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THIS WEEK’S NEWS
== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. Fake News: It’s the PR Industry Against the Rest of Us
== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
1. Guilds Gird for a Fight on Product Placement
2. PR’s Concert for Bangladesh
3. If I Didn’t Build It, They Wouldn’t Come
4. Attention Shoppers
5. Oil Industry Concerned Its Image Is Tanking
6. Lawyers, Drugs and Ad Money
7. Kobe Bryant as the Marketing Comeback Kid
8. The Public’s Right To Know What Industry Wants To Tell
9. Medialink Worldwide’s Accounts Awash with Red Ink
10. A Kinder, Gentler Microsoft
11. Flu Is Sell
12. Reporters, Assume the Position
13. Socially Responsible Union Busting
14. All the King’s Media
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== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. FAKE NEWS: IT’S THE PR INDUSTRY AGAINST THE REST OF US
by Bob Burton Be careful what you ask for. That may be the take home lesson for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Last Thursday, the PRSA released the results of its poll of U.S. Congressional staffers, corporate executives and members of the general public. All three groups overwhelmingly supported mandating disclosure when broadcasters air video news releases (VNRs) — segments produced by public relations firms for their clients and frequently aired, without disclosure, by television news shows. PRSA’s results are similar to those of the Center for Media and Democracy’s poll on fake news, in which nearly 90 percent of respondents supported full disclosure, “in all cases,” when VNRs or their radio cousins, audio news releases, are aired. Interestingly, while the PRSA thought it worth spending its members’ money to gauge opinions on VNR disclosure, PRSA President Judith T. Phair didn’t mention the support it found for mandated disclosure in either her written summary of the poll results or her remarks at the PRSA’s press conference announcing the results. Considering that poll respondents’ stance on VNR disclosure is the exact opposite of the PRSA’s stance, it’s easy to understand Ms. Phair’s omissions — she just couldn’t spin the news to her liking.
For the rest of this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4174
== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
1. GUILDS GIRD FOR A FIGHT ON PRODUCT PLACEMENT
online.wsj.com/article/SB113192942392196060.html?mod=mm_hs_advertising
“This intrusive process is getting more and more out of hand,” said the president of the Writers Guild of America West, referring to product placements, commercial messages written into movies and television shows. The Writers and Screen Actors Guilds “complain placement practices hurt their artistic integrity and that they aren’t paid for helping to sell the products.” The two groups “say they want to negotiate a code of conduct that includes disclosure at the beginning of each movie and TV program of the advertising that has been woven into the script. They also want the studios to put limits on the use of such advertising in children’s programming.” And if network and studio heads won’t negotiate, the guilds say they will take the matter to the Federal Communications Commission. The Writers Guild estimates that product placements increased by 44 percent last year, representing more than $1 billion in revenue.
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (sub req’d), November 14, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4186
2. PR’S CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH
www.odwyerpr.com/members/1115bangladesh_twg.htm
Not all of Wal-Mart’s overseas factories are in China. The government of Bangladesh recently signed a six-month, $330,000 contract with Ketchum’s The Washington Group, to “open doors at the senior levels of major U.S. corporations such as Bechtel, General Electric, Lockheed Martin and Wal-Mart to interest them in projects of importance to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.” Former U.S. Congresswoman Susan Molinari, who heads the account, said her goal is to “dispel misconceptions about alleged human rights abuses, corrupt government practices and Islamist militancy.” In addition to business relations, Ketchum will work to promote military-to-military collaboration, debt relief and a U.S. visit by Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The firm is hoping that Zia will address a joint session of Congress, “a rare honor, which in turn would stimulate high visibility media opportunities.”
SOURCE: O’Dwyer’s PR Daily (sub req’d), November 15, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4185
3. IF I DIDN’T BUILD IT, THEY WOULDN’T COME
journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2005/11/14/lw_h2tn.html
“It seems strange, in our day of multiple 24-7 news channels, the always-on Internet, and RSS to say that we don’t have enough news,” writes Lisa Williams. “But in most cities and towns that happen to be more than 500 feet outside a major media market, the local people suffer more from media anorexia than information overload. It’s hard to find good information about the place where you live.” Williams describes her own experiences trying to fill the gap with H2Otown, her citizen journalism website for Watertown, Massachusetts. Citizen journalism, she writes, takes real work and a different funding model than traditional newspapers: “It seemed to me that a successful newsblog might have a business model that looked more like public radio – periodic pledge drives and underwriters – than the subscription/advertising model that many news outlets were dragging into the online world. To make it work, they’d have to get over something I suspected they and many journalists had: hesitation about being directly involved with handling the money.”
