The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, September 22, 2004

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22 Sep 2004 05:00:00 -0000

 

The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, September 22, 2004

 

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THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, September 22, 2004

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sponsored by the Center for Media and Democracy (www.prwatch.org)

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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.

 

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THIS WEEK'S NEWS

 

1. Get Out Your Weekly Spin Vote!

2. A Rather Embarrassing Retraction

3. Russia: Managing the Message by Drugging the Messenger

4. PR Lessons From The Campaign Trail

5. California Lobbyist's Pesky Pesticide Past

6. The Problem with Polls

7. PR Firm Out of the Woods

8. On the Green Stump, Down Under

9. The Echo Chamber Behind the News Behind the Memos

10. Iraq: Hoping to Spin the Insurgents Away

11. Changing the Subject, for Fun and Electoral Profit

12. K Street: Dems Need Not Apply?

13. Image Over Substance: Nuclear Energy in the News

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1. GET OUT YOUR WEEKLY SPIN VOTE!

http://www.prwatch.org/survey/public/survey.php?name=weekly

If you haven't yet, please take a few minutes to fill out a brief

survey for the Center for Media and Democracy, at the above link.

Your input will help us make the Weekly Spin and our website more

interesting and useful to you. The deadline for responses -

Wednesday, September 29 - is fast approaching, so don't delay! As a

small thank-you for your time, everyone who responds before the

deadline will be entered in a raffle to win one of ten free copies

of the Center's latest book, Banana Republicans: How the Right Wing

Is Turning America Into a One-Party State. Feel free to contact

Diane at 608-260-9713 or diane AT prwatch.org with any questions.

And thanks to those who have already responded!

SOURCE: Center for Media and Democracy, September 22, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095825600

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095825600

 

2. A RATHER EMBARRASSING RETRACTION

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35531-2004Sep20.html

Slate magazine editor Jack Schafer wonders why it took CBS

anchorman Dan Rather so long to back away from two now-discredited

memos that were part of the documentation for its story about

George Bush's National Guard service. Numerous commentators have

pointed out that the incident marks the latest example of bloggers

successfully challenging the traditional broadcast media. The irony

in this case, as Salon.com's Eric Boehlert observes, is the CBS

apology obscures the real story about Bush's National Guard

service, which has been well-documented already: " What is also

already known is that in the spring of 1972, with 770 days left of

required duty, Bush unilaterally decided that he was done

fulfilling his military obligation, " Boehlert writes. " Also in the

spring of 1972, Bush refused to take a physical and quickly cleared

out of his Guard base in Houston. ... His public records paint a

portrait of a Guardsman who, with the cooperation of his Texas Air

National Guard superiors, simply flouted regulation after

regulation (more than 30 by Salon's count) indifferent to his

signed obligation to serve. ... The authenticity of the memos,

which contain very few facts about Bush's actual service, is a

sideshow in the effort to determine the truth about Bush's military

service. "

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095779950

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095779950

 

3. RUSSIA: MANAGING THE MESSAGE BY DRUGGING THE MESSENGER

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0921/p01s03-woeu.html

After terrorists besieged the Beslan school, a " semiofficial "

document circulated among Russian networks demanded " media

self-censorship ... 'Special operation' was prohibited, as was

'shahid' [suicide martyr] - a word that, along with the phrase 'war

in Chechnya,' has already been prohibited on state TV for a year.

... Analysis of options to save the hostages, of steps already

taken, or reasons for the crisis was also forbidden. " Russian

security forces have been accused of drugging journalists and

preventing " two known Kremlin critics " from reaching Beslan. The

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe noted

" worrying developments in the relationship between the [Russian]

Government and the media. "

SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor, September 21, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095739200

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095739200

 

4. PR LESSONS FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

http://www.prweek.com/thisweek/index.cfm?ID=222599 & site=3

The presidential campaign trail offer lessons to the " public

affairs community, the PR people paid to push the issues. But what

they're watching isn't so much who wins, but how they do it, " PR

Week's Douglas Quenqua writes. " Nearly every technique for moving

public opinion, every tactic employed by public affairs people to

get an issue on the radar or to get legislation passed, traces its

roots back to a political campaign - usually a presidential one.

It's become Washington vogue in recent decades to run public

affairs campaigns in the electoral style: treating an issue like a

candidate, branding it, organizing constituencies, managing

messages, even setting up rapid response operations, or 'war

rooms.' All of these techniques were first devised and perfected by

presidential campaigns; these days, you can't run a public affairs

campaign without them. "

SOURCE: PR Week (sub. req'd.), September 20, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095652803

 

5. CALIFORNIA LOBBYIST'S PESKY PESTICIDE PAST

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pesticide18sep18,1,1063656.story?coll=la\

-headlines-california

A former farm lobbyist will become California's top pesticide

regulator, despite complaints from environmentalists. Gov. Arnold

Schwarzenegger appointed Mary-Ann Warmerdam, who worked for the

California Farm Bureau Federation from 1981 to 2001, to head the

state's Department of Pesticide. Warmerdam currently is a lobbyist

for Pacific Gas & Electric. The Los Angeles Times reports that in

August nine environmental groups wrote Schwarenegger questioning

the appointment to top pesticide regulator of someone who worked

two decades for " an organization that has a long tradition in

California of fighting efforts to protect public health and the

environment from pesticide use. "

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, September 20, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095652802

 

6. THE PROBLEM WITH POLLS

http://counterpunch.org/price09202004.html

" Something has methodologically gone awry when polls are swinging

about this wildly, " writes David Price, about presidential campaign

polling. " We Americans simply don't answer our phones like we used

to. " Because of caller ID and cell phones, " those profiled as being

most prone to answering phone surveys tend to be: (more) White,

(more) older, and (more) male. " The Wall Street Journal reports

that how likely (as opposed to registered) voters are identified

may also skew results. " Those models tend to [tilt to] a little

older, a little more white, a little more affluent and a little

more Republican voters, " said GOP pollster Bill McInturff.

SOURCE: CounterPunch, September 20, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095652801

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095652801

 

7. PR FIRM OUT OF THE WOODS

http://prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=222483 & site=3

Congressional investigators with the Government Accountability

Office concluded that the U.S. Forest Service did not violate any

laws by hiring the PR firm OneWorld Communications. The unusual

$90,000 contract for the " Forests with a Future " campaign promoted

new policies increasing logging in California's Sierra Nevada

forests. Environmentalists called the campaign misleading; others

questioned whether the contract " violated laws against spending on

publicity without Congressional consent. " The GAO ruled, " While the

Forest Service policy is controversial, the materials explaining

the policy do not constitute prohibited publicity or propaganda. "

SOURCE: PR Week (sub. req'd.), September 20, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095652800

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095652800

 

8. ON THE GREEN STUMP, DOWN UNDER

http://www.terradaily.com/2004/040917075342.aq1a9uzg.html

The environment is " the sleeper issue of Australia's October 9

election, " and Prime Minister John Howard, " once regarded as the

nemesis of conservationists - [is] vigorously courting the green

vote. " Howard pledged Aus$2 billion for " the country's ailing river

systems, prompting Labor leader Mark Latham to respond with a

billion-dollar package of his own. " At the same time, Howard's

Deputy Prime Minister attacked the Green Party, saying they're

" like a watermelon, green on the outside and red [socialist] on the

inside. " Greenpeace Australia's campaign director expressed

cynicism but said, " If we can use the situation to force [the major

parties] into some meaningful commitments, we'll do so. "

SOURCE: Agence France-Presse, September 17, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095393601

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095393601

 

9. THE ECHO CHAMBER BEHIND THE NEWS BEHIND THE MEMOS

http://prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=222586 & site=3

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's PR firm, Creative Response

