THE WEEKLY SPIN, July 11, 2007 Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 10:33:37 -0500 (CDT) THE WEEKLY SPIN, JULY 11, 2007 == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. Women in Government, Merck's Trojan Horse: Part Three in a Series on the Politics and PR of Cervical Cancer 2. Channeling Fox through the Wall Street Journal? == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. New Participatory Project: Update SourceWatch Information on HPV State Legislation == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. Bush Approval Hits New Low 2. Breaking Up (In PR) Is Hard To Do 3. Green as in Money 4. Future Freedom 5. Cherie Blair to Represent Club Owner on Smoking Ban Challenge 6. Stauber 'On The Media' & Greenwashing 7. From Bank to Tank: Wolfowitz Lands Back at AEI 8. Let's Picko on Sicko -------------------------------------------------------------------- == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT, MERCK'S TROJAN HORSE: PART THREE IN A SERIES ON THE POLITICS AND PR OF CERVICAL CANCER by Judith Siers-Poisson In parts one and two of this four part series, "Setting the Stage", and "Research, Develop, and Sell, Sell, Sell", we've looked at the basic facts of Human papillomavirus (HPV) and its link to cervical cancer, and the Merck vaccine Gardasil that is touted as the first ever vaccine against cancer. We examined the PR and marketing push for Gardasil that began even before FDA approval, and two non-profit organizations that helped Merck exploit their current corner on the HPV vaccine market. In this article, we'll analyze the push for mandated HPV vaccination of adolescent girls that is taking place at the state level throughout the U.S., and the non-profit organization, Women in Government (WIG). WIG has been Merck's non-profit front and direct channel to state-level legislators who are the key to enacting mandates. To read the rest of this item, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/6232 2. CHANNELING FOX THROUGH THE WALL STREET JOURNAL? by Anne Landman As Australian-born media magnate Rupert Murdoch gets ever closer to adding the coveted Wall Street Journal to his media empire, it is instructive to examine how Murdoch's ownership and corporate relationships have affected media coverage in the past. Information on this can be found in tobacco industry documents. To read the rest of this item, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/6219 == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. NEW PARTICIPATORY PROJECT: UPDATE SOURCEWATCH INFORMATION ON HPV STATE LEGISLATION http://www.prwatch.org/node/6249 If you have been reading the four-article series on The Politics and PR of Cervical Cancer, you may be wondering about what is going on in your state. We would like to have that information on our SourceWatch site, so that others can easily find it. In the section of the Gardasil article dealing with state level legislation, we have articles set up for each state and U.S. territory. Please help us fill in current information. There are several resources that may be useful. One is the campaign page of Women in Government, Merck's lobbying partner. WIG provide a map with indications of what types of legislation are enacted or introduced in each state. There is also information at Kaiser Network's web site. The National Conference of State Legislatures also provides a list of current HPV legislation and its status. If this is your first time editing on SourceWatch, please go to SourceWatch.org for information. Have fun, and thanks for joining the CMD Truth Squad! SOURCE: SourceWatch == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. BUSH APPROVAL HITS NEW LOW http://www.prwatch.org/node/6247 The latest Gallup poll shows that only 29 percent of Americans approve of President Bush's job performance -- the lowest rating that Gallup has measured for Bush, and one of the lowest for any president since Gallup first began conducting surveys. "Gallup has recorded 1,325 presidential job approval ratings since 1938, and only 42 -- or 3% -- have been below 30%," reports the Gallup website. Not surprisingly, the White House has stepped up its tough talk against Democrats, reflecting the arrival of White House Counselor Ed Gillespie. SOURCE: The Gallup Poll, July 10, 2007 2. BREAKING UP (IN PR) IS HARD TO DO http://www.prwatch.org/node/6246 Mark Penn, CEO of the PR firm Burson-Marsteller and chief campaign strategist for Hillary Clinton, is back in the news. Two weeks ago Penn, Schoen & Berland (PSB) filed a lawsuit against a former partner in the firm, Michael Berland, and a former vice-president, Mitchell E. Markel. PSB alleged that Markel's new company, Global Insights & Strategies, LLC, was soliciting their clients in breach of no-compete clauses in contracts with the two former staff. In response, Markel has filed a counter-suit alleging that emails quoted by PSB in the suit revealed that their confidential communications had been intercepted. Associated Press reports that PSB is accused of "hacking into Markel's Blackberry and rigging his e-mail accounts to send blind carbon copies of his e-mails to another account that it had set up." PSB's attorney, Howard Rubin, stated that "the e-mails came in on our own e-mail account" but declined to elaborate. SOURCE: Associated Press, July 3, 2007 3. GREEN AS IN MONEY http://www.prwatch.org/node/6245 The UK Telegraph notes that "it is not just politicians and rock stars who are trying to persuade people to reduce their carbon footprint. Banks, lenders and fund managers are dreaming up ethical options for environmentally aware customers. ... The question is whether these products really make a difference, or whether it is simply a case of providers jumping on the green bandwagon. ... Sarah-Jayne Clifton of Friends of the Earth says: 'Naturally we welcome any move to reduce CO2 emissions but you can't help thinking that some are cynical attempts to cash in without making any real changes.' " Meanwhile, Shell