------------------------------------------------- == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. THE PR PLAN BEHIND BIG TOBACCO’S BIG VICTORY by Bob Burton The tobacco industry won a big victory Friday when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in its favor, against the U.S. Justice Department. The court’s ruling means that the Justice Department cannot force the industry to disgorge $280 billion in past profits, even if it wins its fraud and racketeering case against the cigarette makers. Little media attention has been paid to this important decision in a landmark case concerning a major public health threat. The near-invisible nature of the ongoing federal trial to determine whether Big Tobacco engaged in a conspiracy of fraud and deceit may represent another aspect of that very conspiracy – the successful efforts of tobacco industry PR to influence journalists. Internal tobacco industry documents shed light on the largely hidden phenomena of corporate tobacco lobbyists courting favor with editorial boards. For the rest of this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3264 2. CALL ME STUPID by Sheldon Rampton Last Friday I happened to be on a conservative radio show where I pointed out that the big winners in Iraq’s recent elections were Shiite clerics with a long history of friendship with Iran – not exactly the sort of people who are likely to be long-term supporters of the Bush administration’s political agenda in the Middle East. If conservatives want to celebrate the election as a victory for Iraqi self-determination, I said, they should be “careful what you wish for.” Now it looks like I need to give myself the same cautionary advice. Earlier in the week, I sent out a fundraising appeal to subscribers to the Weekly Spin, our weekly email bulletin. In addition to asking people to give us money, I talked about the success of SourceWatch, the Center’s online encyclopedia of propaganda (formerly known as Disinfopedia). And I issued the following challenge: For the rest of this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3262 3. HOW INDONESIA WINS FRIENDS AND INFLUENCES U.S. FOREIGN POLICY by Diane Farsetta “I hope that, as a result of our efforts, as a result of our helicopter pilots’ being seen by the citizens of Indonesia helping them, that value system of ours will be reinforced,” said Colin Powell, one week after the tsunami wrought havoc across South and Southeast Asia. Contemplating the public relations benefits of aid efforts following so many deaths may seem callous, but the United States wasn‚Äôt the only country hoping to benefit from images of uniform-clad do-gooders distributing food and water to traumatized villagers. The Indonesian province of Aceh, “Ground Zero” for the tsunami, has been under declared or de facto martial law since mid-2003 (and through most of the 1990‚Äôs before that). In May 2003, the Indonesian military launched its largest offensive in nearly 30 years, in Aceh. Weeks later, Indonesian Communications and Information Minister Syamsul Muarif complained that the news from Aceh focused on “soldiers dragging corpses” instead of efforts to rehabilitate schools. “We are weak in international public relations, and because of that, reports by foreign media are often damaging,” he explained. Most observers say it‚Äôs a well-deserved bad rap. For the rest of this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3250 == SPIN OF THE DAY == 1. EXPANDED ROLE IN WHITE HOUSE FOR ‘BUSH’S BRAIN’ www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7573881 Top Republican political strategist Karl Rove – aka “Bush’s Brain” – has been given the job deputy White House chief of staff. George W. Bush’s longtime counselor labored under the titles “Assistant to the President” and “Senior Advisor” during the President’s first term. Rove is credited with masterminding Bush’s reelection strategy. In his new role, Rove’s responsibilities will include coordinating policy between the White House Domestic Policy Council, National Economic Council, National Security Council and Homeland Security Council. SOURCE: Reuters, February 8, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3265 2. NO PR FIRM LEFT BEHIND www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/ epaper/2005/02/02/m1a_FSUCENTER_0202.html In the continuing saga of taxpayer money used to champion Bush administration policies, the Palm Beach Post reports, “A Florida State University center has used more than a half-million in education tax dollars to put a positive spin on President Bush’s key school policies, including hiring a public relations firm to teach charter schools to be more media-savvy.” As part of a 5-year, $1.2 million No Child Left Behind Act grant, FSU’s School Choice Center is using federal money to “make parents aware of all choice programs, including traditional magnet schools, expand the number of choice schools in the state, and help them ‘work the media.’” The Post reports, “links on the center’s Web site are almost entirely to studies and articles from conservative groups and strong school-choice proponents such as the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Center for Education Reform and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.” Tallahassee-based PR firm Moore Consulting Group has so far received $45,000 to create template advertisements for choice programs and to do media training with charter and private school staff. The School Choice Center is not alone in receiving Education Department money. Several other right-leaning groups are using federal grant dollars “to develop their existing public information campaign[s] about key components of No Child Left Behind.” SOURCE: Palm Beach Post, February 2, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3263 3. ANTI-PROPAGANDA PROPAGANDA? prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=234623&site=3 The Federal Propaganda Prohibition Act has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Stop Government Propaganda Act in the Senate, “to increase congressional oversight of federal PR contracts.” Yet, “the reaction of the industry has been less than panicked.” Why? “Neither bill is likely to become law.” PR Week writes, “These anti-PR bills are mostly PR tools. They have