THE WEEKLY SPIN, December 5, 2007 Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 11:22:53 -0600 (CST) THE WEEKLY SPIN, DECEMBER 5, 2007 == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. It's Our Web (If We Can Keep It) 2. Cool Citizen Journalism: User "Artificial Intelligence" Digs into Obama's Money Train == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. New Participatory Project: Nicotine, Nicotine, How Do We Ingest Thee? == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. That's Infotainment! 2. Hockey Team Marketers Keep Track of Media "Penalties" 3. Siemens Wants to Regain Trust by Changing the Subject 4. Cosmetics Industry Group Gives Itself a Makeover 5. When Lawsuits Fly, Roll Out the Corporate Social Responsibility 6. You've Come A Long Way, Baby -- To Intensive Care 7. The Weekly Radio Spin: Labor Actions Result in Striking PR 8. Kentucky Officials Treated to a Global Warming Snow Job 9. The Case of the Mysterious E-mails 10. Californians Not So Hot on Nuclear Power 11. Studio Owners Try to Seem Reasonable, Like Big Tobacco -------------------------------------------------------------------- == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. IT'S OUR WEB (IF WE CAN KEEP IT) by Sheldon Rampton Free Speech TV has launched the "It's Our Web" campaign, featuring a a short, entertaining animation explaining the dangers of media centralization and suggesting positive alternatives. "This is a truly pivotal time for the Internet, the most powerful and interactive medium humans have ever seen," says Steve Anderson, who produced the video. "New commercial incursions by big online media enterprises, including the widely disdained "Facebook Beacon," make explicit what new media giants have been doing quietly for some time; searching for new and evermore effective ways to sell our attention, our clicks and our private information to advertisers and marketers." To read the rest of this item, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/6774 2. COOL CITIZEN JOURNALISM: USER "ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE" DIGS INTO OBAMA'S MONEY TRAIN by Conor Kenny SourceWatch/Congresspedia user Artificial Intelligence has been doing a lot of fantastic work on the wiki lately, particularly on the 2008 presidential election. She recently picked up on a common practice in politics - the easiest way for politicians to show gratitude and allegiance to each other is for the big dogs to kick some campaign contributions down to the folks on the lower rungs. The fundraising juggernaut that is Obama 2008 has apparently had a lot of gratitude to show lately. She says: A recent analysis conducted by PoliticalMoneyLine of 2008 Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama's November 15, 2007, FEC filing revealed that Obama "has been the most aggressive of presidential candidates in using his leadership PAC to help the campaigns of state and local candidates, and not coincidentally, the funds spent that way have gone to Democrats in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. More than one-third of his leadership PAC money is being used this way." Campaign reports show that in January 2007, when Obama launched his presidential campaign, Hopefund [Obama's PAC] fundraising all but stopped. Since June 2007 Obama has handed out more than $180,000. Additionally, FEC filings for late 2006 through October 2007 show that several recipients of Obama's Hopefund campaign contributions had also endorsed him within months of receiving funds. To read the rest of this item, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/6758 == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. NEW PARTICIPATORY PROJECT: NICOTINE, NICOTINE, HOW DO WE INGEST THEE? http://www.prwatch.org/node/6773 Tobacco companies aren't the only ones who are trying to find new and creative ways to get nicotine into people's bodies. What do a Cheese-filtered cigarette, an Anti-Gravity Bukket Bong, and the Nicosphere 3000 have in common? They are all devices created to get nicotine into people. Some are real, some are just funny ideas, but we're interested in any and all ideas people have come up with to ingest nicotine. How many more can you find? Dig up all you can and add them to our Miscellaneous Smoking Devices list on TobaccoWiki. If this is your first time editing on SourceWatch, you can go to www.SourceWatch.org for more information. Have fun, and thanks for your help! SOURCE: TobaccoWiki.org == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. THAT'S INFOTAINMENT! http://www.prwatch.org/node/6771 "Product placement is hardly a new phenomenon, and the morning [U.S. television] shows long ago mastered the quid pro quo of daily television: Actors give interviews