THE WEEKLY SPIN, April 2, 2008 Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2008 11:06:11 -0500 (CDT) THE WEEKLY SPIN, APRIL 2, 2008 == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. Indian Point on the Potomac: Entergy's New Safety Panel and PR Firm == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. Featured Participatory Project: Help Find the Superdelegates Whose Endorsement is "Wobbling" == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. Bloggers Can Be Hard on Greenwashers 2. Medialink's 'Fake News' Financial Woes 3. Lavishing Doctors with Drug Money 4. U.S. Military Ponders Hiring or Hacking Bloggers 5. Glover Park Group Fights for (and Against) Climate Protection 6. EPA's Glacial-Speed Approach to Global Warming 7. Weekly Radio Spin: Register Your Front Group, Please 8. Sierra Club Bleaches Dissent on Clorox Deal 9. Vets for Freedom Pushes School Too Far 10. Canada's Canned Conservative Calls 11. BP Greenwashes Tar Sands Exploitation 12. MoveOn Pressure Democrats on Iraq? Dream on! 13. Imaging Study Leaves Tobacco Funding Out of the Picture 14. Getting Buzzed Through the Revolving Door 15. Lobbying Wine in a PR Bottle? 16. Congress Discovers Independent Studies Ignored in Favor of Industry Findings 17. Army Flacks Miss the Point on Guantanamo == UPCOMING EVENTS == 1. It's Our Birthday! Come Celebrate with Us! -------------------------------------------------------------------- == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. INDIAN POINT ON THE POTOMAC: ENTERGY'S NEW SAFETY PANEL AND PR FIRM by Diane Farsetta There's no question that New York's Indian Point nuclear power plant could use some public relations help. But Entergy, Indian Point's owner, might have chosen their new PR firm a little more carefully. Last year, the state of New York asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to deny the plant's license extension application, citing "a long and troubling history of problems." It was "the first time that a state had stepped forward to flatly oppose license renewals," according to the New York Times. Then, in January, the NRC proposed a $650,000 fine against Indian Point, for having repeatedly missed deadlines to install a new emergency siren system. The fine is "10 times the normal size" of such sanctions, reported the Times. To address such criticisms, Entergy has retained the Burson-Marsteller firm, funded the pro-nuclear "New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance" and brought Greenpeace activist-turned-PR consultant Patrick Moore to New York. Last month, Entergy made another effort to, in their own words, "provide public assurances about the operation and protection of New York's largest nuclear power facility." They announced the formation of an "Independent Safety Evaluation" panel to investigate Indian Point. To read the rest of this item, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/7163 == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. FEATURED PARTICIPATORY PROJECT: HELP FIND THE SUPERDELEGATES WHOSE ENDORSEMENT IS "WOBBLING" http://www.prwatch.org/node/7135 The Superdelegate Transparency Project on Congresspedia is picking up steam as it looks more and more likely that the superdelegates will decide the Democratic presidential nominee. Our citizen journalist-generated list of superdelegates is being covered by everyone from the New York Times to CNN. But as the pressure on them picks up, many superdelegates are switching sides or hedging their bets. WE NEED YOUR HELP TO FIGURE OUT WHO THESE "WOBBLING" SUPERDELEGATES ARE. The staff editors at Congresspedia have created full instructions so that finding these wobblers can take as little as five minutes - no experience is necessary. Come join your fellow citizens in this vital piece of research by going to www. Congresspedia.org SOURCE: Superdelegate Transparency Project on Congresspedia == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. BLOGGERS CAN BE HARD ON GREENWASHERS http://www.prwatch.org/node/7161 The latest green marketing study from Nielsen Online "calls greenwashing a 'failed corporate strategy' and urges brands to aim for transparency and consistency instead. 