Guest guest Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 25 May 2005 15:42:01 -0000 weekly-spin The Weekly Spin, May 25, 2005 THE WEEKLY SPIN, May 25, 2005 --- sponsored by the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy http://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 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 == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. Nuclear Energy's Green Glow 2. Edelman's Rescue Plan for the PR Industry == SPIN OF THE DAY == 1. Pay-for-Praise Comes Under Scrutiny 2. U.S. Funded Al Hurra Looks For Good News In Iraq 3. The Color TV of Fear 4. Labouring Under Illusions 5. Medicare Seeks Multiple PR Partners 6. BP: Beyond Published Criticism 7. Heal Thyself, Medical Journals Told 8. Political Conformity on Social Security 9. Doubting Scientists for Hire 10. Still in the Torturers' Lobby 11. The Passion of Fake Radio News 12. Stormin' Morgan Joins Ad Bullies' League 13. British PR Firms Go Nuclear 14. Smokes Still Get in Children's Eyes 15. American Diabetes Association Makes Sweet Deal with Cadbury Schweppes ---- == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. NUCLEAR ENERGY'S GREEN GLOW by Laura Miller " Several of the nation's most prominent environmentalists have gone public with the message that nuclear power, long taboo among environmental advocates, should be reconsidered as a remedy for global warming, " the New York Times' Felicity Barringer reports. And while environmentalists who support nuclear power as a supposedly " emission-free " alternative to fossil fuels are not representative of the larger movement, the buzz about them is mushrooming. " Their numbers are still small, but they represent growing cracks in what had been a virtually solid wall of opposition to nuclear power among most mainstream environmental groups, " writes the Times. Make no mistake - nuclear power has not become any safer or cleaner. Nuclear plants still pose a huge threat to the communities in which they are located and highly radioactive spent fuel has yet to be dealt with adequately. " It's not that something new and important and good had happened with nuclear, it's that something new and important and bad has happened with climate change, " Stewart Brand, a founder of the Whole Earth Catalog and a new devotee of nuclear energy, told the Times. In fact, the only thing that the nuclear power industry has been working to clean up is its image. The first quarter issue of PR Watch, now available online, examines the industry's use of public relations to quell safety concerns and undermine grassroots efforts to shut down nuclear plants. Over the past several years, PR Watch has seen a marked increase in industry efforts to change the public's perception of nuclear power. For the rest of this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3679 2. EDELMAN'S RESCUE PLAN FOR THE PR INDUSTRY by Bob Burton Over the last four months, Richard Edelman, the CEO, president and chair of the privately-owned PR firm Edelman, has been busy blogging away about how the public standing of the PR industry is in free-fall. In a May 2nd post, he was incredulous that blogger David Weinberger - who has been a consultant to Edelman's firm - doesn't think that PR people have a role in the blogosphere, because they are, by their very nature, propagandists. A few weeks back, Edelman blogged about spending a weekend smarting after CNN/US president Jon Klein referred to " sophisticated corporate PR departments, marketers and politicians " as " propagandists, " during his speech to the National Association of Broadcasters. While it might seem self-evident to most people that the PR industry is in the propaganda business, these incidents led an agitated Edelman to propose a five-point plan to rescue the PR industry’s tarnished credentials. For the rest of this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3666 == SPIN OF THE DAY == 1. PAY-FOR-PRAISE COMES UNDER SCRUTINY http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/24/AR2005052401294.\ html Jonathan Adelstein of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission called " for an investigation of experts who tout products on television without disclosing payments from the manufacturers. " The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post have reported on " technology and other experts who are paid tens of thousands of dollars by such companies as Sony, Apple and Hewlett-Packard " and who have praised those companies' products " on NBC's 'Today' show, other network programs and during 'satellite tours' of local TV stations. " Such payola violates federal law and could result in fines of up to $10,000 for repeat offenders. " It's very deceptive to pretend to be an objective expert when in fact you're shilling for some private company, " said Adelstein. SOURCE: Washington Post, May 25, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3716 2. U.S. FUNDED AL HURRA LOOKS FOR GOOD NEWS IN IRAQ http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,357110,00.html With a yearly budget of over $40 million, Al Hurra, a U.S. supported TV channel for the " Arab World, " is " one of the US government's most expensive public diplomacy efforts yet, " reports MediaCorp News, a Singapore-based media group. Since its launch in February 2004, most news stories about the 24-hour Arabic-language satellite station report that the channel is viewed as little more than U.S. propaganda in the form of news and entertainment. Al Hurra's credibility as an independent news outlet is challenged by the German magazine Der Spiegel's report that the station's " 50 staff members in Iraq have been instructed to be on the lookout for signs of improvement. 'If the power comes back on in a part of the city, we see this as being more newsworthy than reporting that the power is out someplace else,' says one employee. " SOURCE: Der Spiegel, May 21, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3715 3. THE COLOR TV OF FEAR http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/05/22/crime_scenes?pg=full " Obsessive coverage of urban crime by local television stations, UCLA law professor Jerry Kang argued in the Harvard Law Review ... is one of the engines driving lingering racism in the United States. So counterproductive is local broadcast news, he says, that it is time the FCC stopped using the number of hours a station devotes to local news as evidence of the station's contribution to the 'public interest,' which has traditionally been a requirement for a broadcast license. " Kang cites psychological research that racist assumptions linking people of color with violence and crime are weakened, after " footage of a respected black figure like Bill Cosby or Martin Luther King, Jr. " is viewed. Local TV news reinforces racist stereotypes, Kang argues, pointing to a 13-month study of Los Angeles stations that found crime stories led broadcasts " 51 percent of the time and took up 25 percent of total newscast minutes. " SOURCE: Boston Globe, May 22, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3714 4. LABOURING UNDER ILLUSIONS http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr/comment/0,7494,1490418,00.html Britain's Channel 4 documentary " Undercover in New Labour " includes footage from " a reporter wearing hidden cameras who volunteered to work on the party's election campaign and ended up being drafted to work at its national PR headquarters. " The documentary shows Labour staff using " party supporters in key professions from medicine and the law to the armed forces and the police, who were prepared to appear on TV and in the papers and lie through their teeth that their support for this or that policy was entirely unsolicited, " writes Mark Borkowski. But " is singling out New Labour for criticism reasonable, " Borkowski asks, when astroturfing " has been going on for decades in business, especially among the oil, pharmaceutical and tobacco industries? " Undercover reporters were placed with Britain's three main political parties, " but it was decided the strongest story was the way the Labour campaign was run, " an anonymous source told the Guardian. SOURCE: Guardian, May 23, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3713 5. MEDICARE SEEKS MULTIPLE PR PARTNERS http://prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=238286 & site=3 The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which greatly increased spending on private PR firms in 2003, " is looking for at least three agencies that will be responsible for nearly all of its outreach programs over the next five years. " CMS's current " preferred " firms - the only ones it solicits pitches from - are Ketchum, GCI Group, Ogilvy PR and American Education Development. " Under the last umbrella contract, " reports PR Week, " Ketchum led a $25 million integrated marketing campaign to drive people to the Medicare (800) number and website. " The new $17.25 million contract will involve " research, messaging, social marketing, education, training, and media relations. " One priority will be " raising awareness of reforms mandated by the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, " which Congress mandated additional funding for " education and enrollment efforts around. " SOURCE: PR Week (sub. req'd.), May 23, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3712 6. BP: BEYOND PUBLISHED CRITICISM http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=45132 Like General Motors and Morgan Stanley, the energy company BP " has adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward negative editorial coverage. " BP's media buyer, the WPP firm MindShare, now " demands that ad-accepting publications inform BP in advance of any news text or visuals they plan to publish that directly mention the company, a competitor or the oil-and-energy industry " and give BP " the option to pull any advertising from the issue without penalty. " An unnamed magazine executive called BP's new policy a " stupid request, " but said his company has " unwritten guidelines with advertisers from several industries, including auto, airlines and tobacco, to pull their ads if related negative stories are in the issue. " In 1997, following similar demands from Chrysler, the Magazine Publishers of America and the American Society of Magazine Editors took a stance against magazines giving advertisers " a sneak peek at stories, photos or tables of contents. " SOURCE: Advertising Age, May 24, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3711 7. HEAL THYSELF, MEDICAL JOURNALS TOLD http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document & doi=10.1371/jour\ nal.pmed.0020138 In an essay for the Public Library of Science, the former editor of the British Medical Journal, Richard Smith, argues that while corporate advertising may be the most obvious source of revenue for medical journals, they are " the least corrupting. " More significant, he writes, are the clinical trials the journal publishes which carry " the journal's stamp of approval (unlike the advertising). " While journals can more tightly screen what gets