has been ordered by a Dutch agency to stop running a greenwashing advertisement that shows a smokestack spewing flowers. SOURCE: The Telegraph, July 9, 2007 4. FUTURE FREEDOM http://www.prwatch.org/node/6244 An Australian government agency has refused to release the results of market research on controversial labor de-regulation laws until after the next federal election. "The disclosure of the reports could have a tendency to encourage the public's consideration of matters on the basis of misleading impressions," Ted Cole form the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations wrote in response to a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Sydney Morning Herald. The Freedom of Information legislation has the aim of extending "as far as possible, the Australian community's right of access to information in the possession of the Commonwealth." However, Cole claimed that the immediate release of the 2005 survey results "could tend to encourage speculative and ill-informed public debate". SOURCE: Sydney Morning Herald, July 3, 2007 5. CHERIE BLAIR TO REPRESENT CLUB OWNER ON SMOKING BAN CHALLENGE http://www.prwatch.org/node/6243 Cherie Blair Tony Blair's wife, lawyer and barrister Cherie Blair, is representing David West, the owner of the sex-themed London nightclub Hey Jo. The flamboyant, pink-suited millionaire is challenging the U.K. government's July 1 ban on smoking in enclosed spaces on the grounds that, since he lives above his nightclub, Hey Jo is an extension of his home and thus smoking should be allowed. In taking on the case Mrs. Blair, a human rights lawyer who operates under her professional name of Cherie Booth QC, will be challenging the public health law enacted by her husband. West recently showed Booth around Hey Jo, which features mens-room urinals shaped like lips and waitresses dressed like naughty nurses. Not surprisingly, West's associate Harry Barnett told PR Week that they are looking for a PR agency to help out. SOURCE: BBC News, June 22, 2007 6. STAUBER 'ON THE MEDIA' & GREENWASHING http://www.prwatch.org/node/6231 CMD's John Stauber is a guest this week on National Public Radio's nationally syndicated On The Media program. You can listen online by clicking here. Despite decades of deceptive PR by the oil, auto and coal industries, the public's perception is catching up to the scientific consensus that global climate change is real. The news media has rediscovered environmentalism, and corporate advertisers are greenwashing themselves like crazy, pandering to the public's concerns. In this five-minute radio interview Stauber takes aim at BP's "beyond petroleum" marketing campaign, and Coca-Cola Company's funneling of twenty million dollars to WWF in a mutually beneficial PR effort that masks Coke's abysmal environmental and social justice record. SOURCE: NPR's On The Media, July 6, 2007 7. FROM BANK TO TANK: WOLFOWITZ LANDS BACK AT AEI http://www.prwatch.org/node/6230 One of the architects of the war in Iraq for the Bush Administration and former World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz, has landed a role as a Visiting Scholar at the conservative think tank, the American Enterprise Institute. The Washington Post notes "Wolfowitz has a long association with AEI, serving as an adviser before joining the Pentagon in 2001." Wolfowitz was one of the early founders of PNAC, the Project for the New American Century, itself closely tied to AEI. In March, the Washington Post revealed that Wolfowitz's partner, Shaha Riza, had been promoted in the World Bank before transferring to a public diplomacy role with Karen Hughes at the U.S. State Department. The discovery that Riza had landed a major pay raise as a result of Wolfowitz's intervention fueled protests by World Bank staff and eventually led to Wolfowitz's resignation. The AEI states that Wolfowitz will be working on "entrepreneurship and development issues, Africa, and public-private partnerships." SOURCE: Washington Post, July 3, 2007 8. LET'S PICKO ON SICKO http://www.prwatch.org/node/6229 A Google advertising sales rep has apologized after using her company blog to urge healthcare companies to take out Google ads attacking Michael Moore's new movie, "Sicko." Moore "attacks health insurers, health providers, and pharmaceutical companies by connecting them to isolated and emotional stories of the system at its worst," wrote Lauren Turner. "Moore's film portrays the industry as money and marketing driven, and fails to show healthcare's interest in patient well-being and care." In response, she suggested, Google ads can help companies "better manage their reputations through 'Get the Facts' or issue management campaigns. ... We can place text ads, video ads, and rich media ads in paid search results or in relevant websites within our ever-expanding content network." After coming under heavy criticism from non-Google bloggers, Turner beat a hasty retreat, writing that her statement was just "my personal opinion." According to a report in Forbes, however, "The incident does more than call attention to Google's ever-cozier relationships with corporate advertisers as it deepens its role as an online advertising agency: It also highlights Google's unorthodox use of bloggers to communicate with the public. Google has long used blogs as a casual form of public relations, both on its official sites and on the personal sites of its employees, sometimes blurring the line between the two." SOURCE: Forbes, July 2, 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 subscribers. 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@prwatch.org. To subscribe to the Weekly Spin, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/sub 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 Contributions to the Center for Media and Democracy are tax-deductible. To donate now online, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/donate Don't want to receive this email? Unsubscribe at http://www.prwatch.org/unsub