'Bloggers are quick to condemn greenwashing when they suspect companies misrepresent their environmental impact with aggressive PR campaigns -- as spurious attempts to be green,' according to Sustainability Through the Eyes and Megaphones of the Blogosphere. ... Jessica Hogue, research director at Nielsen Online and author of the report, called bloggers a highly skeptical consumer group." SOURCE: AdAge.com, March 31, 2008 2. MEDIALINK'S 'FAKE NEWS' FINANCIAL WOES http://www.prwatch.org/node/7160 The giant of the fake news business, Medialink Worldwide, has fallen out of favor with investors. In the last year the company's share price has plummeted from $5.81 to its current level around the $1.70 mark. In its latest annual report, the company glumly states that sales in 2007 in the U.S. from its "media communications services" -- which includes the production of video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs) -- dropped by 4.8% compared to 2006. The only upside was that revenue from fake news grew by 28% from its United Kingdom office. Despite this, the company recorded a net loss of just over $4.6 million on revenues of $33.4 million. Medialink notes that while Federal Communications Commission action enforcing on-air disclosure of the sponsors of VNRs and ANRs would not preclude their use, it "could have the effect of reducing the number of broadcasters that air our clients' material." The FCC acted in response to CMD's Stop Fake News campaign. SOURCE: Medialink Worldwide Annual Report (pdf), March 31, 2008 3. LAVISHING DOCTORS WITH DRUG MONEY http://www.prwatch.org/node/7159 Medicines Australia (MA), the peak drug industry lobby group, has unveiled details of how much its 42 member companies (and one non-member) spent in the last half of 2007 on each one of over 14,000 events that were designed to promote their drugs to doctors. In a backgrounder, MA claimed that under its self-regulatory code of conduct "the provision of lavish hospitality is banned." (The actual provision sets no thresholds for what constitutes "lavish" hospitality.) However, buried in the hundreds of pages of the reports are unprecedented details of expensive drug industry events. Roche spent $A511,791 on a three-day hepatitis symposium attended by 337 specialists at Melbourne's Grand Hyatt hotel. AstraZeneca forked out over $A514,000 for a weekend seminar at Crown Casino in Melbourne that was attended by 220 gastroenterologists and Pfizer spent $A340,000 on a cardiovascular forum for 220 specialists. SOURCE: Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia), March 29, 2008 4. U.S. MILITARY PONDERS HIRING OR HACKING BLOGGERS http://www.prwatch.org/node/7158 "Hiring a block of bloggers to verbally attack a specific person or promote a specific message may be worth considering," suggests a 2006 study written for the U.S. military's Special Operations Command. "Information strategists can consider clandestinely recruiting or hiring prominent bloggers or other persons of prominence ... to pass the U.S. message." However, the study warns, "people do not like to be deceived, and the price of being exposed is lost credibility and trust." In addition to recruiting, building or promoting blogs friendly to the U.S. military, the study suggests hacking an "enemy blog" to use it "covertly as a vehicle for friendly information operations. ... Subtly changing the messages and data -- merely a few words or phrases -- may be sufficient to begin destroying the blogger's credibility. ... The enemy may reason that the blogger in question has betrayed them and [may] take down the site (and the blogger) themselves." A U.S. Special Operations Command spokesperson told Wired that the study's suggestions "are not 'actionable,' merely thought provoking." SOURCE: Wired.com blog "Danger room," March 31, 2008 5. GLOVER PARK GROUP FIGHTS FOR (AND AGAINST) CLIMATE PROTECTION http://www.prwatch.org/node/7157 "Former vice president Al Gore (through his Alliance for Climate Protection) will launch a three-year, $300 million campaign aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a move that ranks as one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history. ... The climate alliance's initiative, however, will not go unchallenged by climate change skeptics. Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, a nonprofit funded by the coal industry and its allies, is spending about $35 million this election to bolster support for coal-generated electricity. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank that receives part of its funding from oil and gas companies" is attacking Gore. Meanwhile, the Glover Park Group must be laughing all the way to the bank. The public relations firm is working for Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, and also for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers against automobile fuel efficiency standards. For GPG, it's all about billable hours. SOURCE: Washington Post, March 31, 2008 6. EPA'S GLACIAL-SPEED APPROACH TO GLOBAL WARMING http://www.prwatch.org/node/7153 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson dismissed his own agency's findings that greenhouse gases threaten the public. Instead, he'll open a lengthy public comment period asking for input on greenhouse gases, before acting on a U.S. Supreme Court order requiring the EPA to regulate polluters. Johnson's move effectively delays any federal action to limit greenhouse gas emissions until