THE WEEKLY SPIN, January 2, 2008 Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 10:32:53 -0600 (CST) THE WEEKLY SPIN, JANUARY 2, 2008 == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. New Participatory Project: Classroom Propaganda of Yesteryear == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. The P.U.-litzer Prizes 2. Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition 3. War Stories 4. Giuliani's Drug Deal 5. Weekly Radio Spin: Santas Flack for Coal 6. Wal-Mart Gives up Pretense of Independent Group 7. The Rhetoric Beat 8. Not Worth Mentioning? 9. USA Today: Pushing John Edwards Out of the Race? 10. Colorado's Casino Towns Gamble on Loose Interpretation of Smoking Ban 11. Huckabee Plays Religion Card, Hides Hand -------------------------------------------------------------------- == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. NEW PARTICIPATORY PROJECT: CLASSROOM PROPAGANDA OF YESTERYEAR http://www.prwatch.org/node/6854 We've started an article on Sourcewatch about Coronet Instructional Films, a company that produced cheesy "social guidance" films in the period following World War II, dealing with topics such as personal hygiene, appropriate dating behavior for teenagers, and American economic and social values. The unintentionally humorous qualities of these films have made them ripe targets for ridicule on Comedy Central's Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and elsewhere. However, they had a serious purpose, according to Ken Smith, who has written a book about what he calls "mental hygiene" films. "Adults were scared," he says. "We forget that nowadays and look back on the '50s as an innocent time. No, parents were scared shitless of the same things they are now. Whether it was how to teach a kid to behave on a date or not to have sex or to drive safely, there was a world full of dangers, and that's why these films exist." In addition to amusement, therefore, studying these films can provide insights into social attitudes as well as the propaganda techniques used to indoctrinate a generation of Americans. You can help with this research by expanding the article on Coronet Instructional Films or by adding articles about similar filmmakers, such as Sid Davis or the Centron Corporation. Perhaps you'd like to watch one of the films -- many of which can be found online at the Internet Archive -- and add a description, summarizing and analyzing its content. 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: Sourcewatch == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. THE P.U.-LITZER PRIZES http://www.prwatch.org/node/6853 Norman Solomon and Jeff Cohen have announced their latest "P.U.-litzer Prizes" for "stinkiest media performances of the year." Winners of the uncoveted award include: *Michael Gordon of the New York Times, who previously used unnamed official sources to promote the invasion of Iraq with wildly inaccurate reports of Iraqi weapons programs, and used similar unnamed sources in 2007 to make a case for war with Iran. *Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball, for his fawning praise of U.S. presidential candidate Fred Thompson's "sex appeal" and "star quality." *CBS correspondent Jeff Greenfield, for falsely claiming that Americans don't want government-funded healthcare. *CNN's Lou Dobbs, for falsifying U.S. disease statistics to support his claim that illegal immigrants were bringing "once eradicated diseases" into the country. SOURCE: Alternet, December 26, 2007 2. PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMUNITION http://www.prwatch.org/node/6852 "For US Army soldiers entering basic training at Fort Jackson Army base in Columbia, South Carolina, accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior appears to be as much a part of the nine-week regimen as the vigorous physical and mental exercises the troops must endure," writes Jason Leopold. "At a time when the United States is encouraging greater religious freedom in Muslim nations, soldiers on the battlefield have told disturbing stories of being force-fed fundamentalist Christianity by highly controversial, apocalyptic 'End Times' evangelists, who have infiltrated US military installations throughout the world with the blessing of high-level officials at the Pentagon. Proselytizing among military personnel has been conducted openly, in violation of the basic tenets of the United States Constitution." SOURCE: TruthOut, December 21, 2007 3. WAR STORIES http://www.prwatch.org/node/6851 The war in Iraq is notable, observes Michael Massing, for the number of "books by soldiers" that have "appeared while the fighting was still going on -- accounts written not just by generals like Tommy Franks but also by lieutenants, sergeants, reservists, and privates. Such works have been largely ignored by the mass media, which is too bad, for they provide a grunt's-eye