THE WEEKLY SPIN, April 18, 2007 Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:58:16 -0500 (CDT) THE WEEKLY SPIN, APRIL 18, 2007 Sponsored by the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy: http://www.prwatch.org WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO KEEP DOING WHAT WE DO! To donate, please visit: https://secure.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/cmd/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1107 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 nearly 25,000 subscribers. -------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK'S NEWS == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. Onward, Free Market Soldiers: Privatizing Public Diplomacy == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. New Participatory Project: Adding Examples of Greenwash to SourceWatch == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. GoodWorks Means Good Money For Andrew Young in Nigeria 2. How Hill & Knowlton Pioneered Unsound Science 3. AT&T, Verizon Reach Out and Co-Opt Someone 4. NIH Cancels Contract with Conflicted Consultants 5. Former President To Address Washington Times Birthday Bash 6. Last U.S. Newspaper Bureau in Canada to Close 7. European Ban on Drug Ads Under Pressure 8. AP Photographer Marks One Year in U.S. Prison Camp 9. Iraq: Why the Media Failed 10. Swift Boat Firm Helps Abstinence Group Court Public Opinion == UPCOMING EVENTS == Tuesday, April 24, 2007, 5:30 p.m.: Stauber Speaking in San Francisco on the Iraq War - 'War Is Sell' -------------------------------------------------------------------- == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. ONWARD, FREE MARKET SOLDIERS: PRIVATIZING PUBLIC DIPLOMACY by Diane Farsetta U.S. Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes' remarks at the "Private Sector Summit on Public Diplomacy" opened on a militaristic note. "Looking around the room and seeing the quality and the scope of the talent represented here," she said, "I feel like reinforcements have arrived." Given Hughes' membership in the White House Iraq Group, a key part of the Bush administration's Iraq War "sell job," perhaps her choice of imagery isn't surprising. But are her new corporate "troops" well suited for the job of public diplomacy? The January 2007 public diplomacy summit was co-sponsored by the State Department and the PR Coalition, an "ad hoc partnership" of groups representing the public relations, investor relations, lobbying and other communications professions. Nearly 160 PR executives and government officials attended, engaging "in a dialogue over how the private sector can become more involved in and supportive of U.S. public diplomacy," in the words of PR Coalition chair and Accenture PR chief James Murphy. To read the rest of this item, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/5967 == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. NEW PARTICIPATORY PROJECT: ADDING EXAMPLES OF GREENWASH TO SOURCEWATCH http://www.prwatch.org/node/5968 In the last few weeks we have fielded inquiries from journalists around the world seeking recent local examples of greenwashing. Given that the article on greenwashing has ranked up amongst the top 50 articles in terms of the number of readers over the last few months, we figure it is time to add some recent case studies. So if you have an example that springs to mind, here's your chance to add it to our collection. Please go to http://www.prwatch.org/node/5968 for specifics on what we are looking for help on! SOURCE: Greenwashing Examples for SourceWatch == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. GOODWORKS MEANS GOOD MONEY FOR ANDREW YOUNG IN NIGERIA http://www.prwatch.org/node/5969 PR executive Andrew Young parlayed his civil rights and liberal political background into a lucrative career representing Wal-Mart Stores, Nike and other corporations. The New York Times examines the role of Young and his firm GoodWorks International in Nigeria, reporting that "GoodWorks is paid to represent many major companies like Chevron, General Electric and Motorola that seek big contracts from the Nigerian government. In addition, executives of GoodWorks have stakes in Nigeria's oil industry, the country's main source of wealth. And several years ago, the firm's chief executive, Carlton A. Masters, started an American company with close relatives of President Obasanjo ... . Mr. Masters said that GoodWorks typically received a 'success fee' equal to 1.5 percent of a contract's value, a fee that can lead to big payouts. In 2005, for example, G.E. Energy, a GoodWorks client, won a $400 million contract to supply generating turbines in Nigeria." SOURCE: New York Times, April 18, 2007 2. HOW HILL & KNOWLTON PIONEERED UNSOUND SCIENCE http://www.prwatch.org/node/5964 In the 1950s, with the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer becoming well established, the tobacco industry was in crisis. Its PR strategy, devised by the firm Hill & Knowlton, was "entangling itself in the manipulation of fundamental scientific processes," as Allan Brandt describes in his new book, "The Cigarette Century." It was Hill & Knowlton's John Hill who "hit on the idea of creating an industry-sponsored research entity. Ultimately, he concluded, the best public relations approach was for the industry to become a major sponsor of medical research." This approach "implied that existing studies were inadequate or flawed," and made