Guest guest Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 2 Aug 2006 15:37:01 -0000 weekly-spin The Weekly Spin, August 2, 2006 THE WEEKLY SPIN, August 2, 2006 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 " The Weekly Spin " ? 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. Funding the Left 2. The Colbert Report: Sense of Humor Required == SPIN OF THE DAY == 1. " Josh is in jail and this is his mom! " - Journalist Blogger Fights for Press Freedom 2. War Reporting Made Easy 3. PR Firms Pitch 'War on Terror' Players 4. Major League Baseball Balks on Sweatshop Allegations 5. Rick Berman, Corporate Attack Dog for Hire 6. Russo Marsh & Rogers Flacks for Iraq 7. Media Cover For Minister's Rescue 8. Reynolds Tobacco Fills Front Groups' Coffers 9. It's a Game, It's Junk Food, It's Advergaming! 10. Iran: The Next War 11. Quick Cash To Fuel Global Warming 12. " World Trade Center " Movie Has the Right Stuff 13. Junk Food Ads Dominate In Television Food Advertising 14. Drug Companies Directed to Reveal Funding Of Doctors' Events -- == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. FUNDING THE LEFT by Judith Siers-Poisson The July 2006 issue of In These Times magazine carries an enlightening and overdue article about how the Left is funded, or not. The New Funding Heresies, written by Senior Editor Christopher Hayes, focuses on the relatively new group of very wealthy liberal and progressive funders called the Democracy Alliance. This group of close to one hundred donors has pledged to individually donate a minimum of $1 million over five years to organizations chosen from a docket that is vetted by the staff and board of the Alliance. In addition, each Democracy Alliance donor pays a $25,000 entry fee and annual dues of $30,000 to cover the operating expenses of the Alliance according to the article. The Alliance seeks to counter the juggernaut of right-wing think tanks and grassroots coalitions in part by creating a similar infrastructure on the liberal/left side of the aisle, and increasing the odds of reaching liberal political goals in the 2006 mid-term elections and beyond. For the rest of this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5034 2. THE COLBERT REPORT: SENSE OF HUMOR REQUIRED by Conor Kenny The morning shows and cable news outlets have been all over Steven Colbert's July 20 interview with Rep. Bob Wexler (D-Fla.) on the Colbert Report. We at Congresspedia think that Colbert's interviews are frequently hilarious and have created indexes of links to videos of the interviews that he and Jon Stewart have done with members of Congress. However, as we state at the top of the index pages, " It should be noted that the interviews often veer into pure comedy and should not be taken as on-the-record comments. " So, when Colbert gets Rep. Wexler to discuss subjects like prostitutes and cocaine, we suggest you take Colbert's advice and recognize that, hey, " he's got a sense of humor. " We've now expanded our video link lists to include non-interview segments on both the Daily Show and the Colbert Report that pertain to Congress. Click through the above links to see them or read the rest of this blog entry for the list of interviews. For the rest of this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5013 == SPIN OF THE DAY == 1. " JOSH IS IN JAIL AND THIS IS HIS MOM! " - JOURNALIST BLOGGER FIGHTS FOR PRESS FREEDOM http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=1246 & catid= & volume_id=147 & issue_id=237 & vo\ lume_num=40 & issue_num=44 Journalist blogger Josh Wolf was jailed for contempt of court after refusing to give a grand jury film footage of a street protest. The New York Times reports he claimed his " right as a journalist to shield his sources " and compared him to disgraced Times journalist Judith Miller who was jailed for protecing her source in the Valerie Plame scandal, Dick Cheney's indicted chief of staff Scooter Libby. Josh Wolf appears to be the first online journalist jailed for protecting sources. The San Francisco Bay Guardian reports that " In addition to the National Lawyers Guild, Wolf has received assistance from the Society of Professional Journalists. The ACLU and the French organization Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press both filed amicus briefs on Wolf’s behalf. " Meanwhile, Wolf's website on August 1 had this appeal: " Josh is in jail and this is his mom!. ... I don’t have any other information at this time, but his lawyer is planning to file an appeal to the federal 9th circuit court. That filing alone costs almost $500, so if you can donate any little bit helps with the expenses of legal counsel and money for Josh while in jail. " SOURCE: San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 1, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5047 2. WAR REPORTING MADE EASY http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,429105,00.html " Propaganda is a part of war, " writes Matthias Gebauer from Israel. " Vast armies of public relations workers develop an emotionally charged image meant to provide media and public support for the conflict's architects. " And, " it's hard to criticize Israel for wanting to see victims of Hezbollah rockets ... in the media. ... Still, Israel's support and supervision of foreign journalists seems downright excessive. ... When covering other crisis regions, German reporters often have to make an effort to be extra nice and polite and