Fwd: The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, October 29, 2003

[Guest guest]

This is a weekly newsletter that shows just a tiny part of what is going on with

manipulation of information in our societies.

 

The control of politics and the control of information are some of the factors

which play a large part in the health of citizens. Frank

 

 

 

spin wrote:

29 Oct 2003 06:00:00 -0000

weekly-spin

spin

The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, October 29, 2003

 

THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, October 29, 2003

---

sponsored by PR WATCH (www.prwatch.org)

---

The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to

further information about current public relations campaigns.

It is emailed free each Wednesday to rs.

 

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 r list! Just forward this message to

people you know, encouraging them to sign up at this link:

 

http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/_sotd.html

 

---

THIS WEEK'S NEWS

 

1. This is Your Brain on Public Relations

2. Right Wing Collegians

3. Buying Your Way Into Airline " Radio News "

4. Oh My! News!

5. Hearts and Minds in Hostland

6. Is Media Bias a Dumb Debate?

7. Breast Cancer Action Vs. Corporate " Pinkwashing "

8. BP & B-M in the UK: Greenwashers Under Fire

9. From Election Flack to War Flack and Back Again

10. Scientist Resigns Over EPA's 'Wetlands Pollute' Study

11. Muppets for Peace

12. Curtains for Coffins

----

 

1. THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON PUBLIC RELATIONS

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17034

The Environmental Working Group has obtained and analyzed documents

from a briefing book assembled by Frank Luntz, a top public opinion

researcher for corporate lobbyists. The briefing book offers a PR

playbook on how to frame the current wholesale rollback of

environmental and public health protections while avoiding a

stinging public backlash. " It can be helpful to think of

environmental and other issues in terms of 'story,' " Luntz advises.

" A compelling story, even if factually inaccurate, can be more

emotionally compelling than a dry recitation of the truth. ... The

facts are beside the point. It's all in how you frame your

argument. "

SOURCE: Alternet, October 28, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/October_2003.html#1067317200

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1067317200

 

2. RIGHT WING COLLEGIANS

http://www.wiretapmag.org/story.html?StoryID=17041

The student editor of the California Patriot, a right-wing student

newspaper at the University of California-Berkeley, claims that

conservatives are the true heirs to the university's free speech

movement of the 1960s. " The conservatives on Berkeley's campus have

employed various strategies in order to insert their views --

whether they're wanted or not -- into campus debates, " writes

Michael Gaworecki. " They feel that linking themselves to the Free

Speech Movement is key to their cause, and employ leftist rhetoric

accordingly. " But unlike the movement of the 1960s, which was

homegrown, " here is a large network of well-entrenched,

well-funded, national foundations and organizations sponsoring

publications like the Patriot. " Organizations like the

Intercollegiate Studies Institute's Collegiate Network, the

Leadership Institute, Young America's Foundation, and Young

Americans for Freedom offer training, financial subsidies,

assistance with public relations on campus, and even editing

stories if they need it to neo-conservative campus journalists,

along with a network for getting jobs after they graduate.

SOURCE: Wiretap Magazine, October 27, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/October_2003.html#1067230801

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1067230801

 

3. BUYING YOUR WAY INTO AIRLINE " RADIO NEWS "

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/27/business/media/27radio.html?ei=1 & en=b7f664f007\

a87eda & ex=1068312025 & pagewanted=print & position=

" The caller to Joanne Doroshow's office last month described

himself as working for Sky Radio Network, a company that produces

programming for Forbes Radio, one of the audio channels available

to passengers on American Airlines. As the executive director of

the Center for Justice and Democracy, a nonprofit organization that

casts itself as a champion of consumer rights, Ms. Doroshow was

asked if she would be interviewed for a talk show examining the

issue of tort reform. When Ms. Doroshow agreed, she said, the

caller informed her that it would cost her organization $5,900 to

have its point of view heard. When Ms. Doroshow balked, she said,

the caller offered to see if it could be reduced to $3,500. 'I was

furious,' Ms. Doroshow said. 'I thought this was another way

corporations are dominating what people hear, and are getting only

their side presented because they're willing to pay for it.' "

SOURCE: New York Times, October 27, 2003

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1067230800

 