timed to their latest projects; authors are recruited as experts just as their books hit the stores," writes Alessandra Stanley. "But the fourth hour of 'Today' has tipped the balance of the program. ... Especially now, in the Christmas holiday marketing frenzy, it is sometimes hard to tell the NBC program from those on ShopNBC or QVC. ... It used to be that hosts who are at least nominally part of the network's news division maintained an air of neutrality during consumer segments; now they are in on the pitch." This further blurring of "the distinction between consumer news and product promotion" isn't helped by the fact that "Wal-Mart recently began showing a 20-minute infomercial -- four women chatting roguishly over coffee mugs about the merits of the chain -- that looks uncannily like an episode of 'The View.'" SOURCE: New York Times, December 4, 2007 2. HOCKEY TEAM MARKETERS KEEP TRACK OF MEDIA "PENALTIES" http://www.prwatch.org/node/6770 As Boston magazine reporter John Gonzalez worked on a profile of Jeremy Jacobs, the executive vice president of the Bruins ice hockey team, "Jacobs's apprehension about the piece appeared only to grow. The day after the story went to press, a lawyer retained by Jacobs sent us a letter inquiring about some of the sources for the article," writes Gonzalez. Then, marketing executive Wendy Watkins "called one of the [Boston] magazine's sales reps to ask whether or not the story about Jacobs was going to be 'positive.' If so, Watkins said, the Bruins might be interested in buying a series of ads. If not, however, the deal would be unlikely." When Gonzalez asked Watkins about the offer, "she said she typically makes such calls whenever one of the company's 40,000 employees is going to be written about. Watkins insisted that the offer to advertise with the magazine was not an attempt to influence the story." She also told Gonzalez that "the realities of the business" mean that "if somebody gets hatcheted by a publication," they aren't likely to advertise with them. SOURCE: Boston Daily (Boston magazine blog), November 29, 2007 3. SIEMENS WANTS TO REGAIN TRUST BY CHANGING THE SUBJECT http://www.prwatch.org/node/6769 The Germany-based engineering company Siemens is launching its most extensive ad campaign ever, as it grapples with "a massive corruption scandal." The "Siemens answers" campaign, developed by WPP's Ogilvy & Mather, will run in "major markets around the globe." Siemens is spending $148 million a year on the three-year campaign, which highlights health care, energy and industrial "technologies being developed by Siemens." In addition to print ads, the campaign will include billboards, television ads and "keyword-based marketing" online. The goal is to "help Siemens regain the public's trust," after allegations surfaced that company managers paid bribes to win infrastructure contracts in several countries. Siemens is also a frequent funder of video news releases. Meanwhile, Ogilvy's lobbying arm "is seeking various federal approvals for a controversial $3B coal-fired power plant proposed for Desert Rock on Navaho land in New Mexico," reports O'Dwyer's. Ogilvy Government Relations is working for Sithe Global Power, which portrays the plant as "a way to meet the fast-growing energy needs of Phoenix and Las Vegas." Environmentalists and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson oppose the plant. SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), November 29, 2007 4. COSMETICS INDUSTRY GROUP GIVES ITSELF A MAKEOVER http://www.prwatch.org/node/6768 "What has been known for more than three decades as the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association now has a new name, the Personal Care Products Council, and with a new persona comes a fact-laden product safety Web site designed to win consumer trust," reports Women's Wear Daily. The changes come after cosmetics safety studies and pressure campaigns by public health and environmental groups. As the Center for Media and Democracy reported last year, the recently-renamed industry group commissioned focus groups about cosmetics safety issues. One focus group participant told CMD that they "were asked to fill out worksheets describing a website with information on cosmetics ingredients, to be launched in 2007." Procter & Gamble's Marc Pritchard, who also chairs the industry group, said of the new website, "What we want to do involves a simple objective -- become the consumer's best resource." And, presumably, counteract the damning information on the "Skin Deep" website, launched in 2005 by the Environmental Working Group and Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. SOURCE: Women's Wear Daily, November 28, 2007 5. WHEN LAWSUITS FLY, ROLL OUT THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY http://www.prwatch.org/node/6767 Facing a massive lawsuit brought against it by the Nigerian government, cigarette maker British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) knows exactly what to do: roll out the Corporate Social Responsibility. Since Nigeria's federal government filed to seek reimbursement for 5.3 trillion Nigerian Naira (about US$ 43.5 billion) it has spent treating sick smokers, BATN has donated a fleet of Ford Ranger trucks to the Nigerian Customs Service, boasts that it has pumped $300 million into the local economy and that it has 1,000 "model farms" in tobacco-growing areas. As part of the puffery, BATN ran advertisements around Nigeria featuring a 98 year farmer old named Amos Adedigba praising BATN by saying, "Sixty years is a long time to maintain a relationship. I have been able to give my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren a good life, education and I am very proud of that." But when interviewed about the ad, Mr. Adedigba told Nigeria's The Nation newspaper, "BAT cheated me. I heard they used the advert all over Nigeria and even in America, yet I was only paid N40,000" (about US$328). Adedigba also alleged that the tobacco industry cheats farmers over the price of tobacco leaves. The Nation also reported that most Nigerian tobacco farmers actually live in squalor, and Nigerian public health advocate Seun Akioye states that BATN's claims of socially responsible farming are false, that tobacco farmers really live in "debt bondage" to tobacco companies, and that tobacco farming leaves soil unusable for growing food or other crops. SOURCE: The Nation Newspaper, Lagos, Nigeria, December 2, 2007 6. YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY -- TO INTENSIVE CARE http://www.prwatch.org/node/6761 For decades, the tobacco industry has poured advertising dollars into boosting smoking among women, running ads linking smoking to themes that appeal to women, like fashion, equal rights, ethnic pride, and success in friendships and the workplace. Their efforts have been a wild success, as evidenced by the skyrocketing rate of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) now being diagnosed among women. COPD, which results from smoking and takes decades to develop, has quadrupled among women since 1980. Now more women than men are hospitalized and die from it. With more women than ever dying from cigarettes, tobacco companies like R.J. Reynolds forge ahead, targeting special brands towards women, like Camel No. 9, marketed in packs colored with hot-pink fuschia and minty-green teal, and marketed with the slogan, "Light and luscious." Mmmm, good -- if you like lung disease. SOURCE: New York Times, November 29, 2007 7. THE WEEKLY RADIO SPIN: LABOR ACTIONS RESULT IN STRIKING PR http://www.prwatch.org/node/6760 Listen to this week's edition of the "Weekly Radio Spin," the Center for Media and Democracy's audio report on the stories behind the news. This week, we cover mysterious anti-merger messages, the PR around the Writers Guild of America strike, and how to make science policy without input from scientists. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," we tell you how many steps it takes to get from a popular Democratic politician to an industry group stonewalling environmental policies. The Weekly Radio Spin is freely available for personal and broadcast use. Podcasters can subscribe to the XML feed on www.prwatch.org/audio or via iTunes. If you air the Weekly Radio Spin on your radio station, please email us at editor@prwatch.org to let us know. Thanks! SOURCE: Center for Media and Democracy, November 30, 2007 8. KENTUCKY OFFICIALS TREATED TO A GLOBAL WARMING SNOW JOB http://www.prwatch.org/node/6757 "You can only hear that the sky is falling so many times," said Kentucky Representative Jim Gooch, explaining why he only invited global warming skeptics with no scientific background to address state legislators on climate issues. Gooch, the Kentucky Democrats' chief environmental strategist, is "a longtime ally of the coal industry." His invitees were James Taylor, a fellow with the Heartland Institute, a think tank partially funded by ExxonMobil; and Lord Christopher Monckton, an adviser to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who once suggested that HIV / AIDS patients "be locked up for life." During the Kentucky hearing, "Monckton quoted the Bible and quickly recited math formulas as he accused [Nobel laureates Al] Gore and IPCC scientists of lying to make warming seem worse than it is." Taylor claimed that "most scientists don't believe in global warming," and that hotter weather would allow "our children" to "enjoy an Earth with far more