have to search out interviewees and contacts themselves. Not here. In Israel, reporters are on an all-inclusive package trip -- and are well looked after. " One of many recent emails to reporters from the Israeli government's press office offered interviewees on 11 topics related to military operations in Lebanon. " There's no need to go anywhere, " Gebauer adds, quoting an Israeli press officer as saying, " The contacts can be reached by phone. It's better to do it that way, especially for the radio. " SOURCE: Spiegel Online (Germany), July 28, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5045 3. PR FIRMS PITCH 'WAR ON TERROR' PLAYERS http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0727pakistan_quinn.htm Pakistan hired the firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates, to promote the country to U.S. audiences as a " reliable and attractive member of the global economic community. " One goal of the $616,000-per-year deal is to secure a " more robust bilateral relationship with the U.S. based on trade and security, " according to the contract. In related news, Saudi Arabia paid the firm Qorvis Communications a whopping $3.6 million over six months, for work around Ambassador Prince Turki Al-Faisal's U.S. " listening tour. " Qorvis secured editorial board meetings for the Ambassador with the Los Angeles Times, CNN and New York Times, as part of its " extensive media relations " for the kingdom. SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), July 27, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5044 4. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL BALKS ON SWEATSHOP ALLEGATIONS http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060731/zirintyner For years, a group of fans and antisweatshop advocates has called on the Pittsburgh Pirates to source their souvenirs from factories that ensure fair labor conditions. The Big League response has been something of a greaseball: Major League Baseball (MLB) is " proud of the accomplishments of our licensees [who] provide gainful employment to tens of thousands of people " under " what we understand to be " full compliance with labor laws, wrote Ethan Orlinsky, general counsel MLB Properties (MLBP). He wrote that MLBP didn't use sweatshops. Shortly before the MLB All-Star game media arrived in Pittsburgh in mid-July, however, the Pittsburg Post-Gazette ran an editorial calling for " a genuine attempt at enforcement " of fair labor conditions. The editorial pointed out that 14-year-old Bangladeshis working 12-hour shifts without overtime pay could be " legally " making Pittsburgh's T-shirts. Orlinsky modified his pitch a bit, inviting the local group, led by activist Tim Stevens, to submit their concerns and said MLBP would " consider them. " The Pittsburgh coalition responded but still awaits MLBP's answer. SOURCE: The Nation (U.S. Online Edition), July 14, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5043 5. RICK BERMAN, CORPORATE ATTACK DOG FOR HIRE http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/2006-07-31-lobbyist-usat_x.htm Rick Berman, the corporate lobbyist and front group king who runs Berman and Co. is probably smiling all the way to the bank, no doubt enjoying a prominent profile in USA Today headlined " Got a nasty fight? Here's your man. " The article quotes Berman's critics, including CMD's John Stauber who says " He obviously has made a very monetarily successful career out of bashing, smearing and attacking environmentalists... He's perfected the art of the personal attack and the personal smear. We know from political campaigns that it is a very effective device. " Most public figures would cringe, but for Berman the piece is simply good advertising and will probably win him more corporate clients who pay him to be their high-profile attack dog while they stay hidden from scrutiny or responsibility. The USA Today article continues, " He seldom mentions his clients ... and he represents them through a variety of non-profit groups he has set up. His targets range from Mothers Against Drunk Driving to the Ralph Nader-founded Center for Science in the Public Interest, which works on food issues, to labor unions. " The article notes that Berman now has a staff of 28 and an annual budget of $10 million dollars, but " only Berman and his bookkeeper/wife know for sure what he makes. " SOURCE: USA Today, July 31, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5042 6. RUSSO MARSH & ROGERS FLACKS FOR IRAQ http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34168 Aaron Glantz, author of How America Lost Iraq, reports on Free Speech Radio and in Inter Press Service that " Kurdish officials toured the United States last week to launch a massive advertising and public relations campaign [under the slogan Kurdistan - The Other Iraq ] thanking the United States ... . On the screen, Kurdish children wave U.S. flags. 'Thank you America,' one says. ... The ad campaign, as well as a U.S. tour by Kurdish politician Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, was put together by the California PR firm Russo Marsh and Rogers. In addition to representing the Kurdish government, the firm founded Move America Forward which has brought parents of dead U.S. soldiers to be counter-protesters at peace demonstrations. The firm has also brought right-wing talk show hosts to Iraq on a 'truth tour' to tell 'the good news that the old-line liberal news media won't tell you about.' All were in attendance at the Kurdish government's press conference in San Francisco with the head of Move America Forward, local radio talk show host Melanie Morgan, serving as master of ceremonies. 'What's going on here is that Russo Marsh and Rogers ... are engaged in an illegal propaganda campaign aimed at influencing the November elections, " said John Stauber, co-author of the book Weapons of Mass Deception. 'They don't have to disclose anything so we may never really know where they got the money to run these campaigns.' " The Center's Diane Farsetta examined Move America Forward in a in a 2004 article for PR Watch quarterly. SOURCE: Inter Press Service, July 31, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5041 7. MEDIA COVER FOR MINISTER'S RESCUE http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2006/07/28/1153816382654.html Federal police have raided the home of a government employee seeking computer and other records indicating whether Ms. Tjanara Goreng had contact with the newspaper, the (NIT). This followed revelations in the paper that a senior federal Aboriginal affairs bureaucrat adopted " a bogus identity " to support claims by the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, that " pedophile rings " operated in Aboriginal communities. Brough was widely criticised after failing to produce any evidence to support his claims. In June, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Lateline program broadcast an interview with an " anonymous former youth worker " who supported Brough's claims and sensationally referred to young girls being held as " sex slaves. " The NIT revealed the interviewee was Gregory Andrews, a branch head in the government agency advising Brough on Aboriginal policy. SOURCE: Sydney Morning Herald, July 29, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5040 8. REYNOLDS TOBACCO FILLS FRONT GROUPS' COFFERS http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060728/BIZ/607280378/1040/LI\ FESTYLE03 Reynolds American, the parent company of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, is spending approximately $40 million in an attempt to defeat anti-smoking ballot initiatives to be voted on in November. Part of the tobacco industry campaign involves having front groups promoting alternative measures to those proposed by tobacco control groups. In Arizona, Reynolds is backing the Non-Smoker Protection Committee, while in Ohio it is supporting Smoke Less Ohio. " It is a significant amount of money, but it's very expensive to do these because it's like a political campaign, " Carole Crosslin, a Reynolds spokeswoman told Associated Press. Shelly Kiser, a spokeswoman for SmokeFreeOhio, said " the tobacco industry has fought us every step of the way. They have taken out more than 30 lawsuits against us ... It's been horrible. " The domain name for the website of Smoke Less Ohio was registered by the PR and lobbying company, Strategic Public Partners. SOURCE: The Detroit News, July 28, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5039 9. IT'S A GAME, IT'S JUNK FOOD, IT'S ADVERGAMING! http://news./s/ap/20060720/ap_on_hi_te/food_ads_kids The Kaiser Family Foundation has released a study titled " It's Child's Play: Advergaming and the Online Marketing of Food to Children, " which found that more than eight out of ten (85%) of the top food brands that target children through TV advertising also use branded websites to market to children online. " Overwhelmingly, almost exclusively, the Web sites you are looking at are for foods that are of poor nutritional quality, " said Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. A Kraft Foods executive said experts disagree on the impact of advertising food to kids. " There are many different factors contributing to childhood obesity and overweight, " said Nancy Daigler, a Kraft vice president. Examples of advergaming are Cheetos Cowtapult, Ritz Bits Soccer Shoot Out, and several games choices featuring Pop-Tarts. SOURCE: Associated Press, July 19, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5031 10. IRAN: THE NEXT WAR http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/10962352/iran_the_next_war/ James Bamford reports that " War with Iran has been in the works for the past five years, shaped in almost complete secrecy by a small group of senior Pentagon officials attached to the Office of Special Plans. The man who created the OSP was Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy. ... Before Bush had been in office a year, Feith's team had arranged a covert meeting in Rome with a group of Iranians to discuss their clandestine help. The meeting was arranged by Michael Ledeen, a member of the cabal brought aboard by Feith because of his connections in Iran. ... Working behind the scenes, the members of the Office of Special Plans succeeded in setting the United States on the path to all-out war with Iran. ... The shift in official policy has thrilled former members of the cabal. To them, the war in Lebanon represents the final step in their plan to turn Iran into the next Iraq. " Bamford's article sheds more light on the double-dealings of Ahmed Chalabi, the former darling of the neoconservatives who with CIA funding and training provided by John Rendon and The Rendon Group led the Iraqi National Congress in planting phony stories about Weapons of Mass Destruction with Judith Miller and other US news media. SOURCE: Rolling