well past the end of George W. Bush's final term in office. According to the Los Angeles Times, Johnson's slow approach "mirrors that advocated by a coalition of industry groups and conservative think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation." A Sierra Club attorney called the delay "outrageous." Representative Henry Waxman said the Bush administration was "recklessly abandoning its responsibility to address the global warming crisis." An EPA spokesman disagreed, calling the move "an historic moment" because "no administration has taken this step to evaluate this new pollutant." SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, March 28, 2008 7. WEEKLY RADIO SPIN: REGISTER YOUR FRONT GROUP, PLEASE http://www.prwatch.org/node/7151 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 BP's dirty oil, a front group against teen drinking and what state might ban drug industry goodies for doctors. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," we name a few people who have stepped through the revolving door. 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, March 28, 2008 8. SIERRA CLUB BLEACHES DISSENT ON CLOROX DEAL http://www.prwatch.org/node/7148 In an unprecedented move by one of the Big Green environmental groups, the "Sierra Club's national board voted March 25 to remove the leaders of the Club's 35,000-member Florida chapter, and to suspend the Chapter for four years." What did the chapter do? According to Peter Montague, it was "highly critical of the national board's decision in mid-December 2007 to allow The Clorox Company to use the Sierra's Club's name and logo to market a new line of non-chlorinated cleaning products called 'Green Works.' In return, Clorox Company will pay Sierra Club an undisclosed fee, based partly on product sales." Sierra members outside of Florida are also concerned. "The Club's Corporate Relations Committee examined the proposed deal with Clorox and rejected it, but was overridden by the national board," writes Montague. Grassroots members have pointed out that "Clorox was fined $95,000 for violating U.S. pesticide laws" even as it was negotiating the Sierra Club deal. The Sierra Club told chapter leaders not to "seek public media coverage of this internal board decision," reports the Palm Beach Post. Some leaders said "they fear punishment from the national organization" if they speak out. SOURCE: Rachel's Democracy & Health News, March 27, 2008 9. VETS FOR FREEDOM PUSHES SCHOOL TOO FAR http://www.prwatch.org/node/7146 It was originally planned as "a low-key classroom discussion about patriotism and service to country" at Forest Lake High School in Minnesota. But when the Republican Party-associated pro-Iraq war group Vets for Freedom "decided to call a press conference at the school and alerted media," things got heated. "Anti-war activists, including veterans of Iraq who oppose the war" decided to organize "their own press conference and rally." The high school canceled the event, and angry conservatives began contacting the principal, "calling him a coward, a Communist or a spineless America Hater." Columnist Nick Coleman writes, "Maybe a Minnesota school was just trying to keep its students from becoming pawns in a political game. There would not have been much outrage" if, instead of being billed as the "Vets for Freedom National Heroes Tour," the event had been called the "Republican Tour to Shore Up the Pro-War Vote," he suggests. SOURCE: Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota), March 26, 2008 10. CANADA'S CANNED CONSERVATIVE CALLS http://www.prwatch.org/node/7145 If you hear pro-Conservative Party callers to radio shows in Canada, their opinions "might not be as spontaneous as they sound," reports Alexander Panetta. "Some of those apparently ad-libbed musings are actually being choreographed at the Conservative Party of Canada's national headquarters. The governing party has produced talking points for grassroots supporters on a variety of issues, feeding them lines on everything from climate change to child care." Visitors to the ruling party's website enter their postal code, select a topic and it "spits out the times, phone numbers, and names of local talk shows to call -- along with a handy list of good things to say about the Conservatives and bad things to say about their opponents." The party's strict message discipline "has survived their two years in government: requests to speak publicly are routinely vetted by the Prime Minister's Office, scores of MPs will recite identical sound bites on any given topic, and the government often allows only one person to make public utterances on a given issue." Scripting radio calls goes even further, and has drawn objections from media professionals. "We want people to phone in and express their own opinions," said radio host Mark Sutcliffe. During a recent television show, "a caller appeared to be stumbling over a list of written notes. 