Fwd: The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, April 21, 2004

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21 Apr 2004 05:00:00 -0000

The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, April 21, 2004

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THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, April 21, 2004

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sponsored by PR WATCH (www.prwatch.org)

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The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to

further information about current public relations campaigns.

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THIS WEEK'S NEWS

 

1. Regulation without Representation

2. Flag-Draped Coffins

3. Even Less Than Cosmetic Changes

4. Friendly Fire?

5. Open the Government

6. A Cost-Cost Analysis

7. Vanunu Moves from Prison to House Arrest

8. No, Supersize Me!

9. Beyond Posturing

10. Kerry Crafts His Image to Sell to Republicans

11. Will Shill for Nukes

12. A Not-So-Volunteer Force

13. An Ounce of Coup Prevention Is Worth $1.2 Million

14. Like a Bridge over Troubled Blackwater

15. The Battle for Hearts and Minds

16. The Jefferson Muzzles

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3. EVEN LESS THAN COSMETIC CHANGES

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108233580487586231,00.html

" While U.S. regulators tend to wait for clear evidence of problems,

the [European Union] has been moving aggressively to remove

chemicals with the potential for trouble. " Case in point:

phthalates, a class of chemicals found in many cosmetics, which

have been linked in animal experiments to " adverse reproductive

effects. " The industry group the Cosmetics, Toiletry and Fragrance

Association dismissed calls to stop using phthalates, claiming

" this is more a matter of politics than of science. " The U.S. Food

and Drug Administration takes its lead on such matters from the

Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel, which is " funded by the industry

trade group. " The head of the Environmental Working Group remarked:

" It's not just the fox guarding the henhouse, it's the fox

designing and building the henhouse. "

SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2004.html#1082347201

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1082347201

 

 

5. OPEN THE GOVERNMENT

http://openthegovernment.org

A new coalition has formed to fight the expansion of government

secrecy at all levels of government in the United States. " Open the

Government " which bring together groups from the worlds of

journalism, organized labor, the environmental movement and others

interested in open government. It has issued a report listing what

it calls the " Ten Most Wanted " government documents on topics

ranging from September 11 intelligence failures to contaminants in

drinking water and gifts from lobbyists to Senators and their

staff.

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2004.html#1082257658

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1082257658

 

6. A COST-COST ANALYSIS

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18768-2004Apr16.html

" In a report analyzing the economics of protecting a threatened

fish in the Pacific Northwest, the Bush administration this month

deleted all references to possible monetary benefits " from

conservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report included

the estimated habitat protection cost - $230 to $300 million over

10 years - but omitted " 55 pages that detailed the benefits of

protecting bull trout. " The benefits, according to a consulting

firm, would include " revenue from sport fishing, reduced drinking

water costs and increased water for irrigation farmers, " totaling

some $215 million over 20 to 30 years. A Fish and Wildlife Service

official said the benefits analysis was deleted because " it did not

conform to analytical standards. "

SOURCE: Washington Post, April 17, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2004.html#1082174401

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1082174401

 

 

8. NO, SUPERSIZE ME!

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-bz.mcdonalds16apr16,0,6429613.story?\

coll=bal-health-headlines

As McDonald's unveiled its latest marketing ploy - healthier menu

options, including " Go Active! " Adult Happy Meals - one free

enterprise and " personal freedom " activist is trying to prove that

the fast food giant's current menu isn't so bad. Soso Whaley, an

adjunct fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, an animal

trainer and the host of the " Camo Country Outdoors Show, " has

placed herself on a month-long McDonald's-only diet. She's also

making a film about her experience, in direct response to Morgan

Spurlock's unflattering documentary " Super Size Me. " Whaley called

Spurlock's film " anti-corporate, " " anti-fast food " and " junk

science. " McDonald's has not endorsed Whaley's project.

SOURCE: Associated Press, April 16, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2004.html#1082088003

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1082088003

 

9. BEYOND POSTURING

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1192876,00.html

Four years ago BP - the company formerly known as British Petroleum

- launched a $200 million ad campaign to rebrand itself as " Beyond

Petroleum " and to strut the company's avowed commitment to

corporate social responsibility. At its April 16 annual general

meeting in London, however, its real face was more visible. A

resolution proposing the company stay out of the Artic National

Wildlife Refuge and other environmentally important areas was voted

down, protests against cuts to health benefits for new employees

were brushed off, and a 65-year old Azerbaijani woman campaigning

against the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline to Turkey was not

even allowed into the meeting.

SOURCE: Guardian (UK), April 16, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2004.html#1082088002

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1082088002

 

 

11. WILL SHILL FOR NUKES

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2004-04-16/pols_feature.html

University of Texas professor Sheldon Landsberger has admitted that

a pro-nuclear column he submitted under his own name to the Austin

American-Statesman was actually written by the Potomac

Communications Group, a Washington PR firm that works for the

nuclear power industry. " For at least 25 years, " reports William

Adler, an employee of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee

named Theodore M. Besmann (who moonlights for Potomac

Communications) " has had published nuclear love songs in newspapers

across the country, under his own or others' names. "

SOURCE: Austin Chronicle, April 16, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1082088000

 

 

 

16. THE JEFFERSON MUZZLES

http://www.tjcenter.org/muzzles.html

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression

chooses April 13, the anniversary of Jefferson's birth, to issue

its annual " Jefferson Muzzles " award to call attention to " those

who in the past year forgot or disregarded Mr. Jefferson's

admonition that freedom of speech 'cannot be limited without being

lost.' " This year's awards included:

* CBS Television, which passed on the miniseries " The Reagans "

amid conservative pressure, and which also refused to air

Moveon.org's 30-second commercial criticizing the Bush

administration during the Super Bowl, while it allowed erectile

dysfunction commercials and the halftime show featuring Janet

Jackson's bared breast.

* Martha Stewart's trial judge.

* Baseball Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey, who canceled

a 15th anniversary showing of " Bull Durham " because of opposition

to the Iraq war by its stars, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.

SOURCE: Thomas Jefferson Center, April 13, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2004.html#1081828800

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1081828800

 

 

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