4. OH MY! NEWS!

http://www.japanmediareview.com/japan/internet/1063672919.php

Three years ago, a crew of four people quietly launched the South

Korean " citizen journalism " Web site OhmyNews. Since then, its

staff has grown to 53, and the number of " citizen reporters "

writing for the site has grown from 700 to about 26,700, with about

1 million readers each day. Its experiment with grassroots-led

journalism has transformed Korean politics. " OhmyNews is

transforming the 20th century's journalism-as-lecture model --

where organizations tell the audience what the news is and the

audience either buys it or doesn't -- into something vastly more

bottom-up, interactive and democratic, " says San Jose Mercury News

columnist Dan Gillmor. In an interview with the Japan Media Review,

OhmyNews founder Oh Yeon-Ho explains how he got started. " I had

confidence that citizen participation in journalism was something

that citizens currently desired. But I could not imagine that the

fire would spring into a blaze in such a short time, " he says.

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/October_2003.html#1067205719

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1067205719

 

5. HEARTS AND MINDS IN HOSTLAND

http://archive.org/movies/movies-details-db.php?collection=prelinger & collectioni\

d=20986a & from=mainPicks

The Internet Archive has unearthed a U.S. military training film

from 1968 showing psychological operations (psyops) in a mythical

country called " Hostland, " where U.S. advisors want help the host

government gain the support of its population. " Psychologically,

the military in every country in the world represents government

authority, " it explains as it shows images of a gray-haired

diplomat meeting with generals. " As promised by the ambassador, a

team of military advisors arrives in Hostland, " the film continues.

The psyops expert " reviews the psychological objectives the United

States hopes to achieve, " studies the population, identifies target

audiences, and plans a combination of media, cultural, and economic

development initiatives. " Prisoners are interrogated with special

questionnaires that give clues toward their reaction to the

psychological effort directed toward them, " continues the second

part of the film. " The psychological program must be constantly

updated. As the people are affected by the program, so the program

is affected by their changes in attitudes. A successful psyop

program will make them perceive things from the desired viewpoint. "

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/October_2003.html#1067107225

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1067107225

 

6. IS MEDIA BIAS A DUMB DEBATE?

http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2003/10/24/bias_questions.h\

tml

" Denouncing bias in the media has become a dumb instrument. The

cases keep coming. The charges keep flying. Often the subject -

journalism - disappears, " NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen. Rosen

poses six questions about the bias question, and two answers.

" Liberal spin. Corporate spin. Texas spin. Zionist spin. Republican

spin. Hollywood spin. American spin. Anti-American spin. We want it

out, out, out. Spin, that's bad, " Rosen writes. " But critics smart

enough to detect spin are smart enough to see--and in fact, they do

see--that claiming, 'they're spinning!' has itself become a form of

spin, a popular one, which would seem to throw spin detection,

never a clear cut thing, into total incoherence. Does that bother

you, or is it only my spin? "

SOURCE: PressThink, October 24, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/October_2003.html#1066968001

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1066968001

 

7. BREAST CANCER ACTION VS. CORPORATE " PINKWASHING "

http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org/

" To draw attention to the troubling trend of corporate

'pinkwashing,' Breast Cancer Action, a national grassroots breast

cancer advocacy organization, is running an ad in the national

edition of the New York Times questioning some high-profile

corporate marketing campaigns launched in connection with Breast

Cancer Awareness Month. 'We're not opposed to companies raising

money for the cause,' said Barbara Brenner, Breast Cancer Action's

executive director. 'We're concerned about companies claiming to

support the fight against breast cancer while manufacturing

products that may be contributing to rising rates of the disease.

They can't have it both ways.' Breast Cancer Action offers examples

of corporate 'pinkwashers': Cosmetics companies such as Avon,

Revlon, Estee Lauder, and Mary Kay all direct a percentage of their

profits toward efforts against breast cancer. They also manufacture

products containing phthalates and/or parabens, hormone-disrupting

chemicals that may affect the development of cancer. 'As long as we

believe we're doing something meaningful about breast cancer by

buying into these corporate marketing schemes, the real work that

needs to be done around treatment, access to care, and true

prevention will continue to be under-funded and ignored,' said

Brenner. "

SOURCE: BCA news release, October 24, 2003

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1066968000

 

8. BP & B-M IN THE UK: GREENWASHERS UNDER FIRE

http://www.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,12188,1068777,00.html

In Britain " Burson-Marsteller, the public relations agency used by

the oil, GM, tobacco and chemical industries, is to represent the

government's pollution watchdog, in a move that environmentalists

yesterday described as 'barmy'. " B-M's clients have included

biotech behemoth Monsanto, and B-M's spying on food activists in

the US in 1990 inspired the founding of PR Watch. Green activists

in Britain are also blowing the whistle on the PR strategies of BP

-- British Petroleum -- the oil giant that has marketed itself as

" Beyond Petroleum. " Activists in the group Rising Tide are

demonstrating and leafleting, noting that " BP invests less than 1%

of its annual budget on solar and other renewable energy sources, a

great deal less than they spend on advertising and public

relations. " B-M, BP and other greenwashing corporations have long

been pursuing a strategy of co-opting UK environmental activists,

as Andy Rowell has reported in PR Watch. In 2002 Lord Peter

Melchett, former head of Greenpeace UK, joined B-M.

