The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, September 15, 2004

[Guest guest]

> 15 Sep 2004 05:00:01 -0000

 

> The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, September 15,

> 2004

> weekly-spin-admin

>

> THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, September 15, 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. Vote Weekly Spin: Your Input Needed!

> 2. NY Times Says Wal-Mart Needs Better Story, Not

> More Spin

> 3. Former Clinton Press Secretary Joins

> Kerry-Edwards Campaign

> 4. The Additive Effect of Ad Agencies

> 5. I'm Responsible, if I Do Say So Myself

> 6. Foyled Again, by Big Tobacco

> 7. Who's Driving the SUV Owners of America?

> 8. Dusty Deception

> 9. E-Voting: Follow the Money

> 10. Marketplace of Campaign Ideas

> 11. Freedom of the Press, to Obey

> 12. Former Foreign Friends

> 13. Greening ExxonMobil

> 14. Nutri-washing Junk Food

> 15. Super Sue Me

> 16. Lobby, Lobby, Lobby, I'm a Liberal

>

----

>

> 1. VOTE WEEKLY SPIN: YOUR INPUT NEEDED!

>

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

> We need your help - to make our website and our

> Weekly Spin

> mailings more interesting and useful to you!

> Please take a few

> minutes to fill out a brief survey for the Center

> for Media and

> Democracy, at the above link. We need your

> responses by Wednesday,

> September 29. As a small thank-you for your time,

> everyone who

> fills out the survey 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. If you have any questions, feel

> free to contact

> Diane at 608-260-9713 or diane AT prwatch.org.

> Thank you!

> SOURCE: Center for Media and Democracy, September

> 15, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095220800

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095220800

>

> 2. NY TIMES SAYS WAL-MART NEEDS BETTER STORY, NOT

> MORE SPIN

>

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/14/opinion/14tue4.html

> Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott recently said, " We have

> not gotten our

> story out to the extent that we need to. " The head

> of the global

> super store told a retailing conference that

> Wal-Mart's bad

> reputation came from newspapers and television.

> But a New York

> Times editorial responded that " if Wal-Mart wants

> to improve its

> image, it should focus less on shaping its message

> and more on

> changing the way it does business. ... These

> damaging news stories

> are not a product of bad spin, but bad facts. If

> Wal-Mart wants to

> do a better job in telling its story, it needs to

> work on having a

> better story to tell. " PR Week reports that

> Wal-Mart is expanding

> its media relations team. " There's an

> acknowledgement throughout

> the company of the importance of using the media

> to tell our

> story, " a company spokesperson said. " We're now

> putting more

> resources behind doing that. " Trade publication

> O'Dwyer's PR Daily

> call Wal-Mart's media department, asking for

> comment on the Times

> editorial. But the company said it had not decided

> whether or not

> to respond. PR giant Fleishman-Hillard is helping

> Wal-Mart with its

> image makeover.

> SOURCE: New York Times, September 14, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095134403

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095134403

>

> 3. FORMER CLINTON PRESS SECRETARY JOINS

> KERRY-EDWARDS CAMPAIGN

>

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-14-kerry\

-mccurry_x.htm

> Former White House press secretary Mike McCurry

> joins the

> Kerry-Edwards campaign as a senior media advisor

> this week. The

> Associated Press writes that " the hiring is an

> acknowledgment that

> Kerry and his team have failed to communicate a

> concise, persuasive

> argument. " McCurry served as press secretary from

> 1995 to 1998,

> helping former President Bill Clinton through the

> Monica Lewinsky

> scandal. Currently he is chairman of Grassroots

> Enterprises, which

> specializes in online PR, and a principal at

> Public Strategies

> Washington, a lobbying firm that counts as clients

> Bristol-Myers

> Squibb, Edison Electric, Lockheed Martin, and the

> United States

> Chamber of Commerce. (Ironically, PR Week reports,

> " The US Chamber

> of Commerce is helping to launch a 527 group

> assailing vice

> presidential candidate John Edwards for his former

> career as a

> trial lawyer. The effort will be led by

> Burson-Marsteller COO Ken

> Rietz. " ) Also joining the Kerry campaign are two

> other Clinton

> alumni - former press secretary Joe Lockhart, a

> partner at the

> Glover Park Group, and former legislative

> strategist Joel Johnson,

> who's co-founder and managing director of The

> Harbour Group, a PR

> and crisis communications firm, PR Week reports.

> SOURCE: USA Today, September 14, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095134402

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095134402

>

> 4. THE ADDITIVE EFFECT OF AD AGENCIES

>

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109511119153916631,00.html?mod=mm%5Fhs%5Fadve\

rtising

> " WPP Group's agreement to buy Grey Global Group

> solidifies ad

> industry power in the hands of four big firms, "

> reports the Wall

> Street Journal. " The takeover also will give WPP

> access to Grey's

> long relationships with such clients as Procter &

> Gamble, one of

> the world's biggest advertising spenders. ...

> During the past

> decade, ad holding companies rushed to gobble up

> agencies to serve

> more clients. ... As a result of the buying

> binges, the big four ad

> holding companies are WPP [of Britain]; Omnicom

> and Interpublic

> Group, both of New York; and France's Publicis

> Groupe " - all of

> which, except for Publicis, have their own PR

> firms.

> SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095134401

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095134401

>

> 5. I'M RESPONSIBLE, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF

>

http://www.greenconsumerguide.com/index.php?news=2156

> The environmental group Friends of the Earth will

> hold " a mock

> awards ceremony aimed at exposing the green spin

> and corporate

> social responsibility failings of UK companies. "

> CSR is big

> business; a recent APCO Worldwide survey of more

> than 400 people in

> 10 countries found that " corporate social

> responsibility

> initiatives are influential on consumer purchase

> habits. " CSR

> efforts caused more than 70% of respondents to buy

> a company's

> products or services, while negative reports led

> 60% to boycott

> companies. APCO suggests companies " shape the

> opinion environment

> through their own communications, as opposed to

> fearing the impact

> of information from external [independent]

> organizations. "

> SOURCE: Green Consumer Guide, September 14, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095134400

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095134400

>

> 6. FOYLED AGAIN, BY BIG TOBACCO

>

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109503368828415904,00.html?mod=us_business_wh\

ats_news

> In 1990, British lawyer Andrew Foyle wrote a

> memorandum to British

> American Tobacco regarding the company's " document

> retention

> policy. " U.S. government lawyers contend the Foyle

> memo provides

> information on tobacco companies' actions " to

> destroy, suppress or

> otherwise shield from discovery ... internal

> research documents

> concerning smoking and health. " The U.S. is

> seeking release of the

> memo for use in its $280 billion lawsuit against

> big tobacco; BAT

> is claiming attorney-client privilege. A federal

> district court has

> ordered BAT to release the memo at least three

> times, but the

> company's challenges will delay the memo's

> potential release until

> after the U.S. lawsuit.

> SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095048001

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095048001

>

> 7. WHO'S DRIVING THE SUV OWNERS OF AMERICA?

>

http://prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=222004 & site=3

> " It's hard to believe that there isn't an attempt

> to deceive here, "

> writes PR commentator Paul Holmes, considering the

> industry group

> SUV Owners of America's self-description, on its

> website, as " a

> nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to

> supporting the rights

> and serving the interests of SUV owners, "

> providing a " voice and

> advocate for SUV owners. " But Holmes notes that

> " its board of

> directors consists largely of industry reps and

> public affairs

> execs with ties to the industry. " Moreover, " the

> group's funding is

> opaque: It's certainly not explained on SUVOA's

> website or in its

> press releases. And that's my problem with front

> groups. "

> SOURCE: PR Week (sub. req'd.), September 13, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095048000

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095048000

>

> 8. DUSTY DECEPTION

>

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=560842

> " Up to 400,000 New Yorkers breathed in the most

> toxic polluting

> cloud ever recorded after the twin towers were

> brought down three

> years ago, but no proper effort has been made to

> find out how their

> health has been affected. [A] US government study

> provides the

> latest evidence of a systematic cover-up of the

> health toll from

> pollution after the 9/11 disaster, which doctors

> fear will cause

> more deaths than the attacks themselves, " the

> Independent writes.