SOURCE: PressThink, November 14, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4184
4. ATTENTION SHOPPERS
www.mediaed.org
With so many television and film producers churning out reality TV shows and big budget action movies, there often seems to be little space on the screen for relevant, critical documentaries. The films produced by the Media Education Foundation, however, are just that. MEF produced pieces tell the missing story on media and culture in America, including a documentary version of the Center’s groundbreaking book Toxic Sludge Is Good For You. Until the end of this year, MEF is offering many of its films – such as Game Over:
Gender, Race & Violence in Video Games; Speak Up!
Improving the Lives of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgendered Youth; and Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women – to individuals for a special reduced price. Visit MEF’s website for more information.
SOURCE: Media Education Foundation
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4183
5. OIL INDUSTRY CONCERNED ITS IMAGE IS TANKING
www.prweek.com/us/thisissue/article/527523/api-highlights-oil-industry-challenges-despite-record-profits
The PR firm Edelman “is working with the American Petroleum Institute (API), the oil industry’s primary lobbying group, on a public issues campaign aimed at convincing Americans that the industry is facing severe challenges, even as its members pull in record quarterly profits,” reports PR Week. Print ads designed by Edelman’s advertising unit, Blue Worldwide, “have run in major daily newspapers across the nation, as well as in Roll Call and The Hill.” The print ads urge “consumers to adopt conservation measures this winter” and push for the removal of “barriers on the production of natural gas on federal lands.” Blue Worldwide also launched “a new TV campaign that will run during news and public affairs programming, which started with NBC Nightly News” on November 10.
SOURCE: PR Week (sub req’d), November 11, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4182
6. LAWYERS, DRUGS AND AD MONEY
wvgazette.com/section/News/2005111030
West Virginia’s Pharmaceutical Cost Management Council unanimously approved “a financial disclosure form that would require pharmaceutical companies to reveal how much they spend on advertising and promotion of brand-name drugs” in the state, as well as any “gifts, grants or payments to physicians” in excess of $25. A legislative rules committee considers the form and related rule changes next, though they will likely “be challenged in court by the pharmaceutical industry.” An attorney with the industry group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) said the proposal “is much more extreme, we think, than is authorized by statute.” To back up its critique, PhRMA presented “a four-page analysis from the Washington law firm Covington and Burling.” A PhRMA state lobbyist also argued that such information should be “used internally by the council … and not be accessible, say, to attorneys doing litigation against a company.” West Virginia’s AARP supports the measure.
SOURCE: The Charleston Gazette (West Virginia), November 11, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4181
7. KOBE BRYANT AS THE MARKETING COMEBACK KID
online.wsj.com/article/SB113167620949994439-search.html
“Time heals a lot of marketing wounds,” said the director of the University of Southern California’s Sports Business Institute. In June 2003, basketball star Kobe Bryant signed a four-year, $45 million endorsement deal with shoe company Nike. Weeks later, Bryant was accused of sexual assault. Now that the criminal case has been dismissed and a related civil lawsuit settled, “Nike and Mr. Bryant are slowly relaunching the star’s career as a product endorser.” But even while Bryant’s legal problems abounded, Nike had “an under-the-radar campaign intended to keep the star’s cachet high among shoe collectors and other taste makers.” That included limited releases of shoes “customized for Mr. Bryant that landed in upscale sneaker boutiques,” raffles of shoes with Bryant’s signature, and others with his personal logo, a “dagger-like etching.” While “traditional consumer-product companies” are staying away from Bryant, Nike “recently rolled out its first Kobe print campaign.”
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (sub req’d), November 11, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4180
8. THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT INDUSTRY WANTS TO TELL
toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051114/NEWS06/511140305
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), which recently launched a major chemical industry PR campaign called “essential2,” is one of the main groups claiming that the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), a public right-to-know program, is not so essential. Under TRI, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency annually reports on what industries release into the air, water and land. The ACC “has urged less frequent reporting since 1999.” ACC’s Michael Walls said, “Just because we’re used to doing something doesn’t mean we should accept the inherent high costs or burden of doing it.” The Bush administration supports changing the TRI so that fewer releases are reported, less frequently. EPA officials say they will “likely spend another year weighing the pros and cons” of the proposed changes, after the public comment period ends on December 5. According to federal records, the EPA “previously solicited comments from industry groups.”
SOURCE: Toledo Blade (Ohio), November 14, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4179
9. MEDIALINK WORLDWIDE’S ACCOUNTS AWASH WITH RED INK
media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/priv/ccbn/event_help/smalldownload/word.gif
In its latest quarterly financial report, Medialink Worldwide, the world’s biggest producer of video news releases (VNRs), has revealed that its losses are growing. In the three months to the end of September, the company had a loss of $1.3 million from continuing operations, compared to $596,000 for the same period in 2004. Medialink’s Media Communications Services unit – which is responsible for products such as VNRs, audio news releases, B-roll and Satellite Media Tours – suffered a 6.9 percent drop in income, largely as the “result of a significant decline in business from a major customer.” The company notes that changes in government regulations imposed “on the company or on the news media could have the effect of reducing the effectiveness of our services.” On the teleconference for investors, Medialink’s CEO, Larry Moskowitz, made no direct mention of the controversy over fake news.
