The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, June 30, 2004

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30 Jun 2004 05:00:01 -0000

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The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, June 30, 2004

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THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, June 30, 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.

It is emailed free each Wednesday to rs.

 

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THIS WEEK'S NEWS

 

1. Banana Republicans -- An Ongoing Online Investigation

2. Power Play

3. The Enemy Press

4. You Can Ask, but They Can't Tell

5. Blogs and the Blogging Bloggers Who Blog Them

6. " Prop-Agenda " at War

7. Air Cover for Kerry

8. Debunking a Lot of Hot Air

9. When Think Tanks Attack

10. Sound-It-By-Me Science

11. Global PR Blog Week

12. Corporate Front Group Supporting Ralph Nader

13. Terrorist Tree-Huggers

14. Auto Exemption

15. EPA's Election-season Roadshow

16. Mooning the Masses

17. Bond, Secret Agent for Outsourcing

18. " Banana Republicans " on The Hill

19. Reading, Writing and Roundup Ready

20. New, Improved Mercenaries

21. Frank Talk

22. " The Digestive Tract of the Disinfotainment Industry "

23. On the Road Again

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1. BANANA REPUBLICANS -- AN ONGOING ONLINE INVESTIGATION

http://www.bananarepublicans.org/contents.html

In writing the Center's newest book, Banana Republicans, authors

Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber experimented with collaborative

research, inviting visitors to the Center's website to contribute

their own research and analysis while the book was being written.

That process of collaboration is still continuing. If you'd like to

contribute, you can do so through the Center's online feature

Disinfopedia.

SOURCE: June 30, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088568000

 

2. POWER PLAY

http://www.juancole.com/2004_06_01_juancole_archive.html#108843853517271330

The " handover of power " to Iraq is " a publicity stunt and has

almost no substance to it, " says Middle East history professor Juan

Cole. " Gwen Ifill said on US television on Sunday that she had

talked to Condaleeza Rice, and that her hope was that when

something went wrong in Iraq, the journalists would now grill

Allawi about it rather than the Bush administration. (Or words to

that effect.) Ifill seems to me to have given away the whole Bush

show. That's what this whole thing is about. It is Public Relations

and manipulation of journalists. Let's see if they fall for it. "

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088513657

 

3. THE ENEMY PRESS

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10775-2004Jun27.html

After New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau wrote a story

reporting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had collected

extensive information on antiwar demonstrators, FBI spokeswoman

Cassandra Chandler sent around a memo urging agency officials to

" please avoid providing information to this reporter, " and the

Justice Department revoked his press credentials.

SOURCE: Washington Post, June 28, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1088444551

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088444551

 

4. YOU CAN ASK, BUT THEY CAN'T TELL

http://www.publicintegrity.org/report.aspx?aid=332 & sid=100

The U.S. Justice Department's Freedom of Information office

admitted that its database of lobbyists working for foreign

governments, political parties and companies is " so fragile " that

making an electronic copy " could result in a major loss of data. "

The Congressional General Accounting Office has repeatedly stated

that the Department's Foreign Registration Unit " lacks the

resources to fulfill its responsibilities. " The non-profit Center

for Public Integrity, which had its Freedom of Information Act

request for foreign lobbyist data denied due to technical concerns,

noted the irony of the Unit being " under-funded " while " the

lobbying activity it is supposed to track and make freely available

to the public is extravagant. "

SOURCE: The Center for Public Integrity, June 28, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1088395203

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088395203

 

5. BLOGS AND THE BLOGGING BLOGGERS WHO BLOG THEM

http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,7558,1248609,00.html

" Not only are major news organisations rolling out blogs of their

own, but in the past 12 months the influence of bloggers over their

print, television and radio counterparts has grown massively, "

observes Paul Carr. " Consider a decision made by organisers of this

year's Democratic National Convention (DNC), next month in Boston.

So keen are John Kerry's men to get their message through to the

people of Blogistan that for the first time they have issued press

accreditation to political bloggers. " Carr notes that the impact of

blogging is especially noticeable at America's newest radio

network, Air America Radio. Not only do the network's hosts

frequently cite news and other information gleaned from bloggers,

many of their listeners tune in via their Internet audio feed

rather than via the airwaves. " The effect of this is to guarantee a

large web-savvy audience for the station, an audience for whom it

is perfectly natural to visit the shows' official blogs and to

comment on what they're hearing, as they're hearing it, " Carr

observes.