'Are you reading from something?' the frustrated host interjected." SOURCE: Globe and Mail, March 25, 2008 11. BP GREENWASHES TAR SANDS EXPLOITATION http://www.prwatch.org/node/7144 The oil giant BP has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on PR, greenwashing its image to be perceived as better than Exxon, Shell and others. But "a recent change in corporate policy threatens that green-friendly image," reports Michael Moreci. That change is BP's full-throttle attempt to mine oil from vast areas of tar sands in the Canadian wilderness, an especially destructive way to produce fossil fuel. "Tar sands extraction isn't just another hurdle for environmentalists to combat. It merely reveals a simple truth: when it comes to 'being green,' even the most publicly boastful of the oil corporations -- such as BP -- will keep their promises only as far as their bottom line allows." SOURCE: In These Times, March 19, 2008 12. MOVEON PRESSURE DEMOCRATS ON IRAQ? DREAM ON! http://www.prwatch.org/node/7143 Two leading anti-war journalists are challenging MoveOn, one "of the most prominent anti-war voices," to turn its activism against Democratic Party presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Jeremy Scahill and Naomi Klein write, "We should direct our energy where it can still have an impact: the leading Democratic contenders. ... While Clinton and Obama denounce the war with great passion, they both have detailed plans to continue it." But why would MoveOn pressure the Democrats when getting them elected is their number one priority? Blaming the Iraq war on the Republicans and avoiding criticism of Democrats has been MoveOn's strategy for years. MoveOn is now raising and spending millions of dollars to elect Barack Obama, but has made it clear it will support Clinton if she is the nominee. Furthermore, Steve Hildebrand and Paul Tewes of Hildebrand Tewes Consulting simultaneously run MoveOn's anti-war coalition, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq (AAEI), while also employed by Obama as two of his top campaign officials. Tom Matzzie, previously the top lobbyist for MoveOn and AAEI, is trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the Campaign to Defend America, a new organization run by him and MoveOn's founder Wes Boyd to attack John McCain. Simply put, MoveOn refuses to pressure the Democrats because they are the Democrats. SOURCE: The Guardian (UK), March 26, 2008 13. IMAGING STUDY LEAVES TOBACCO FUNDING OUT OF THE PICTURE http://www.prwatch.org/node/7142 The lead author of the largest lung cancer screening study ever performed has come under fire for accepting cigarette company funding for the study. Dr. Claudia Henschke, chief of the Chest Imaging Division at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, stunned the lung cancer research community by concluding that 80 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented by the widespread use of computerized tomography (CT) scans. Small print at the end of the New England Journal of Medicine article describing the study results noted only that the study had been partly financed by the Foundation for Lung Cancer: Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment. However, the foundation was underwritten almost entirely by the Vector Group, the parent company of the Liggett Group, Inc., manufacturer of Eve, Liggett Select, Grand Prix, Quest and Pyramid brand cigarettes. Researchers and universities are increasingly creating foundations and institutes as a way to shield information about their funders from the public, publishers and the press, reports the New York Times. SOURCE: New York Times, March 26, 2008 14. GETTING BUZZED THROUGH THE REVOLVING DOOR http://www.prwatch.org/node/7141 U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair Deborah Platt Majoras will leave her government post to work for Procter & Gamble (P&G), the largest U.S. consumer products company. Even though Majoras has excused herself from FTC matters that may impact P&G and will need to follow a year-long "cooling off" period, Multinational Monitor's Robert Weissman is concerned. "P&G is the leading company involved in 'buzz marketing,'" he writes. When Commercial Alert petitioned the FTC to investigate buzz marketing as "fundamentally fraudulent and misleading," the watchdog group cited P&G's teen buzz marketing division, "Tremor." Majoras's FTC agreed that the "assumed independence" of a buzz marketer might mislead consumers, but decided against further investigation or action. "The P&G case -- involving a quarter of a million teens who are not instructed to disclose their relationship with the company -- apparently was not noteworthy enough," Weissman