published, Smith thinks more fundamental steps are required to " stop journals from being beholden to companies. " He argues more public funding to research treatments is needed, and journals should consider not publishing trials at all. Trial results, he suggests, " should be made available on regulated Web sites. Instead of publishing trials, journals could concentrate on critically describing them. " But the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine accused Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck of " making a mockery " of an online list of drug trials, saying the companies' entries " are written in a way that they are trying to hide what they are doing. " SOURCE: Public Library of Science, May 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3710 8. POLITICAL CONFORMITY ON SOCIAL SECURITY http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bush20may20,0,4316498.story A worker who knows Social Security " could run out before they retire, " a couple with children who like " the idea of leaving something behind to the family, " and a single parent who wants " more retirement options and security " than Social Security offers - all younger than 29. Those are people the White House asked the group Women Impacting Public Policy to recruit for a Rochester, New York event promoting Bush's Social Security plan. The participants in a Wisconsin event last week " appeared to mirror " the same profile, reported the Los Angeles Times. A White House spokesperson said, " Every president ... has used the bully pulpit to talk about their agenda. " Barbara Kennelly, a former Democratic Congresswoman who heads the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said, " It's unfortunate that the president never hears any opposition to a plan that has a lot of opposition. " SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3709 9. DOUBTING SCIENTISTS FOR HIRE http://www.gsenet.org/fri.php#Industry%20Strategy:%20Create%20Doubt%20to%20Fight\ %20Regulations " The vilification of threatening research as 'junk science' and the corresponding sanctification of industry-commissioned research as 'sound science' has become nothing less than standard operating procedure in some parts of corporate America, " writes Clinton-era Energy Department epidemiologist David Michaels. One example is beryllium, an " extremely toxic " metal used in nuclear warheads. Beryllium producers hired two " product defense " firms to " dispute and reanalyze data showing adverse health effects. " Michaels says industry groups " have grown more brazen since George W. Bush became president, " pointing to industry-friendly appointments to an advisory panel on childhood lead poisoning and the Data Quality Act. The Data Quality Act (promoted at the state level by the American Legislative Exchange Council) has been " used by groups bankrolled by the oil industry to discredit the National Assessment on Climate Change " and " by the Salt Institute to challenge the advise of the National Institutes of Health that Americans should reduce their salt consumption. " SOURCE: Scientific American, June 15, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3708 10. STILL IN THE TORTURERS' LOBBY http://www.timesofoman.com/newsdetails.asp?newsid=15624 The London office of U.S.-based PR giant Hill & Knowlton signed a $600,000 contract with the government of Uganda, " to improve Uganda's stained reputation as a human rights abuser and democracy laggard. " Foreign Minister Sam Kuteesa confirmed the contract, which calls for Hill & Knowlton " to improve Uganda's image with donors and to help blunt damaging reports from human rights watchdogs that have been highly critical of the government. " In Uganda, political activity is " restricted " and planned elections in 2006 " have been overshadowed by a controversial bid to amend the constitution so President Yoweri Museveni can stand for a third term. " Reports by the New York-based organization Human Rights Watch have " documented recent cases of torture by Ugandan security forces against political opponents, alleged rebels and criminal suspects. " SOURCE: Agence France-Presse, May 21, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3707 11. THE PASSION OF FAKE RADIO NEWS http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/11705164.htm " Back when Mel Gibson's movie 'The Passion of the Christ' was arousing passions nationwide, a promotion packet arrived at local public radio station KAZU, " writes Karen Ravn in California. It included " a transcript of questions an enterprising reporter might want to ask Jim Caviezel, the movie's star, " and " a CD of Caviezel-recorded answers. " As KAZU's news director at the time, Bernhard Drax, described, " The transcript would say, 'Hi, Jim, how are you?' and on the CD, Jim would say, 'I'm fine. It's good to be here.' " KAZU didn't air the canned interview, but Drax said he understood why other radio stations might. " The pressure in local newsrooms ... is incredible, " said Drax. Audio news releases like the Caviezel interview help ease the " economic pressure " on strapped radio newsrooms. SOURCE: Monterey County Herald (California), May 21, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3706 12. STORMIN' MORGAN JOINS AD BULLIES' LEAGUE http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050519/RMORGAN1\ 9/TPBusiness/International " Morgan Stanley, whose battle with unhappy shareholders has played out on the business pages, is warning prominent newspapers that it could pull its advertising if it objects to articles. " Morgan