the tobacco industry "seem a committed participant in the scientific enterprise rather than a detractor." In 1953, tobacco companies jointly released a Hill & Knowlton-drafted memo that stated, "We always have and always will cooperate closely with those whose task it is to safeguard the public health." The industry also created the "Tobacco Industry Research Committee." SOURCE: AlterNet, April 16, 2007 3. AT&T, VERIZON REACH OUT AND CO-OPT SOMEONE http://www.prwatch.org/node/5962 Telecom analyst Bruce Kushnick writes that "Astroturf and co-opted groups representing the deaf, disabled, black, low income and others" are "touting a plan to loosen cable franchise rules for the phone companies." He asks, "What do these groups" -- including the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Consumers for Cable Choice, Video Access Alliance, League of United Latin American Citizens, Alliance for Public Technology, National Association of the Deaf, and American Association of People with Disabilities -- "have in common? They all receive funding from AT&T and/or Verizon, and then lobby for them." This "deception ... is about playing on America's caring about the public interest and about minorities getting a fair shake," Kushnick concludes. Worse, "these organizations have very deep-pocketed funders with lobbying groups, PR firms and others to get them the loudest 'volume' in the media or access to regulators and legislators. They often overwhelm the message of independent consumer groups." SOURCE: Nieman Watchdog, April 4, 2007 4. NIH CANCELS CONTRACT WITH CONFLICTED CONSULTANTS http://www.prwatch.org/node/5961 Sciences International -- the firm that evaluated the safety of certain chemicals for the U.S. Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction, "helping the government determine whether they pose dangers to reproduction and newborn babies" -- has been fired by the federal government. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) and others had raised conflict-of-interest concerns, as Sciences International was doing government work while "on the payroll of Dow Chemical, BASF, 3M and other companies that produce some of the chemicals under scrutiny." EWG director Richard Wiles said, "Protecting the public health is one of those jobs that can't be farmed out to contractors who have huge conflicts of interest with polluters and chemical makers." Sciences International "was in the fourth year of a $5 million, five-year contract" with the National Institutes of Health, which houses the reproductive health center. SOURCE: Washington Post, April 14, 2007 5. FORMER PRESIDENT TO ADDRESS WASHINGTON TIMES BIRTHDAY BASH http://www.prwatch.org/node/5959 Former president George H. W. Bush will deliver the keynote address at the 25th anniversary celebration for The Washington Times (TWT) newspaper, which is owned by a company affiliated with Reverend Sun Myung Moon. One former reporter with the paper, George Archibald, recently wrote, "I cannot think of a worse period in the TWT newsroom's history since the paper's founding in May 1982 in terms of low reporter and editor morale and low productivity when it comes to really important breaking news scoops." Moon has sunk approximately $3 billion into the paper, which suffers from low circulation. However, Bill Berkowitz notes that "Moon is clearly still drawing A-listers into his sphere, as evidenced by the upcoming appearance of George H.W. Bush at the paper's anniversary bash." Moon will also be in attendance and address the celebration. SOURCE: Media Transparency, April 12, 2007 6. LAST U.S. NEWSPAPER BUREAU IN CANADA TO CLOSE http://www.prwatch.org/node/5957 The Washington Post will close its Toronto bureau this summer, and with it, end direct coverage of Canadian issues by American newspaper correspondents. Permanent bureaus will be replaced by wire services, contract writers, freelancers and reporters deployed to cover specific events. Jill Carroll, a Christian Science Monitor correspondent in the Middle East, found an estimated 10 percent drop in foreign bureaus in the U.S. print media since 2000 and about a 30 percent decrease in the number of correspondents over the same time period. This trend has accelerated thanks to the costs of maintaining coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with no end in sight for those conflicts. "The thing you lose when you close a bureau or cut a beat is you lose expertise and you lose your attention," explained Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar at the Poynter Institute. "The value of the bureau is that when a newspaper plants a reporter somewhere, they're saying they think the place is important and what is happening in the place is newsworthy." SOURCE: The Toronto Star, April 3, 2007 7. EUROPEAN BAN ON DRUG ADS UNDER PRESSURE http://www.prwatch.org/node/5955 Later this month, proposals "that would jeopardise the current ban on direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs" in the European Union will be unveiled, reports Hannah Brown. The European Commission, which drafts legislation for the European Parliament, suffered a humiliating defeat when similar proposals to weaken the ban were resoundingly rejected in 2002. The commission is expected to propose that drug companies be allowed to provide "information," but not engage in product-specific advertising. "There is no discussion of whether industry is going to be an unbiased source about