> The Government Accountability Office report

> " September 11: Health

> Effects in the Aftermath of the World Trade Center

> Attack "

> concludes that programs monitoring the long-term

> health effects of

> the attacks may not be " in operation long enough

> to adequately

> capture information about new conditions, chronic

> conditions, and

> diseases whose onset may occur decades after

> exposure to a harmful

> agent, such as many cancers. "

> SOURCE: The Independent, September 12, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094961601

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094961601

>

> 9. E-VOTING: FOLLOW THE MONEY

>

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-09-12-electronic-ballots_x.\

htm

> " In Nye County, Nevada, last week, one of the new,

> highly touted

> electronic-voting devices ... malfunctioned. When

> the polls closed

> in the state primary election, it refused to

> display the results,

> threatening to disenfranchise everyone who'd used

> it, " reports USA

> Today. The head of the industry group Information

> Technology

> Association of America, writing for ITAA's

> Election Technology

> Council, counters, " Critics have yet to document a

> single

> real-world security breach, " and calls the Nevada

> election

> " well-run " and " incident-free. " The New York Times

> warns that many

> state and local election officials " have financial

> ties to voting

> machine companies, " an issue we covered in our

> last PR Watch

> journal.

> SOURCE: USA Today, September 12, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094961600

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094961600

>

> 10. MARKETPLACE OF CAMPAIGN IDEAS

>

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/advertising/articles/2004/09/10/more_smaller\

_groups_airing_political_ads/

> " If you're some group with an agenda, an ax to

> grind or an issue to

> promote, now's the time, " said the Campaign Media

> Analysis Group's

> president. " Political advertising by smaller

> groups, and

> individuals in some cases, is popping up across

> the country, "

> reports Associated Press, " on top of the millions

> of dollars that

> larger, partisan groups have spent " on ads.

> Conservative groups

> West Virginians for Life, the American Defense

> Council and

> MoveOnForAmerica.org, and liberal groups Save Our

> Environment,

> Mothers Opposing Bush and Texans for Truth are

> running TV and/or

> radio ads.

> SOURCE: Associated Press, September 10, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094788801

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094788801

>

> 11. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, TO OBEY

>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9703-2004Sep9.html

> After seven AIDS activists disrupted a

> Pennsylvania campaign

> appearance by President Bush, " Secret Service

> agents ... supervised

> the arrests and detention of the activists and

> blocked the news

> media from access to the hecklers. ... Journalists

> were told that

> if they sought to approach the demonstrators, they

> would not be

> allowed to return to the event site - even though

> their colleagues

> were free to come and go. ... One journalist who

> was blocked from

> returning to the speech [was told by an agent]

> that this was

> punishment for approaching the demonstrators. "

> SOURCE: Washington Post, September 10, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094788800

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094788800

>

> 12. FORMER FOREIGN FRIENDS

>

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=559672

> " Seven out of 10 Americans are worried about the

> worsening of their

> country's image around the world, " according to a

> new poll by the

> University of Maryland and Globescan, " although

> almost

> three-quarters said world opinion would have no

> impact on their

> vote " for president. A German Marshall Fund

> transatlantic poll

> found that " 76 percent of Europeans disapprove of

> current U.S.

> foreign policy, and 58 percent of them want Europe

> to take a more

> independent approach to foreign affairs, " which is

> " bad news for

> the 60 percent of Americans who say they would

> like the U.S. to

> strengthen its partnership with the European

> Union. "

> SOURCE: Independent (UK), September 9, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094702400

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094702400

>

> 13. GREENING EXXONMOBIL

> http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0908exxon.htm

> " Weber Shandwick is handling the 'greening' of

> ExxonMobil Corp. by

> promoting an alliance forged between the energy

> giant and Earth

> 911, a government/private sector entity with the

> motto of 'making

> every day Earth Day,' " O'Dwyer's PR Daily writes.