Stanley's new ad policy says the company " must be notified " of any " objectionable editorial coverage, " so that a " last-minute change " in its advertising can be made. If notification is impossible, the policy directs all ads to be canceled, " for a minimum of 48 hours, " reports Advertising Age. Morgan Stanley discussed the policy with the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other major publications. The Journal's publisher called it impractical, since " the ad department has no knowledge of what stories are running. " An anonymous " high-ranking editor " told AdAge, " There's a fairly lengthy list of companies that have instructions like this. " Last month, General Motors pulled its ads from the Los Angeles Times, due to negative coverage. SOURCE: Reuters, May 19, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3682 13. BRITISH PR FIRMS GO NUCLEAR http://www.newstatesman.com/Ideas/200505230004 " In the year or so before the general election " in Britain, " the nuclear industry slowly but surely put together a classy public relations act, " report Jonathan Leake and Dan Box. " Last October, British Energy appointed Craig Stevenson, formerly Monsanto's top UK lobbyist, as head of government affairs. ... In December, BE enlisted Helen Liddell, the former energy minister, to provide 'strategic advice.' " This " on top of the £1m BE paid to another PR firm, Financial Dynamics. " The Nuclear Decommissioning Agency, which is " charged with cleaning up the mess from Britain's previous nuclear programme, poached Jon Phillips, " Heathrow Airport's PR head who led a " successful campaign for a fifth terminal at Heathrow despite furious public opposition. " The waste disposal body Nirex hired " the Promise public relations firm to promote a multimillion-pound rebranding and renaming exercise, " while the UK Atomic Energy Authority " employed Grayling Political Strategy to help raise its profile. " SOURCE: The New Statesman (sub. req'd.), May 23, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3681 14. SMOKES STILL GET IN CHILDREN'S EYES http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4556765.stm " Major tobacco companies agreed to stop pushing for their products to be promoted in the arts from 1998, " but " the number of tobacco brand appearances in U.S. films aimed at children has not fallen significantly, " according to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The percentage of " films aimed at children show[ing] tobacco brand names, or trademarks " fell slightly from 15 to 12, after 1998. Yet, in the ongoing federal racketeering trial against major tobacco companies, industry lawyers claimed companies have " voluntarily " adopted tough advertising restrictions. A Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company lawyer " suggested that the companies had stopped advertising in magazines with youth readerships of more than 15 percent or more than two million, " reported the New York Times. Government witness and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids president Matthew Myers disputed the claim, pointing out recent ads in Sports Illustrated. SOURCE: BBC News, May 18, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3680 15. AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION MAKES SWEET DEAL WITH CADBURY SCHWEPPES http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/corp-focus/2005/000204.html " If you are wondering why Americans are losing the wars on cancer, heart disease and diabetes, you might look at the funding sources of the major public health groups, " Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman write. " Big corporations dump big money into these groups. And pretty soon, the groups start taking the line of the big corporations. Case in point: the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Earlier this month, the ADA cut a deal with candy and soda pop maker Cadbury Schweppes. Here's the deal - Cadbury Schweppes kicks in a couple million dollars to the ADA. In return, the company gets to use the ADA label on its diet drinks - plus the positive publicity generated by the deal. Cadbury makes Dr. Pepper and such nutritious treats as Cadbury's Cream Egg. You would have to have your head buried deeply in the sand to deny that sugar-filled soda is fueling childhood obesity - which in turn in is fueling type 2 diabetes. " In an interview with the Corporate Crime Reporter, ADA's Richard Kahn emphasized that the ADA logo would only appear on " products that are better to eat. " SOURCE: Corp-Focus, May 16, 2005 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3678 ---- The Weekly Spin is compiled by staff and volunteers at the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), a nonprofit public interest organization. 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 Center website: http://www.prwatch.org/spin/index.html Archives of our quarterly publication, PR Watch, are at: http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues CMD also sponsors SourceWatch, a collaborative research project that invites anyone (including you) to contribute and edit articles: http://www.sourcewatch.org PR Watch, Spin of the Day, the Weekly Spin and SourceWatch 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 and Democracy are tax-deductible. Send checks to: CMD 520 University Ave. #227 Madison, WI 53703 To donate now online, visit: https://www.egrants.org/donate/index.cfm?ID=2344-0|1118-0 _________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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