SOURCE: Guardian (UK), June 28, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088395202

 

6. " PROP-AGENDA " AT WAR

http://www.antiwar.com/ips/gutierrez.php?articleid=2889

" In their widely quoted book Weapons of Mass Deception, Sheldon

Rampton and John Stauber argued in 2003 that the U.S. government

used the shock of the 9/11 attacks to justify an invasion of Iraq.

Bush counter-terrorism coordinator Richard Clarke further denounces

President George Bush for using the attacks as a pretext for the

war in his book Against All Enemies published last March. For

propaganda expert Nancy Snow ... 'if war is the paint, then

propaganda is the paint primer that makes possible the total

devotion of the public to the just cause of the state in wartime.' "

SOURCE: Inter Press Service, June 28, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1088395201

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088395201

 

7. AIR COVER FOR KERRY

http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/politics/columns/nationalinterest/9372/\

index.html

Michael Crowley looks at the Media Fund and Americans Coming

Together (ACT), two liberal 527 committees who may spend as much as

$150 million before Nov. 2 in an attempt to defeat George W. Bush.

Although they are officially nonpartisan, 527s - used by both

parties - use a loophole in election laws to get around limits on

" soft money " spending by political parties. " The goal was to

provide some air cover [for Kerry] early in the campaign, " says ad

man David Kessler, who has worked with the Media Fund. Kessler

compares the 527 ads to " the scene in Saving Private Ryan, when

they hit the beachhead and the shit's flying. That's what our job

was - take the f--ing beachhead and [Kerry] will come in when he's

ready. " (So is it an air war, a ground war, or a naval invasion?)

SOURCE: New York Metro, June 28, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1088395200

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088395200

 

8. DEBUNKING A LOT OF HOT AIR

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=535576

The International Atomic Energy Agency, which promotes nuclear

power, concluded that " even under the most favourable

circumstances, " nuclear power wouldn't slow global warming. An IAEA

report predicted that global warming would decrease more if " no new

[nuclear plants were] built beyond those already planned, " because

" the world would have to be so prosperous to afford " a significant

increase in nuclear plants that greenhouse gas emissions " from

fossil fuels would have grown even faster. " The IAEA's findings

undercut the Nuclear Energy Institute's claims that " nuclear energy

.... helps to keep the air clean, preserve the Earth's climate,

avoid ground-level ozone formation and prevent acid rain. "

SOURCE: The Independent (UK), June 27, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1088308800

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088308800

 

9. WHEN THINK TANKS ATTACK

http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~lambert/blog/computers/tanks.html

Australian blogger Tim Lambert has taken a closer look at some of

the think tanks that have emerged as critics of open source

software, which threatens Microsoft's position in the marketplace.

" Why are all these think tanks so down on Open Source? " Lambert

asks. " Well, the Small Business Survival Committee is concerned

that using open source will expose small business to the risk of

lawsuits. Citizens Against Government Waste is concerned that the

Government might waste money on Open Source. Defenders of Property

Rights is concerned that Open Source might be a threat to

intellectual property rights. However, I was able to detect a

common theme to all their criticism. They all seem to be funded by

Microsoft. " Lambert also notes that many of them, such as the

Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, have participated in previous

campaigns to deny the dangers of tobacco and global warming, while

receiving funding from the tobacco and fossil fuel industries.

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1088274622

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088274622

 

10. SOUND-IT-BY-ME SCIENCE

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-science26jun26,1,7689856.story

In " the latest instance in which the Bush administration has been

accused of allowing politics to intrude into once-sacrosanct areas

of scientific deliberation, " the Health and Human Services

Department asked the World Health Organization to allow the

Department's secretary to review meeting invitations. The WHO

refused, claiming that changing its long-standing practice of

directly inviting individual scientists could " compromise the

independence of international scientific deliberations. " A

spokesperson for Department Secretary Tommy Thompson said, " The

World Health Organization does not know the best people to talk to,

but HHS knows. "

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, June 26, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1088222400

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088222400

 

11. GLOBAL PR BLOG WEEK

http://www.thenewpr.com/wiki/pmwiki.php/GlobalPRBlogWeek/EventInfo

The New PR Wiki, a website for PR pros, is organizing a " global PR

blog week, " scheduled for July 12-16. Public relations pundits will

use the event to discuss questions such as " Why do you blog? " and

" Why is blogging important for PR? " The event will cover topics

including, " PR in the Age of Participatory Journalism, " " Corporate

Blogging " and " Crisis Management, " and will be hosted at

globalprblogweek.com.