Stone, July 26, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5029 11. QUICK CASH TO FUEL GLOBAL WARMING http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/print?id=2242565 In a nine-page memo, the general manager of the Colorado-based Intermountain Rural Electric Association co-operative, Stanley Lewandowski Jr., rails against the the scientific consensus supporting the need to curb greenhouse gases. The memo, which was circulated in mid-July to more than 900 members of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, was leaked to ABC News. " We decided to support Dr. Patrick Michaels and his group (New Hope Environmental Services, Inc.) ... In February of this year, IREA alone contributed $100,000 to Dr. Michaels. " Lewandowski also wrote that IREA had rattled the tin for Michaels amongst other groups and " have obtained additional contributions and pledges for Dr. Michaels group. " The memo also reports on others campaigning against taking action to limit climate change. " The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) has been running two ads in ten states that were financed by General Motors and the Ford Motor Company, " he wrote. SOURCE: ABC News (US), July 27, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5028 12. " WORLD TRADE CENTER " MOVIE HAS THE RIGHT STUFF http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/27/movies/27stone.html The New York Times reports that Oliver Stone's film about 9/11 " is already drawing rave reviews in some unlikely quarters. L. Brent Bozell III, president of the conservative Media Research Center and founder of the Parents Television Council ... sent an e-mail message to 400,000 people saying, 'Go see this film.' ... Creative Response Concepts, on retainer for Paramount, began pitching 'World Trade Center' to pundits who would not normally be considered part of Mr. Stone’s core audience. A screening in Washington last week, for example, drew members of the Family Research Council, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the evangelical Wilberforce Forum, along with a producer for William Bennett’s radio show ... . Creative Response Concepts has played a prominent role in promoting conservative causes " Including " advising the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth " whose attacks on presidential candidate John Kerry " were among the most damaging blows to the Kerry campaign. " SOURCE: New York Times, July 26, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5024 13. JUNK FOOD ADS DOMINATE IN TELEVISION FOOD ADVERTISING http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/html/aboutus/media/mediareleases/july2706_junkfo\ od_ads_targetkids.htm A survey (pdf) by the Cancer Council of New South Wales has found that 81% of all food being advertised on television in Australia was for junk food. The study, which has been published in Health Promotion International journal, recorded 645 hours of television between 7am and 9pm on both weekdays and weekends in four different locations. It found that 31% of all ads were for food, with fast food and takeaway foods being the most common. Kathy Chapman, a researcher and nutritionist at the Cancer Council NSW, identified 194 breaches of the advertising industry's voluntary code of conduct. " Our study shows that current regulations don’t go far enough, and rules certainly need to be better enforced to protect our children,†she said. At a meeting of Australian government health ministers, the Minister for Health Tony Abbott ruled out any discussion of restrictions on food advertising in children's viewing hours and described the advertising industry's self regulatory code as " extensive and potentially prescriptive. " SOURCE: Cancer Council of NSW, July 27, 2006 For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5023 14. DRUG COMPANIES DIRECTED TO REVEAL FUNDING OF DOCTORS' EVENTS http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1697874.htm Australian drug companies have been directed to disclose details of their funding of 'educational' events for doctors. While the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) approved Medicines Australia's voluntary code of conduct on marketing, it insisted on an amendment requiring companies to disclose details of the venue, purpose of the event, the hospitality provided, the number of attendees and the total cost of the function. The information will be made publicly available every six months on a website. ACCC Chairman, Graeme Samuel, told ABC Radio that consumers should be able to decide whether " drug companies are crossing the boundaries of proper ethical behaviour in dealing with the medical profession. " Last week it was revealed that Roche spent approximately $A65,000 on a dinner at a top Sydney restaurant for 200 cancer specialists. SOURCE: Australian Broadcasting Corporation, July 26, 2006. For more information or to comment on this story, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5022 -- 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 in the " Spin of the Day " section of CMD's website: http://www.prwatch.org/spin 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. For more information, visit: 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 Avenue, Suite 227 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 Delete Reply Forward Spam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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