SOURCE: Guardian, October 23, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/October_2003.html#1066881600

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1066881600

 

9. FROM ELECTION FLACK TO WAR FLACK AND BACK AGAIN

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2003/10/22/wilkinson/

White House advisor Karl Rove has selected Jim Wilkinson, the

33-year-old Texan who headed communications and press relations for

the U.S. Central Command in Qatar during the Iraq invasion, as

communications director for the 2004 Republican National Convention

in New York. A profile of Wilkinson in the New York Observer notes

that he previously worked for Republican Congressman Dick Armey

under Ed Gillespie, now chairman of the Republican National

Committee. During the last presidential election, Wilkinson helped

package and promote the false notion that Al Gore claimed to have

" invented the Internet, " and later helped Republican protesters

shut down the vote recount in Florida.

SOURCE: Salon.com, October 22, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/October_2003.html#1066795201

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1066795201

 

10. SCIENTIST RESIGNS OVER EPA'S 'WETLANDS POLLUTE' STUDY

http://www.peer.org/press/403.html

" A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency biologist has resigned in

protest of his agency's acceptance of a developer-financed study

concluding that wetlands discharge more pollutants than they

absorb, according to a statement released today by Public Employees

for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). EPA's approval of the

study gives developers credit for improving water quality by

replacing natural wetlands with golf courses and other

developments. ... Bruce Boler, a former state water quality

specialist, resigned after three years with EPA. ... PEER is

leading a coalition of environmental groups seeking to stop ten

projects in the Western Everglades that would destroy more than

2,000 acres of wetlands. 'EPA's new position that wetlands pollute

stands the Clean Water Act on its head and sends the all-clear

signal to developers that no project is out of bounds.' "

SOURCE: PEER News Release, October 22, 2003

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/October_2003.html#1066795200

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1066795200

 

11. MUPPETS FOR PEACE

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1067447,00.html

" Sesame Street's Big Bird is hoping to triumph where George Bush,

Tony Blair and numerous heads of state have failed, by bringing

peace to the Middle East, " reports Julia Day. The children's TV

show is preparing a series of programs for broadcast in Israel,

Jordan and the Palestinian territories, promoting cooperation,

respect for others and self-esteem.

SOURCE: Guardian (UK), October 21, 2003

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1066708801

 

12. CURTAINS FOR COFFINS

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A55816-2003Oct20?language=printer

" Since the end of the Vietnam War, presidents have worried that

their military actions would lose support once the public glimpsed

the remains of U.S. soldiers arriving at air bases in flag-draped

caskets, " writes Dana Milbank. " To this problem, the Bush

administration has found a simple solution: It has ended the public

dissemination of such images by banning news coverage and

photography of dead soldiers' homecomings on all military bases. "

SOURCE: Washington Post, October 21, 2003

To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1066708800

 

 

----

 

The Weekly Spin is compiled by staff and volunteers at PR Watch.

To or unsubcribe, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/_sotd.html

 

Daily updates and news from past weeks can be found at the

Spin of the Day " section of the PR Watch website:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/index.html

 

Archives of our quarterly publication, PR Watch, are at:

http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues

 

PR Watch, Spin of the Day and the Weekly Spin 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.

Please send any questions or suggestions about our

publications to:

editor

 

Contributions to the Center for Media & Democracy

are tax-deductible. Send checks to:

CMD

520 University Ave. #310

Madison, WI 53703

 

To donate now online, visit:

https://www.egrants.org/donate/index.cfm?ID=2344-0|1118-0

_____________

Weekly-Spin mailing list

Weekly-Spin

http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/weekly-spin

 

NEW WEB MESSAGE BOARDS - JOIN HERE.

Alternative Medicine Message Boards.Info

http://alternative-medicine-message-boards.info

 

 

 

Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears