THE WEEKLY SPIN, September 5, 2007 Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 11:02:17 -0500 (CDT) THE WEEKLY SPIN, SEPTEMBER 5, 2007 == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. A Visit to OhmyNews 2. We Know What You Did Online Last Summer == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. Featured Participatory Project: Help Expose the Attempts to Spin Wikipedia (Week 2) == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. Philip Morris Tries Puffing Wikipedia 2. Report Our Troops 3. Afghanistan Lobbying Now "Critical Work" 4. Wikis Prove Tricky for PR Firms 5. Penn Ducks Disclosure 6. Literal "Whitewashing": The Chinese Show How PR is Done After Plane Catches Fire 7. David Horowitz Not Quite the Freedom Fighter He Claims to Be 8. Was Wikipedia Spinning Part of H&K's Maldives Work? 9. Bush's Surgeon General of Industry-Friendly Spin 10. Who's Footing Allawi's Lobbying Bill? 11. Outsourcing Firms Bring Lobbying Business to the U.S. -------------------------------------------------------------------- == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. A VISIT TO OHMYNEWS by Judith Siers-Poisson On my way home from conferences in Malaysia, I unexpectedly ended up spending a few days in Seoul, South Korea. Thanks to Dan Gillmor, who described OMN as the best manifestation of "journalism-as-a-conversation" model, I was able to connect with OhmyNews (OMN), and fortunate to meet with Mr. Jean Min, the director of OhmyNews International (OMNI), on August 22, 2007. OH MY WHAT? For those not familiar with OhmyNews, it is a very successful example of citizen journalism at work. In March, 2007, the San Francisco Chronicle called OhmyNews "the most successful citizen journalism effort so far." Based in Seoul, and founded in 2000 by Mr. Oh Yeon-ho, it provides citizen journalists the opportunity to publish original news pieces on the original Korean site, or the newer international site, which is in English. OhmyNews relies on the contributions of over 60,000 citizen reporters worldwide, and OhmyNews International has over 3,000 global citizen reporters writing stories in English from 100 countries. Working to support the citizen journalists are 90 staff members -- approximately 60 editorial staff and 30 tech and administrative. To read the rest of this item, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/6407 2. WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID ONLINE LAST SUMMER by Diane Farsetta Self-described "disruptive technologist" Virgil Griffith lists as his top aim in developing WikiScanner: "To create a fireworks display of public relations disasters in which everyone brings their own fireworks, and enjoys." Here at the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), we see WikiScanner as a great way to better understand how public relations firms and other "perception managers" are subverting online discussions and social media. And what better website to track this on than Wikipedia, the world's most popular wiki, or collaboratively edited website? To read the rest of this item, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/6398 == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. FEATURED PARTICIPATORY PROJECT: HELP EXPOSE THE ATTEMPTS TO SPIN WIKIPEDIA (WEEK 2) http://www.prwatch.org/node/6416 Last week we started a new participatory project to expose the government agencies, corporations and lobbying groups that have been censoring, whitewashing or otherwise spinning Wikipedia. (See CMD Senior Researcher Diane Farsetta's great blog post for some background on this sordid tale.) So far we've logged several attempts at spin into the respective SourceWatch profiles, including: *Chevron deleting the article on "Biodiesel"; *Military contractor Raytheon deleting information on them spying on their competitors and the U.S. Air Force; *Republican-friendly broadcaster Clear Channel adding allegations of plagiarism to Democratic Senate Candidate Al Franken's profile; *PR firm Hill & Knowlton removing descriptions of the political repression by the government of the Maldives, an H&K client; *Amway parent company Alticor removing descriptions of the company's use of "Google bombing" to drive down the search engine rankings of Web sites critical of the company; *Electronic voting machine company Diebold removing descriptions of the controversies surrounding their machines' failures and glitches; *Conservative news network Fox News changing Keith Olbermann's profile (and not in a good way - see Olbermann's reaction on this video). The information here is obviously very important and, thanks to SourceWatch's high rankings in Google searches, easily accessible to citizens, journalists and policymakers checking out the record of these politically active and high social-impact organizations. There are many dastardly edits left, however, and WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE SURE THEY AREN'T LOST TO HISTORY. There's no need for technical expertise, just go to http://www.prwatch.org/node/6416 and follow the links to the SourceWatch page for the project, where there are complete instructions, examples and an email hotline for support. If this is your first time editing on SourceWatch, go to www.SourceWatch.org for more information. And thanks! SOURCE: SourceWatch Project on Tracking Attempts to Spin Wikipedia == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. PHILIP MORRIS TRIES PUFFING WIKIPEDIA http://www.prwatch.org/node/6417 Thanks to WikiScanner, a program that allows users to check anonymous edits on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, CMD can report that in January 2005 someone on a computer mapping to the New York office of Philip Morris (PM) edited the Wikipedia article on Marlboro cigarettes. The edit deleted the statement that Marlboro "emerged as the number one youth-initiation brand." The attempt at puffing Wikipedia worked until the original statement was reinstated on August 26, 