its own or other products or decisions not to treat," said Barbara Mintzes from the University of British Columbia. A coalition of public health groups opposing the anticipated changes argue that "relevant, comparative and appropriate information on health issues cannot be provided by drug companies," because they focus on promoting their product and ignore alternative, non-drug treatments. SOURCE: British Medical Journal (sub req'd), March 31, 2007 8. AP PHOTOGRAPHER MARKS ONE YEAR IN U.S. PRISON CAMP http://www.prwatch.org/node/5954 For one year, Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein has been "held at a prison camp in Iraq by U.S. military officials who have neither formally charged him with a crime nor made public any evidence of wrongdoing," AP reports. Hussein "was taken prisoner in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on April 12, 2006." The director of the Committee to Protect Journalists commented, "It's unfathomable to me why, after an entire year, there has been no progress in terms of the legal process moving ahead." A Pentagon spokesperson pointed to four reviews of Hussein's case, each of which "determined Hussein represented an imperative threat to security and recommended continued detention," he said. AP, "numerous journalism organizations ... and many newspapers," have called for Hussein's release. AP executive editor Kathleen Carroll said, "The absence of evidence leads to the conclusion that Bilal is being held because of the photographs he took for the AP -- which were published around the world -- and which were part of AP's Pulitzer Prize-winning submission in 2005." SOURCE: Associated Press, April 11, 2007 9. IRAQ: WHY THE MEDIA FAILED http://www.prwatch.org/node/5953 "It's no secret that the period of time between 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq represents one of the greatest collapses in the history of the American media," observes Gary Kamiya. "Why did the media fail so disastrously in its response to the biggest issue of a generation? To answer this, we need to look at three broad, interrelated areas, which I have called psychological, institutional and ideological. The media had serious preexisting weaknesses on all three fronts, and when a devastating terrorist attack and a radical, reckless and duplicitous administration came together, the result was a perfect storm." In the "psychological" category, he points to "the subtle, internalized, often unconscious way that the media conforms and defers to certain sacrosanct values and ideals. ... It's reflected in a cautious, centrist media that defers to accepted national dogmas." Institutionally, "The decline of newspapers, the rise of infotainment, and media company owners' insistence on delivering high returns to their shareholders have diminished resources and led to a bottom-line fixation unconducive to aggressive reporting." And ideologically, "the U.S. media works within a tiny ideological spectrum on the Middle East, using the same center-right and right-wing sources again and again." SOURCE: Salon.com, April 10, 2007 10. SWIFT BOAT FIRM HELPS ABSTINENCE GROUP COURT PUBLIC OPINION http://www.prwatch.org/node/5951 "Using membership dues paid in part by federal tax dollars, the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) hired the Washington, DC, public relations firm, Creative Response Concepts," writes Scott Swenson. CRC -- best known as the PR firm for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who smeared 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry -- will be heading a "proactive rapid response initiative to counteract negative attacks on abstinence education," reports O'Dwyer's PR Daily. The Nation's blog notes that the formation of NAEA and its hiring of a well-connected conservative PR firm comes after "a frigid winter for the abstinence-only crowd." The Government Accountability Office criticized the funding of abstinence-only programs without checking their "education materials for scientific accuracy," while the Institute of Medicine faulted abstinence programs in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as jeopardizing "the vitally important end of saving lives." That's not to mention that the abstinence-only programs "favored by Republicans and their conservative allies have lost momentum with the Democratic takeover of Congress," as O'Dwyer's observes. SOURCE: RH Reality Check blog, April 4, 2007 == UPCOMING EVENTS == STAUBER SPEAKING IN SAN FRANCISCO ON THE IRAQ WAR - 'WAR IS SELL' Tuesday, April 24, 2007, 5:30 p.m. John Stauber founded the Center for Media and Democracy in 1993 and has written about war and propaganda for over a decade. In his view the Bush administration has delivered defeat in Iraq by becoming entrapped in its own propaganda. He will examine how the U.S. media often behave like a propaganda arm of the government, and how recent attacks on independent journalists led CMD to launch the Defend the Press campaign. He will also talk about how the Democratic and Republican Parties are framing the war in Iraq for the 2008 elections. Location: CommonWealth Club, 595 Market Street, San Francisco, CA Event URL: http://commonwealthclub.org/mlf/#stauber -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Weekly Spin is compiled by staff of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), a nonprofit public interest organization. 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