SOURCE: Medialink Worldwide, November 14, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4178
10. A KINDER, GENTLER MICROSOFT
“A humbler Microsoft” is “reinventing itself,” writes Advertising Age. “It is enlisting young executives … in a marketing-leadership program to help it overcome hurdles such as competition from free software; the challenge of competing against itself with new products; and getting consumers to trust the company once blames for security breaches.” Microsoft’s chief marketing officer, Mitch Mathews, was elevated so that he reports directly to CEO Steve Ballmer. Microsoft also created a new organization, Marketing@Microsoft, with a training program offering “peer and career mentors” that draws 70 to 80 recent graduates a year. Each year, “the top students get treated to a lunch with Mr. Ballmer.” Lastly, Microsoft has begun conducting “consumer research before programmers hit the keyboards.”
SOURCE: Advertising Age, November 7, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4177
11. FLU IS SELL
www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=46652
As The Nation’s Jeremy Scahill cautions that Stewart Simonson, the U.S. official “responsible for coordinating the federal response to a flu pandemic or bioterror attack could well be the next Michael Brown,” businesses are preparing marketing plans to avoid decreased chicken or egg consumption due to avian flu. The PR firm Edelman “is in the early stages of developing contingency programs.” Edelman’s Mike Seymour said, “We’re building on our experience with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SARS. … The best thing to do is to have a plan in place ahead of it.” Kentucky Fried Chicken is planning TV ads “to educate consumers that eating cooked chicken is perfectly safe.” The National Chicken Council launched a website, avianinfluenzainfo.com. Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods “have prepared press releases … trying to allay concerns.” O’Dwyer’s reports that the Egg Safety Center hired Aronow Communications “to get word out that a potential avian flu pandemic would not make eggs unsafe.”
SOURCE: Advertising Age, November 7, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4175
12. REPORTERS, ASSUME THE POSITION
www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/08/Bush.retaliates/index.html
“Top White House officials say they’re developing a ‘campaign-style’ strategy in response to increasing Democratic allegations that the Bush administration twisted intelligence to make its case for war,” reports Dana Bash. Speaking on condition of anonymity, White House officials a strategy that “has not yet become public and will play out over several weeks through presidential speeches, close coordination with Republicans on Capitol Hill and a stepped-up effort by the Republican National Committee.” Liz Barrett at CJR Daily it noteworthy that the administration is telegraphing its strategy to reporters who are dutifully writing it down. Put another way, she says, this amounts to saying, “I, along with my colleagues in the press, have been used in the past to preview assorted White House public relations plans and talking points. And I’m told — and I’m telling you — that I and my colleagues in the press will be similarly used in the near future.”
SOURCE: CNN, November 8, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4165
13. SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE UNION BUSTING
afr.com/premium/articles/2005/11/10/1131578167130.html
The global mining giant Rio Tinto is lobbying the Australian government to amend draft legislation to ensure individual common law agreements with its workers override collectively bargained labor awards and certified agreements. The Australian Financial Review reports this would effectively close “the door on legal strikes.” In a submission to the Senate committee reviewing the draconian proposals, Rio Tinto argues that collective workplace agreements are “inconsistent with a culture of working together.” This is inconsistent with Rio Tinto’s membership in the United Nations’ Global Compact, which directs companies to “uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.” However, the UN compact has no compliance or enforcement provisions. Still, the UN claims the compact’s ten principles in corporate social responsibility encourage “good practices by participants.”
SOURCE: Australian Financial Review, November 11, 2005 (sub req’d)
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4164
14. ALL THE KING’S MEDIA
www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20051121&s=greider
William Greider meditates on the multiple scandals now roiling Washington, comparing the situation to prerevolution France. Traditional broadcast media, he observes, are among the institutions whose credibility is rapidly disppearing: “Heroic truth-tellers in the Watergate saga, the established media are now in disrepute, scandalized by unreliable ‘news’ and over-intimate attachments to powerful court insiders. The major media stood too close to the throne, deferred too eagerly to the king’s twisted version of reality and his lust for war. The institutions of ‘news’ failed democracy on monumental matters. In fact, the contemporary system looks a lot more like the ancien régime than its practitioners realize. Control is top-down and centralized. Information is shaped (and tainted) by the proximity of leading news-gatherers to the royal court and by their great distance from people and ordinary experience.”
SOURCE: The Nation, November 21, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
www.prwatch.org/node/4162
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