2007. While the statement remains unreferenced, the evidence supports its inclusion. In its Youth Tobacco Surveillance from 1998-1999 report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control state that "young people have strong cigarette brand preferences. Almost half of current smokers in both middle school and high school report that they usually smoke Marlboro cigarettes." The rest of the youth market was split between several other brands. SOURCE: Wikipedia/WikiScanner 2. REPORT OUR TROOPS http://www.prwatch.org/node/6415 Although supporting U.S. soldiers has been a constant theme in American political rhetoric, their needs and rights when they return home and readjust to civilian life have gone largely ignored. Journalist Aaron Glantz is attempting to fill this gap with a new website, WarComesHome.org, which features first-person accounts of US veterans. Soldiers profiled include Corporal Phillipe Louis Jean, who was thrown into an immigration prison after serving a tour in Iraq; Sergeant Todd Bowers, who returned from a second tour in Iraq to find his student loans had been sent to collection; and Specialist Joshua Casteel, who became a conscientious objector after working as a US Army interrogator at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison. "Too often the American media covers the Iraq war like it's a political wrestling match between President Bush and Democratic leaders in Congress," says Glantz. "But those of us who've seen the violence up close know the focus ought to be on the war's human costs. The Iraq war is really a story about people. Understanding their stories is the only way to unlock the truth." SOURCE: WarComesHome.org 3. AFGHANISTAN LOBBYING NOW "CRITICAL WORK" http://www.prwatch.org/node/6414 "DLA Piper, which has repped Afghanistan on a pro bono basis for the past five years, wants some cash from its client to cover the 'critical work that lies ahead,'" reports O'Dwyers. The Afghan government will pay the law and lobby firm $10,000 per month; expenses over that amount will be waived by the firm. The document (PDF file) that Piper filed with the U.S. Justice Department says that the firm with "work with the Embassy and the government of Afghanistan" to strengthen U.S.-Afghanstan ties, build "new investment opportunities in Afghanistan with the U.S. business community," and increase "the knowledge base about the government of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C." SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), September 4, 2007 4. WIKIS PROVE TRICKY FOR PR FIRMS http://www.prwatch.org/node/6413 Thanks to WikiScanner, more PR firms are coming under fire for making anonymous edits to Wikipedia that favored their clients. "Freud Communications' London office was caught making edits" on articles about Pizza Hut and Carphone Warehouse, reports PR Week. Freud Communications' Oliver Wheeler said the edits were "very factual" and "perfectly justifiable." Ketchum's vice-president of new media strategy, Gur Tsabar, said his firm advises clients to edit discussion pages only (not articles themselves), and to disclose their affiliations. The Center for Media and Democracy has used WikiScanner to track edits made on computers at Hill & Knowlton's UK office. The edits whitewashed human rights abuses by the government of the Maldives, which retained the firm in 2003. CMD has also found Wikipedia activity by other PR firms. See how you can join in the fun on our "Tracking attempts to spin Wikipedia" project page on SourceWatch. SOURCE: PR Week, August 31, 2007 5. PENN DUCKS DISCLOSURE http://www.prwatch.org/node/6403 Mark Penn, the CEO of the PR firm Burson-Marsteller, was tight-lipped when asked about his role as "chief strategist" for Hillary Clinton's campaign to be the Democratic Party nominee for president. "Both by custom and by contract, it is confidential," he said. Penn has co-authored a new book, "Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes." New York Times reporter Deborah Solomon asked Penn whether he'd "be more credible" if he disclosed who his corporate clients were. "I've worked for hundreds of clients. It's a false notion that my views are related to that. I'm not selling anything in this book," he responded. However, in May 2007, Bloomberg News reported that Penn wrote in a blog post that one of the benefits of "mixing of corporate and political work" was that it was "helpful in cross-pollinating new ideas and skills." "And," he added, "I have found it good for business." SOURCE: New York Times, September 2, 2007 6. LITERAL "WHITEWASHING": THE CHINESE SHOW HOW PR IS DONE AFTER PLANE CATCHES FIRE http://www.prwatch.org/node/6400 This bit of PR whitewashing comes very close to a literal definition. From a Japanese press account quoted in the "Telstar Logistics" blog: "China Airlines has painted over its name and logo on the wreckage of a passenger jet that exploded in flames at Naha Airport in Okinawa moments after passengers slid down emergency chutes to escape. The airline painted over the name 'China Airlines' on the left-hand side of the aircraft and the company's logo on the plane's tail fin. After the accident, photographs and video footage of the jet continued to appear in news reports, and the company apparently painted over the name and logo to limit further damage to its image." The full account (with pictures) is at Telstar Logistics, a blog described as "an ongoing experiment in corporate phenomenology, urban camouflage, and brand development." SOURCE: Telstar Logistics blog, August 23, 2007 7. DAVID HOROWITZ NOT QUITE THE FREEDOM FIGHTER HE CLAIMS TO BE http://www.prwatch.org/node/6399 "David Horowitz," Rick Perlstein writes at the Campaign for America's Future blog, "recently relayed to me the happy news that his David Horowitz Freedom Center had received a 'request from the head the FBI-California Highway Patrol Joint Counter-terrorism Task Force who called this week to ask if their group could use