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1088139043

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088139043

 

12. CORPORATE FRONT GROUP SUPPORTING RALPH NADER

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/108816503613\

780.xml

Citizens for a Sound Economy, a right-wing corporate front group

opposed to everything Ralph Nader has struggled for, is working

hard to help his 2004 presidential campaign in an effort to defeat

John Kerry. " 'Ralph Nader is undoubtedly going to pull some very

crucial votes from John Kerry, and that could mean the difference

in a razor-thin presidential election,' reads a script used by

Citizens for a Sound Economy in its phone calls [to Republicans in

the state of Oregon]. 'Can we count on you to come out on Saturday

night and sign the petition to nominate Ralph Nader?' Russ Walker,

state director of Citizens for a Sound Economy ... said the idea of

helping Nader has been widely discussed among conservative groups

and activists in Oregon. 'It's definitely an interesting scenario,'

Walker said. 'We don't agree with Ralph Nader's positions on the

issues - he's socialistic and we're free marketers. ... We think

he'll take some of the more extreme votes from the other side.' "

SOURCE: The Oregonian, June 25, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1088136003

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088136003

 

13. TERRORIST TREE-HUGGERS

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/terrorist_tree_huggers.php

" One of environmentalism's biggest foes - Ron Arnold - is back,

peddling the idea that environmentalism breeds terrorism, " reports

Bill Berkowitz. " Arnold is the same man who once bragged to the New

York Times that, 'No one was aware that environmentalism was a

problem until we came along.' He's been so successful, says one

environmentalist, that he's now 'within striking distance' of

checking off every item on his 'wise-use' agenda. "

SOURCE: TomPaine.com, June 25, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088136002

 

14. AUTO EXEMPTION

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/25/business/media/25adco.html

" A new series of whimsical public service announcements from the

Environmental Protection Agency are lampooning the notion that cars

can be made more energy efficient while the ads encourage

conservation at home, " reports Danny Hakim. The ads depict a wacky

home inventor trying to make his car more fuel-efficient by adding

a sail and " a helium tank with a bulbous hose ... Viewers are then

directed to a Web site that lists energy-efficient furnaces,

computers and dishwashers - in fact, just about everything but

cars. "

SOURCE: New York Times, June 25, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088136001

 

15. EPA'S ELECTION-SEASON ROADSHOW

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/06/25/leavitt/

With election season in swing, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

administrator Mike Leavitt has taken his show on the road, visiting

key swing states to hand out pots of money for environmental

projects. " Leavitt's recent wave of swing-state politicking has won

his agency the moniker 'Election Protection Agency' in Beltway

circles, " reports Amanda Griscom. According to Aimee Christensen,

director of Environment2004, " Not only has Leavitt made all his

major announcements in swing states - at the exclusion of others -

he's been incredibly selective about spotlighting certain problems

while he neglects the countless public-health controversies that

loom larger than ever. "

SOURCE: Salon.com, June 25, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088136000

 

16. MOONING THE MASSES

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/24/business/media/24adco.html

Outside Grand Central Terminal in New York, six men and women plan

to spend six hours advertising for a health club by flashing their

underwear at strangers, in the hope that passersby will notice that

the club logo appears on the garment. It's part of the growing use

of guerrilla marketing, which the Times describes as " a broad range

of advertising methods that strives to strike when people least

expect it. "

SOURCE: New York Times, June 24, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088049602

 

17. BOND, SECRET AGENT FOR OUTSOURCING

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,123562,00.html

The U.S. Commerce Department's under secretary of technology, Phil

Bond, said " excit[ing] kids " about science and math " as early as

elementary school " is a good way to counter the movement of

high-tech U.S. jobs overseas. Bond opposed legislation prohibiting

outsourcing (being considered in 37 states), saying, " If we embrace

isolation and reject working with the rest of the world, it will be

to our detriment. " Bond spoke at a forum titled " Offshore

Outsourcing - Opportunities, Risks and Rewards, " organized by the

pro-outsourcing industry group Information Technology Association

of America. At the same event, Banc of America Capital Management's

chief marketing strategist claimed, " The great misconception is

that U.S. companies go abroad for cheap labor. "

SOURCE: FOX News, June 24, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1088049601

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088049601

 

18. " BANANA REPUBLICANS " ON THE HILL

http://www.thehill.com/daily_features/062404.aspx

Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber spoke with The Hill recently about

their new book Banana Republicans: How the Right Wing Is Turning

America Into a One-Party State.