> " The partnership

> aims to educate consumers about the importance of

> recycling used

> motor oil. ExxonMobil will provide funding for

> Earth 911 in return

> for the right to slap the group's logo on its

> Exxon- and

> Mobil-branded products. Earth 911's public service

> announcements

> will feature the Mobil 1 logo and the location of

> used motor oil

> collection sites. Earth 911's corporate partners

> include

> Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, Aluminum Assn. of

> America and Vertex

> Energy, a company that recycles petroleum

> products. The

> ExxonMobil/Earth 911 partnership comes 15 years

> after the Exxon

> Valdez dumped 11 million gallons of oil into

> Alaska's Prince

> William Sound. "

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

> 8, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094616005

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094616005

>

> 14. NUTRI-WASHING JUNK FOOD

>

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/09/08/EDG\

LE8JMHR1.DTL

> " Years ago, the environmental movement coined the

> term

> " greenwashing " to describe how corporations use

> public relations to

> make themselves appear environmentally friendly.

> Now, nutrition

> advocates need their own moniker for a similar

> trend among major

> food companies - call it 'nutri-washing,' " writes

> Michele Simon, a

> public health lawyer and director of the Center

> for Informed Food

> Choices. " Some nutrition advocates have applauded

> such efforts as

> an attempt by industry to make improvements,

> however minor. But to

> praise companies for such 'reforms' too easily

> rewards them with

> the positive public-relations spin they seek.

> Also, these voluntary

> actions deliberately attempt to deflect any

> mandatory government

> regulations - for, as we are starting to learn,

> voluntary acts can

> easily be rescinded. ... Moreover, these PR

> efforts don't tell the

> whole story. Behind the scenes, industry is

> lobbying hard to

> undermine public-health advocacy, especially that

> aimed at

> improving the nutrition environment of public

> schools. "

> SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, September 8, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094616003

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094616003

>

> 15. SUPER SUE ME

>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1299208,00.html

> British environmental activists David Morris and

> Helen Steel, found

> guilty of defaming McDonald's in 1997, are

> challenging English

> libel law before the European Court of Human

> Rights. They call the

> law " patently unfair " for not addressing " the

> stark inequality

> between ordinary individuals and a massive

> corporation. " McDonald's

> global sales rose from $19 to $30 billion during

> the McLibel trial.

> " During the same period, " said the activists'

> lawyer, " Ms. Steel's

> maximum income was 65 Pounds ($116 US) a week ...

> and Mr. Morris, a

> single parent, was unwaged and entirely dependent

> on income

> support. " The British government's lawyer warned

> of " one-sided

> campaigns of vilification. "

> SOURCE: The Guardian (UK), September 8, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094616002

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094616002

>

> 16. LOBBY, LOBBY, LOBBY, I'M A LIBERAL

>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3731-2004Sep7.html

> Further illustrating " the revolving door that

> exists between those

> who run campaigns and those who lobby, " the Kerry

> campaign's recent

> hires -- Joel Johnson, Joe Lockhart, Howard

> Wolfson and Michael

> Whouley -- are all lobbyists, as well as

> Democratic strategists.

> Johnson directs the Harbour Group, a frequent

> Alexander Strategy

> Group partner whose clients include the oil and

> pharmaceutical

> industries. Johnson also represented the Asbestos

> Study Group

> industry coalition. Whouley's Dewey Square Group,

> " one of the

> country's foremost experts in so-called

> grass-roots and grass-tops

> lobbying, " often works with the DCI Group.

> Lockhart and Wolfson are

> partners at the Glover Park Group. Doug Ireland

> notes that " on

> CNN's Inside Politics, Jesse Jackson delivered a

> blistering attack

> on the Kerry campaign for running away from the

> Democratic base and

> the issues it cares about. "

> SOURCE: Washington Post, September 8, 2004

> More web links related to this story are available

> at:

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094616001

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

>

>

http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094616001

>

>

>

----

>

> The Weekly Spin is compiled by staff and volunteers

> at the

> Center for Media and Democracy. To or

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