view of the war that is often far richer, and rawer, than anything available in our newspapers or on TV." Massing reviews a number of them, including Paul Reickhoff's ''Chasing Ghosts'' and Nathaniel Fick's ''One Bullet Away.'' Their first-hand accounts, Massing writes, provide a vivid reminder that "war is about killing." As Fick puts it, combat "nearly unhinged me." Worst of all were the "blanket accolades and thanks from people 'for what you guys did over there.' Thanks for what, I wanted to ask -- shooting kids, cowering in terror behind a berm, dropping artillery on people's homes?" SOURCE: New York Review of Books, December 20, 2007 4. GIULIANI'S DRUG DEAL http://www.prwatch.org/node/6850 As a paid corporate lobbyist, U.S. presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani helped Purdue Pharma defend its illegal activities to promote the drug Oxycontin, according to New York Times reporters Barry Meier and Eric Lipton. "As a celebrity, Mr. Giuliani helped the company win several public relations battles, playing a role in an effort by Purdue to persuade an influential Pennsylvania congressman, Curt Weldon, not to blame it for OxyContin abuse," they write. "Despite these efforts, Purdue suffered a crushing defeat in May ... when the company and three top executives pleaded guilty to criminal charges. ... Together, they paid $634.5 million in fines and payments. After years of denial and a high-profile public relations campaign, the company was forced to admit that it had misled doctors and patients." SOURCE: New York Times, December 28, 2007 5. WEEKLY RADIO SPIN: SANTAS FLACK FOR COAL http://www.prwatch.org/node/6849 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 look at Santas flacking for the coal industry, how charitable it is to buy stuff, and a hot and heavy anti-smoking campaign. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," we tell you how many steps there are between Jolly Old Saint Nick and parentless kids. 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, December 28, 2007 6. WAL-MART GIVES UP PRETENSE OF INDEPENDENT GROUP http://www.prwatch.org/node/6847 In 2005, the Edelman PR firm created the front group Working Families for Wal-Mart on behalf of their client, the retail giant. With Wal-Mart funding, Edelman ran the faux citizens' group to counter union critics like WakeUpWalMart.com, founded by the United Food and Commercial Workers and Wal-Mart Watch, founded by the Service Employees International Union. Edelman has been removed from the project due to Wal-Mart's decision to bring the front group in-house. Wal-Mart spokesperson David Tovar said the plan is to "retool the group and its website as a platform for employees and consumers to speak out in favor of the world's largest retailer, rather than the outside supporters it has featured so far. 'We believe the best way to tell our story is to bring Working Families for Wal-Mart 'in-house' and operate it as an internal program. We're at a point where we no longer need a separate entity.'" It doesn't appear that Wal-Mart has any qualms about publicizing the change in direct management of the Working Families organization. A visit to the group's website, www.forwalmart.com, produces this message: "Please check back soon for a new site brought to you by Wal-Mart. For now, please visit Wal-Mart Facts." Wal-Mart Facts is a site that has the heading "Get the facts and latest news about Wal-Mart from Wal-Mart." SOURCE: Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog, December 27, 2007 7. THE RHETORIC BEAT http://www.prwatch.org/node/6846 Language plays a powerful role in shaping political decisions, argues Brent Cunningham. As an example, he points to the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, "when the choice of words -- by the press and government officials -- played a crucial role in setting America on a course that led, ultimately, to our military action in Iraq. ... The decision to describe the attacks in the language of 'war,' rather than as a criminal act, emerged swiftly and organically in the earliest press accounts, and was quickly solidified and extended by President Bush and other administration officials." If the attacks had been defined using other language, such as "mass murder," this might also have defined the "terms of the response" differently, "within the domain of police investigation, criminal justice and the safeguards of law." Cunningham thinks that "journalism needs a rhetoric beat" focused on studying the uses and abuses of language, which "has emerged as a central issue in our political culture." SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, November/December 2007 8. NOT WORTH MENTIONING? http://www.prwatch.org/node/6845 The League of Conservation Voters has launched a campaign that challenges U.S. political reporters to discuss the issue of global warming. During 2007, they point out, political talk show hosts on the top Sunday public affairs programs have asked 2,275 questions of U.S. presidential candidates, on questions ranging from baseball to UFOs. However, they have only mentioned global warming three times. SOURCE: WhatAreTheyWaitingFor.com 9. USA TODAY: PUSHING JOHN EDWARDS OUT OF THE RACE? http://www.prwatch.org/node/6844 A USA Today article analyzing the electability of presidential candidates running in Iowa barely mentioned John Edwards, even though Edwards is the only Democrat besides Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama who consistently polls in the double digits in Iowa, according to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a media watchdog group that analyzes the accuracy of corporate media from a left-leaning perspective. The December 18 USA Today article titled Poll: Electability becoming more important to Dems, proposed hypothetical match-ups of Clinton and Obama against Republicans Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee, and discussed how each Democratic candidate might fare against the Republicans without mentioning Edwards, even though a CNN survey done December 6-9 showed Edwards polling consistently better against Republicans than either Clinton or Obama. FAIR cites Edwards' campaign focus on corporate influence over government as a possible reason for the squeeze, and says the USA Today article is "a good example of corporate media striving to narrow down the Democratic primary field." SOURCE: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting Action Alert, December 21, 2007 10. COLORADO'S CASINO TOWNS GAMBLE ON LOOSE INTERPRETATION OF SMOKING BAN http://www.prwatch.org/node/6842 As Colorado prepares to extend its state law eliminating secondhand smoke in workplaces to include casinos as of January 1, 2008, the state's mountain gambling towns have been hard at work getting ready for the change. Casinos have been installing outdoor heaters and putting up windscreens, while some city councils have been finding ways to loosen the law. The Central City town council officially defined an "outdoor area" as any place at least 40 percent exposed to the outdoors, allowing for construction of partly-enclosed smoking areas. The state provision requires that smoking stay at least 15 feet away from building entrances to prevent smoke from getting inside buildings, but since it also allows home-rule cities to change that distance, Central City and Black Hawk both reduced their official smoking distance to all of one inch. Central City's Mayor, Buddy Schmalz, says his town has "no intention of getting around any kind of laws on the smoking ban," saying his town is just preparing for the future, but Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado, the coalition of casino employees and patrons who worked to close the loophole that allowed continued smoking in casinos, expressed disappointment that the towns are working to circumvent the state law. SOURCE: Casper, Wyoming Star Tribune, December 27, 2007 11. HUCKABEE PLAYS RELIGION CARD, HIDES HAND http://www.prwatch.org/node/6840 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee defended his controversial "Floating Cross" Christmas ad against charges that he is leveraging religion to boost his campaign, but journalists trying to understand how Huckabee's religion would affect his policy decisions have largely come up empty. Journalists from Mother Jones magazine seeking copies of Huckabee's past sermons were told by Huckabee's campaign workers that they were "not able to accommodate" requests to see copies of Huckabee's past sermons. A church where Huckabee once served as pastor told the reporters that most of the archived copies of his past sermons were "lost during a remodel," and the rest were "not available to the press." So how can citizens find out how Huckabee's faith might affect his policy decisions? History gives some clues: In 1997, then-Governor Huckabee refused to sign a flood relief bill because it called devastating natural phenomena like floods are tornadoes "Acts of God." Signing such a bill, Huckabee said, would violate his conscience, since he disagreed with saying that "a destructive and deadly force" was an "act of God." Also in 1997, on the eve of a triple execution in Arkansas, Huckabee was asked on a radio call call-in show about his position on the death penalty. Huckabee responded, "Interestingly enough, if there was ever an occasion for someone to have argued against the death penalty, I think Jesus could have done so on the cross and said, 'This is an unjust punishment and I deserve clemency.' " But since he didn't ask for clemency, Huckabee's argument follows, the death penalty is just fine. SOURCE: Washington Post, December 23, 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. 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