SOURCE: The Hill, June 24, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1088049600

 

19. READING, WRITING AND ROUNDUP READY

http://biz./prnews/040623/cgw035_1.html

The agribusiness giant Monsanto will donate $50,000 to the

Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) Consortium. AITC is a

" grassroots program coordinated by the United States Department of

Agriculture, " designed " to help students gain a greater awareness

of the role of agriculture ... so that they may become citizens who

support wise agricultural policies, " according to AITC's website.

Monsanto said their donation will support " science education and

grassroots efforts that improve the understanding and acceptance of

biotechnology. " Other AITC " Partners, " who are encouraged to make

annual contributions, include the National Cattlemen's Beef

Association, National Mining Association, National Pork Producers

Council, CropLife America and Dole Food Company.

SOURCE: Monsanto Company press release, June 23, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1087963200

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1087963200

 

20. NEW, IMPROVED MERCENARIES

http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/06/22/security_firms_293m_deal_un\

der_scrutiny/

" A private British firm that won a $293 million contract from the

Pentagon for coordinating security in Iraq is headed by a retired

British commando with a reputation for illicit arms deals in Africa

and for commanding a murderous military unit in Northern Ireland, "

reports Charles M. Sennott. The firm is owned by Lieutenant Colonel

Tim Spicer, a former British military officer. Spicer's past work

includes a " psychological campaign " against the inhabitants of

Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, who were complaining about

environmental destruction from a copper mine on their island. To

clean up his image following the Bougainville fiasco, Spicer

employed PR consultant Sara Pearson, who hired a ghost writer to

help with Spicer's 1999 autobiography, An Unorthodox Soldier, which

presented him as the " modern, legitimate version of the new

mercenaries. "

SOURCE: Boston Globe, June 22, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1087876801

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1087876801

 

21. FRANK TALK

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54906-2004Jun19.html

A leaked memo by Republican advisor Frank Luntz advises GOP

politicians to avoid the words " preemption " and " war in Iraq " when

talking about the Bush administration's pre-emptive war in Iraq.

" To do so is to undermine your message from the start, " he advises.

" Your efforts are about 'the principles of prevention and

protection' in the greater 'War on Terror.' " Luntz also recommends

that " No speech about homeland security or Iraq should begin

without a reference to 9/11. "

SOURCE: Washington Post, June 20, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1087704001

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1087704001

 

22. " THE DIGESTIVE TRACT OF THE DISINFOTAINMENT INDUSTRY "

http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?at_code=192468 & no=17225\

0 & rel_no=1

" If your calling is journalism, you enter the job market at the

same time that that the long and honorable history of American

journalism is traveling through the digestive tract of the

disinfotainment industry, " declared writer Howard Rheingold in his

recent commencement speech at Stanford University. " But at the same

time, you arrive on the scene just at the moment something broader,

faster, and perhaps more democratic than the invention of

journalism is emerging. ... Young people in every part of the world

are using and inventing blogs, wikis, mobile messaging, desktop

video, digital music, online animation, social software. ... You

can -- you MUST -- innovate faster than your ability to innovate

can be enclosed by laws, regulations, and technological fences. "

SOURCE: OhMyNews, June 18, 2004

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1087531201

 

23. ON THE ROAD AGAIN

http://slate.msn.com//id/2102498/

The New York Times recently attempted to contact former secretary

of state Henry Kissinger to ask about allegations that he had used

his influence inside the Council on Foreign Relations to quell a

debate concerning him in the pages of its magazine, Foreign

Affairs. Kissinger was " traveling and could not be reached for

comment, " responded his assistant. Jack Shafer points out that this

dodge doesn't carry much weight anymore in these days of cell

phones, but lots of public figures still seem to have travel plans

that mysteriously synchronize with bad news that they don't want to

discuss. Examples include movie industry lobbyist Jack Valenti,

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Monica Lewinsky, Afghan

warlord Rashid Dostum, former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey,

investor Warren Buffett, and Disney honcho Michael Eisner.

SOURCE: Slate, June 16, 2004

More web links related to this story are available at:

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2004.html#1087358404

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

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1087358404

 

 

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