our flash video What Every American Needs to Know About Jihad as a training film.'" The problem, Perlstein points out, is that he received a statement from the task force that: "The California Highway Patrol's head of the FBI-California Highway Patrol, Joint Terrorism Task Force did not request a copy of the video. While an employee of this Department did request a copy, the video was not used nor will it be used for training purposes." This and other grand claims by the Marxist-turned-Right Wing Crusader can be found on the SourceWatch article, to which you can add more information. In the meantime, decide for yourself if the FBI-CHiP Joint Terrorism Task Force is missing out on vital intel by watching Horowitz's movie. SOURCE: Campaign For America's Future blog, August 21, 2007 8. WAS WIKIPEDIA SPINNING PART OF H&K'S MALDIVES WORK? http://www.prwatch.org/node/6397 The Center for Media and Democracy has previously reported on the PR firm Hill & Knowlton's work for the oppressive regime of the president of the Maldives, Maumoon Gayoom. Thanks to WikiScanner, a program mapping anonymous edits on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, CMD can report that someone on a computer mapping to Hill & Knowlton's UK office edited the Wikipedia article "Politics of the Maldives" in June 2005. The edits removed references to the lack of independent news outlets, election rigging and the imprisonment of political activists in the Maldives. The anonymous editor also rephrased a section on the lack of activity by organized political parties, up until June 2005. The anonymous editor changed a sentence beginning, "Political parties in Maldives was [sic] not allowed, though the constitution allowed it," to "[T]he Maldivian political system was based around the election of individuals, rather than the more common system of election according to party platform." While Hill & Knowlton's computers were apparently used to make the edits, it isn't possible to know who made the edits or whether they were part of the firm's official work for Gayoom. SOURCE: Wikipedia / WikipediaScanner 9. BUSH'S SURGEON GENERAL OF INDUSTRY-FRIENDLY SPIN http://www.prwatch.org/node/6396 "White House officials viewed former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona as a public relations tool, pushing him to make political appearances and promote the Bush administration's agenda while he was in office, according to a series of executive branch e-mails released yesterday by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)," reports the Washington Post. In July, Carmona had testified before Congress that Bush appointees routinely "sought to rewrite his speeches, send him on political trips, and suppress his reports on global health and other politically sensitive topics." The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is also investigating allegations that Carmona "was blocked from participating in [a] breast-feeding advocacy effort and that those designing [a pro-breast feeding] ad campaign were overruled by superiors at the formula industry's insistence." The ad campaign, as originally designed, graphically illustrated the dangers of not breast feeding, with "photos of insulin syringes and asthma inhalers topped with rubber nipples." The watered-down ad featured "more friendly images of dandelions and cherry-topped ice cream scoops," supposedly to communicate the risk of respiratory dangers and obesity. SOURCE: Washington Post, August 31, 2007 10. WHO'S FOOTING ALLAWI'S LOBBYING BILL? http://www.prwatch.org/node/6394 The Barbour, Griffith and Rogers (BGR) lobbying firm "is talking to the Justice Department about how to amend its foreign-agent filings after department lawyers questioned whether the firm had adequately disclosed who was paying" for the $50,000 per month contract with former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi. IraqSlogger first reported on the contract, and has since posted parts of it online. The contract is with Allawi and is signed by him, but is being paid by "two Iraqi supporters," according to Newsweek. Allawi refused to name his supporters, saying if he did, "They may be killed by the Iranians, they may be killed by the sectarian people." To comply with U.S. law, BGR may name Allawi's party, the Iraqi National Accord, as their client, instead of Allawi himself. The contract with BGR, an influential firm with White House contacts, has raised suspicions of "an attempt by Allawi and his backers to undermine and ultimately topple the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the corridors of Washington, rather than through the political process in Baghdad." SOURCE: Newsweek, August 29, 2007 11. OUTSOURCING FIRMS BRING LOBBYING BUSINESS TO THE U.S. http://www.prwatch.org/node/6393 "As the 2008 U.S. election starts to sizzle, the Indian outsourcing firms have returned to win Washington over as veritable insiders, slicker and better connected than ever," reports Anand Giridharadas. Nasscom, a trade group that represents Indian outsourcing firms, has hired Robert Blackwill, a Barbour, Griffith and Rogers lobbyist also working for former Iraq prime minister Ayad Allawi. Indian executives have "met with aides to all the major presidential hopefuls," while their lobbyists have met with more than 100 U.S. Congressional offices. The Indian outsourcing firms are working "with research firms like the Brookings Institution to generate sympathetic research," and are "waging proxy battles through local front organizations, which spare them from appearing to be foreigners with an agenda. They provide facts, figures and arguments to trade groups like the Information Technology Association of America and to Indian-American political groups. Then they watch as those groups arrange for seemingly neutral voices to champion their causes in the newspapers or before Congress." SOURCE: International Herald Tribune, August 15, 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