concludes. An FTC ethics staffer said of Majoras's new job, "It is how things work. The nature of the business is the revolving door." SOURCE: Multinational Monitor editor's blog, March 26, 2008 15. LOBBYING WINE IN A PR BOTTLE? http://www.prwatch.org/node/7140 According to the Tennessee Ethics Commission's staff, a public relations firm that set up a front group that's encouraging people to contact legislators needs to register as a lobbyist. At issue is a proposal to allow Tennesseans to order wine over the Internet. The Tennessee Wine and Spirits Wholesalers, which opposes the bill, hired the prominent Nashville firm Seigenthaler Public Relations. The firm set up a website for the group "Tennesseans Against Teen Drinking." The group describes itself as "a statewide coalition of concerned Tennesseans," but "only the liquor wholesalers have provided funding so far." The group's website allows visitors to send state legislators "prepared e-mail messages opposing Internet wine sales and the sale of wine in grocery stores," saying doing so "would promote drinking by juveniles." The PR firm's president warned that requiring lobbyist registration would "lead to the chilling of free speech." But one of the legislators who requested the Ethics Commission opinion said it differentiates between "citizen groups" and PR firms hired "to create what was really not another entity; it was just a name." The Ethics Commission delayed its vote on the matter. SOURCE: Knoxville News Sentinel (Tennessee), March 25, 2008 16. CONGRESS DISCOVERS INDEPENDENT STUDIES IGNORED IN FAVOR OF INDUSTRY FINDINGS http://www.prwatch.org/node/7139 When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined that a particular chemical in plastic was not harmful, they used scientific studies to prove it. But they relied on just two studies that were funded by the Society of the Plastics Industry, a subsidiary of the American Chemistry Council. On the other hand, they ignored "hundreds of government and academic studies showing a chemical commonly found in plastic can be harmful to lab animals at low doses." Of those two industry-funded studies, one "has never been published, and therefore never subjected to peer review; the second has been heavily criticized by researchers who say the results are inconclusive because of flawed experimental methods." This only came to light when Michigan Democrats Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Bart Stupak, who leads a subcommittee, launched an investigation into the use of bisphenol A in containers used by infants and toddlers. "Anila Jacob, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group ... said she was surprised that the FDA so openly admitted to relying on those two studies, particularly when one of them has never been published or released to the scientific world for review. 'There's a lack of transparency here,' she said, adding that the agency's reliance on these studies 'doesn't serve the public.'" SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, March 21, 2008 17. ARMY FLACKS MISS THE POINT ON GUANTANAMO http://www.prwatch.org/node/7136 Twenty Army National Guard public information officers based in Madison, Wisconsin, will soon begin a year-long stint at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Commander Rick Morehouse said their mission would be to "get the current image out. ... The media of the world and families need to know what's going on right now, not what happened six or seven years ago. ... The prisoners are being treated very well." Gene Grabowski of Levick Strategic Communications, a firm that works for the families of some Guantanamo detainees, criticized Morehouse's statement. Saying "prisoners [are] being 'treated very well' is entirely beside the point," he told O'Dwyer's PR blog. "As our clients have said repeatedly over the past few years, it wouldn't matter if the prisoners were being kept in a four-star hotel, their detainment without criminal charges is unjust. And the Supreme Court has said so -- twice." SOURCE: The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), March 21, 2008 == UPCOMING EVENTS == 1. IT'S OUR BIRTHDAY! COME CELEBRATE WITH US! Please join hosts Mike and Saori Kappus, and CMD staffers Sheldon Rampton, Judith Siers-Poisson and John Stauber at the Rosebud Agency in San Francisco's Haight neighborhood for wonderful music by Rick Didia and Aireene Espiritu, a tempting silent auction and delicious food. There will be lots of fun, fellowship, story sharing and excitement. We're asking for a donation of $50 per person. Please email us at event@PRWatch.org by April 7th to RSVP. To read the rest of this item, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/7121 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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