been presented by Democrats eager to jump on what they see as an Achilles heel for the Bush administration: its alleged inability to deal squarely with the American people. … These bills are in many ways a continuation of the debate over administration hype in the build-up to the war in Iraq.” SOURCE: PR Week (reg. req’d.), February 7, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3261 4. THE SWORD EMPLOYS THE PEN www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/ article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000789872 The Pentagon is investigating “the military’s practice of paying journalists to write articles and commentary … and also looking more broadly at Pentagon activities that might involve inappropriate payments to journalists,” writes Associated Press. CNN reported on Pentagon involvement with two news websites, Southeast European Times (focused on the Balkans) and Magharebia (focused on North Africa). Some 50 journalists were paid by the Pentagon through a private contractor, Anteon Corporation, for contributions to the Balkans site. A not “immediately obvious” disclaimer on the sites discloses that they are “sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defence.” A U.S. military spokesperson said of the North African site, “It’s not disinformation. Every printed word is the truth.” SOURCE: Associated Press, February 6, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3260 5. ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS IN CONTEXT www.blackcommentator.com/124/124_black_bush_supporters_pf.html “ Massively financed by, first private, and now public dollars, the campaign to create the perception of an alternative, conservative Black ‘leadership’ is on the march in all regions of the nation,” writes the Black Commentator in an article titled “Bribes + Vouchers = Black Bush Supporters.” The article shows how “black leaders” who recently posted for a photo op with Bush were the recipients of millions of dollars in funding from right-wing foundations as well as from government programs launched by the Bush administration. “The Republicans need only a few Black faces to fill up a room, or a television screen, and only a modest number of Black congregations to demonstrate newfound credibility in the community,” the article observes. “They can achieve this at literally no cost, since faith-based and voucher advocacy (’public education’) grants are paid for with tax dollars ‚Äì public money. … For every outraged Black preacher howling that he‚Äôs giving up on the Democrats because of the gays, there is a check or the promise of a check.” SOURCE: The Black Commentator, February 3, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3259 6. A QUIET REVOLUTION IN BUSINESS LOBBYING www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64725-2005Feb4_3.html “ After brief pleasantries on the phone the other day,” writes Jeffrey Birnbaum, “Thomas J. Donohue got down to business with a top health insurance executive. ‘We’re in a new year and a new time,’ Donohue said smoothly. ‘Can we put you on the list and get your money?’ The executive said yes, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was $100,000 richer. So, in effect, was President Bush’s push to rein in trial lawyers and lower taxes.” Birnbaum shows how Donohue and the chamber have led a “quiet revolution in business lobbying,” marked by massive increases in corporate spending and close allegiance to the Bush administration’s political agenda. SOURCE: Washington Post, February 5, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3258 7. ANTI-WIFI “SOCK PUPPETS OF INDUSTRY” wifinetnews.com/archives/004765.html Glenn Fleishman has done a neat job of identifying some of the leading groups and individuals that are trying to stop U.S. municipalities from setting up wireless internet systems, such as the Heartland Institute and the New Millennium Research Council, “a sock puppet for the incumbent telecommunications interests” that don’t want municipalities to compete with their own private, for-profit services. According to tech columnist Dan Gillmor, the anti-WiFi campaign is yet another example of the “ongoing scandal” of “lack of transparency in the world of opinion-making. … What we have today is a system of opinion laundering, where powerful interests try to create public support for their side of issues without disclosing the hidden agendas.” SOURCE: Wi-Fi Networking News, February 1, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3257 8. FLAT EARTH AWARD RECOGNIZES GLOBAL WARMING SKEPTICS www.alternet.org/envirohealth/21164/ Students at Vermont’s Middlebury College and the Green House Network have announce a new competition for global warming deniers. The Flat Earth Award recognizes the hard work that goes into discrediting “the strong scientific consensus that the human-induced global warming is real.” Finalists for the award include Michael Crichton, Rush Limbaugh, and S. Fred Singer. The public is invited to help choose the winner. SOURCE: Alternet, February 4, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3256 9. CONSERVATIVE MEDIA MACHINE AS POLLUTING FACTORY www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21149/ Tracing the rise of U.S. government sponsored propaganda from campaigns in the 1980s that supported U.S. actions in Central America to “the permanent conservative media machine that we know today,” journalist Robert Parry writes, “By now, the huge investment of money in this conservative media machine may mean that even if conservative ‘journalists’ did reach an honest conclusion that their behavior was damaging the United States, they would be hard pressed to change course. … In that way, the conservative ‘journalists’ are like workers in a factory that’s polluting a river which flows through the neighboring countryside. If the pollution is stopped, they fear they will lose their jobs. So it’s in their interest to fight environmental controls, keep the factory running and leave it to someone else to clean up the mess.” SOURCE: Alternet, February 2, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3255 10. BURSON-MARSTELLER’S BROMINE FRONT GROUPS www.corporateeurope.org/lobbycracy/houseofmirrors.html#note44 As the European Parliament has come into power, the