Concepts, " used right-wing blogs and news sites to turn a CBS

report casting doubt on President George W. Bush's National Guard

service into a potential black eye for both the network and the

Democrats. " CRC client Cybercast News Service " called typographical

experts, got them on the record that these papers were fishy, and

posted a story " ; " immediately " contacted Matt Drudge; and worked

with the Media Research Center " to push the story into the

mainstream press. " The Los Angeles Times reports that the first

forgery charge " did not come from an expert in typography, " but

from " an Atlanta lawyer with strong ties to conservative Republican

causes. "

SOURCE: PR Week (sub. req'd.), September 17, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095393600

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095393600

 

10. IRAQ: HOPING TO SPIN THE INSURGENTS AWAY

http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0916iraqpr.htm

" The U.S. government is soliciting proposals for an 'aggressive'

and comprehensive PR and advertising push in Iraq to convey

military and diplomatic goals to Iraqis and gain their support. "

The contract will be with the Multi National Corps-Iraq; British PR

firm Bell Pottinger did similar work for MNC-I's predecessor, the

Coalition Provisional Authority. The campaign will include

" outreach to various segments of Iraqi society " and setting up a

" Rebuttal Cell, " to " immediately and effectively " challenge

" reports that unfairly target the Coalition or Coalition

interests. " The PR plan contrasts with news of a U.S. National

Intelligence Estimate that " spells out a dark assessment of

prospects for Iraq. "

SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub. req'd.), September 16, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095307200

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095307200

 

11. CHANGING THE SUBJECT, FOR FUN AND ELECTORAL PROFIT

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109520763632018140,00.html?mod=politics%5Fpri\

mary%5Fhs

George Bush " has succeeded in making more Americans see the war in

Iraq as part of the broader war on terrorism, " reports the Wall

Street Journal. Republican pollster Bill McInturff agrees: " The

Bush campaign has worked hard, really hard, for months, to make

terrorism and security the issue of the election, and as usual,

they've done it with enormous discipline. " The plan, says

McInturff, is " moving people off of stuff that's disadvantageous to

Bush. " Kerry could undercut Bush's backing by offering a different

approach to Iraq, but, says McInturff, " so far the Kerry answer to

that is not compelling. "

SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095220803

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095220803

 

12. K STREET: DEMS NEED NOT APPLY?

http://thehill.com/news/091504/kstreet.aspx

Firms on Washington DC's lobbying row, K Street, are " aggressively

courting GOP lawmakers who have announced their retirements,

suggesting that the business community is confident the GOP will

retain the Speaker's gavel in January. " The trend " is stoking talk

on Capitol Hill that the 'K Street Project' " - an effort launched

by Grover Norquist and Tom DeLay to have firms hire more

Republicans - " is alive and well. " (Earlier reports suggested,

" Democrats are coming back into vogue on K Street. " ) Republican

Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn, who is interviewing with 15 firms,

said, " K Street is still only 30% Republican, so there's a lot more

work to do to make it even. "

SOURCE: The Hill, September 15, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095220802

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095220802

 

13. IMAGE OVER SUBSTANCE: NUCLEAR ENERGY IN THE NEWS

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/nyregion/15profile.html

The New York Times profiles Jim Steets, Entergy Nuclear Northeast's

external communications manager, who, we learn, has " an easy

smile " ; waxes " rhapsodic about the benefits and proficiencies of

Indian Point, " a nuclear power plant near New York City; and is

" boyish-looking " and " well, a nice guy. " In a shorter piece (albeit

one further up in the paper), the Times reports that a Government

Accountability Office auditor called nuclear power plant safety

assessments " rushed " and " largely a paper review. " The auditor also

said the Nuclear Energy Institute's decision to hire Wackenhut for

surprise mock attacks " raises questions, " since Wackenhut also

guards half the nation's nuclear plants.

SOURCE: New York Times, September 15, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095220801

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095220801

 

 

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