plant and animal life." After protests by legislators, Gooch allowed "two environmentalists in the audience talk about global warming ... for about five minutes each." SOURCE: Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky), November 15, 2007 9. THE CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS E-MAILS http://www.prwatch.org/node/6756 When the Washington Post tried to contact 60 people who were listed as having "sent e-mails to the Federal Communications Commission opposing the proposed merger between the satellite radio networks XM and Sirius," the paper found "mostly unanswered phone calls and recordings saying the phones were disconnected." Only ten people "whose names were attached to identical, anti-merger e-mails instigated by the National Association of Broadcasters, a major opponent of the merger," could be reached. Of the ten, "nine said they never sent anything to the FCC, and only one said she remembered filling out something about Sirius but did not recall taking a position on a merger." A National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) spokesperson said his group recorded "the name, date, postal address and numerical Internet address" of the e-mailers, who "had to physically type in their name and address." While online campaigns are common and "it is not unusual for e-mailers to forget what they have -- or have not -- clicked on," one e-mailer told the Post she actually supported the merger. XM and Sirius have called the e-mails "suspicious." The FCC is expected to rule soon on the merger. SOURCE: Washington Post, November 22, 2007 10. CALIFORNIANS NOT SO HOT ON NUCLEAR POWER http://www.prwatch.org/node/6755 "After public opinion polls found lukewarm support for new nuclear power plants in the state," California State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore withdrew his ballot initiative on nuclear energy. The initiative, which was slated for the June 2008 ballot, would have "overturned a 1976 state law prohibiting construction of new nuclear reactors until a permanent solution for the storage of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel is found." DeVore "got permission to begin gathering signatures to place the initiative on the ballot" in October, but "no signature gathering was done," because polls found 52 percent of Californians support new nuclear plants, while 42 percent oppose them. "If we pushed this thing to the ballot, we were likely to lose," said DeVore. "You want to be in the mid-60 percent range before you start on something that controversial." Instead, "he plans to submit a bill next year that would lift the nuclear moratorium legislatively." A similar bill, also by DeVore, was killed in committee in April 2007. On the website of his pro-nuclear group, Power for California, DeVore writes, "Eventually, California will catch up to reality." The Fresno Nuclear Energy Group also supported the failed legislation and ballot initiative. SOURCE: The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California), November 27, 2007 11. STUDIO OWNERS TRY TO SEEM REASONABLE, LIKE BIG TOBACCO http://www.prwatch.org/node/6754 Reporter Nikki Finke, who has been closely covering the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, reports that the studio owners' group, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP), "during the first days of the strike ... went out and hired Hill and Knowlton, the controversial global public relations and public affairs giant." Finke writes, "Remember that full page ad that ran November 15th in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times? That unsigned ad, titled 'An Open Letter', that was so different in tone from the strident pre- and post-strike statements issued in the name of AMPTP president Nick Counter? ... That ad was not just Hill & Knowton's brainchild, it's the firm's bread and butter." Finke compares the AMPTP ad to the tobacco industry's infamous 1954 "A Frank Statement," which was developed with Hill & Knowlton's John Hill. WGA slammed the AMPTP ad as "misleading," "patronizing," and "guilty of what most charitably could be called sins of omission." Finke asks, "Did Big Media know that it was mimicking Big Tobacco?" In an update, Finke writes, "I received a very strange call today from Hill and Knowlton denying that they're working for the AMPTP even though the CEOs group previously confirmed it to me." Finke also reports that both AMPTP and WGA "wanted to hire former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart as their official mouthpiece." Lockhart, who's now with the Glover Park Group, declined to work for either side. SOURCE: Deadline Hollywood Daily, November 25, 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