population of lobbyists, PR firms and front groups has boomed in Brussels. In a new report, the Corporate Europe Observatory exposes the work of global PR firm Burson-Marsteller on behalf of the bromine industry as it attempts to stymie bans on bromine-based flame retardants. For example, the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum, which is housed in B-M’s Brussels office and staffed by B-M employees, is not much more than a mouthpiece for the world’s four major bromine producing companies. “Until recently, the corporate nature of BSEF and the key role of Burson-Marsteller in its operations was routinely kept vague or simply hidden,” CEO writes. “To add to the impression of a house of mirrors, Burson-Marsteller‚Äôs Brussels office also runs several other bromine industry outfits fighting EU bans, such as the Alliance for Consumer Fire Safety in Europe (ACFSE) and the European Brominated Flame Retardant Industry Panel (EBFRIP), which consists of three of the four BSEF corporations.” CEO observes the bromine industry’s PR campaign “does not appear driven by the pursuit of scientific truth about the environment and health impacts” of their products, rather B-M’s work for the industry is to protect profitable bromine products from EU bans. SOURCE: Corporate Europe Observatory, January 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3254 11. ANTI-SOCIAL TENDENCIES www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62221-2005Feb3.html “ A city commissioner, a liberal radio producer, a deputy Democratic campaign manager and a number of university professors” were among 42 people on a “do not admit” list for President Bush’s Fargo, North Dakota event promoting Social Security privatization. The White House said the list, given to two ticket distribution sites, must have come from local volunteers. And the Republican National Committee “is asking television stations to stop airing” MoveOn.org ads opposing Bush’s Social Security plan. In a letter, the RNC’s deputy counsel said MoveOn.org was “knowingly and willfully spread[ing] false information,” and reminded the stations that Federal Communications Commission license holders must “avoid broadcasting deliberate misrepresentations.” SOURCE: Washington Post, February 4, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3253 12. LOVING THE ALIEN times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200502/kt2005020317255111890.htm South Korea’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy is working with the new Corporate Love Council, “to eliminate the public’s hostility toward corporations and bolster confidence in enterprises this year.” Minister Lee Hee-beom explained, “Anti-corporate sentiment of Korean citizens has reached an alarming level.” The Corporate Love Council “was launched by civic groups and business organizations.” Its top initiatives are “economy education for youths and educators and the revision of economy textbooks,” to “correct errors.” Minister Lee also encouraged companies “to further strengthen ethics management and social responsibility activities to improve their public image.” SOURCE: The Korea Times, February 3, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3252 13. OF TERRORISTS AND TV STATIONS www.odwyerpr.com/members/0202qorvis.htm Qorvis Communications, a PR firm under investigation by the FBI, “is promoting the first Counter-Terrorism International Conference on behalf of client Saudi Arabia.” More than 50 countries will be represented at the invite-only event in Riyadh, which will feature workshops on “relationships between terrorism, money laundering, arms and weapons, and how to promote international cooperation in combating terror.” O’Dwyer’s also reports that the government of Qatar “has hired Barbour Griffith & Rogers to a $300K pact to smooth relations with the Bush Administration.” The New York Times recently reported that pressure from U.S. officials over its sponsorship of the TV news station Al Jazeera has resulted in Qatar “accelerating plans to put Al Jazeera on the market.” SOURCE: O’Dwyer’s PR Daily (reg. req’d.), February 2, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3242 14. FRONT GROUPS IN THE NEWS www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2005/ 02/01/pfizer_reveals_study_linking_celebrex_to_heart_risks/ “ Pfizer Inc. has revealed it completed a study four years ago that links its painkiller Celebrex to a ‘statistically significant’ increase in heart problems,” reports the Boston Globe. When a December 2004 National Cancer Institute study found an increased risk of heart problems, Pfizer called the results “unexpected.” A month later, Pfizer quietly published its own 1999 study, on the website of the industry-funded group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. In other news, the SUV Owners of America are protesting a campaign to promote SUV safety. Stratacomm founder and SUVOA spokesperson Ron Defore said the campaign “perpetuates the myth that the largest of the SUV’s are somehow these very dangerous vehicles.” SOURCE: Boston Globe, February 1, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: www.prwatch.org/node/3241 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Weekly Spin is compiled by staff and volunteers at the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), a nonprofit public interest organization. To subscribe or unsubcribe, visit: www.prwatch.org/cmd/subscribe_sotd.html Daily updates and news from past weeks can be found at the “Spin of the Day” section of the Center website: www.prwatch.org/spin/index.html Archives of our quarterly publication, PR Watch, are at: www.prwatch.org/prwissues CMD also sponsors the Disinfopedia, a collaborative research project that invites anyone (including you) to contribute and edit articles: www.disinfopedia.org PR Watch, Spin of the Day, the Weekly Spin and Disinfopedia are projects of the Center for Media & Democracy, a nonprofit organization that offers investigative reporting on the public relations industry. We help the public recognize manipulative and misleading PR practices by exposing the activities of secretive, little-known propaganda-for-hire firms that work to control political debates and public opinion. 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