== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. Russo Marsh PR Bashes Obama from Coast to Coast
== SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS ==
1. Newspapers Fall Further
2. Citizen Journalists Protecting the 2008 Election
3. Big Oil’s Charm Offensive
4. Health Warning Labels Make People Want to Smoke
5. Weekly Radio Spin: Voting Too Important to Watch
6. Fitz-Pegado Among the New Lobbyists for a “Democratic Iran”
7. Second UK Consultation on Nuclear Power Also a Sham
8. Pentagon Flack Leaves as Investigation Continues
9. Newspapers Are Dead; Long Live Newspapers
——————————————————————–
== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. RUSSO MARSH PR BASHES OBAMA FROM COAST TO COAST
by Diane Farsetta
“Barack and socialism? No, our country deserves better,”
implored Mark Williams.
It was only a few minutes into the October 22 rally staged by
Our Country Deserves Better, a political action committee (PAC)
formed to oppose the Democratic presidential candidate. But
Williams, a conservative talk radio host from California, was just
getting warmed up.
“Barack Obama represents people who are ashamed of this great
country, who believe that this great country is the evil in the
world and that, in their revisionist history, they cast us as the
villain,” Williams claimed. “And if we dare question them … like
Joe the Plumber: ‘Mr. Obama, what are you going to do to my taxes?’
That was enough for the dogs who support the ideological left to go
after Joe the Plumber and shred him. … There’s no such thing as
sacred, among the unholy left. They vilify this nation, and they
vilify those of us who support it. … [It’s] the same kind of
thuggery of the left that’s used by totalitarian regimes around the
world to silence opposition.”
Towards the end of the rally, Williams invoked a
well-discredited smear against Obama that seems designed to play on
fears of his “otherness”: that he’s not really a U.S. citizen. “We
all know that Barack Obama is not qualified to be president of the
United States, beyond being above the age of 35 and probably an
American citizen,” said Williams, emphasizing the word “probably.”
He laughed and then repeated: “Probably. Even money.”
Unlike his hypothetical conservatives cowed by leftist thugs,
Williams will not be silenced.
To read the rest of this item, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7873
== SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS ==
1. NEWSPAPERS FALL FURTHER
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7872
Newly released figures on newspaper sales show a decline of nearly
five percent from a year ago, accelerating a trend that has been
occurring since the 1990s. Richard Perez-Pena notes that “Newspaper
circulation has fallen about 2 percent annually for years but began
to drop faster in the 2007 reports, and faster still in the reports
issued last spring, which showed declines of 3.6 percent on weekdays
and 4.6 percent on Sundays. … Analysts have warned in recent years
that by offering steadily less in print, newspapers were inviting
readers to stop buying. Most papers have sharply reduced their
physical size — fewer and smaller pages, with fewer articles — and
the newsroom staffs that produce them.” In an effort to cope with
declining revenues, some newspapers are talking about cancelling
their purchase of syndicated news from Associated Press, while the
Christian Science Monitor has announced that it will cease
publishing a daily print edition.
SOURCE: New York Times, October 28, 2008
2. CITIZEN JOURNALISTS PROTECTING THE 2008 ELECTION
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7869
The New York Times notes, “There are at least two wikis intended
to let voters collaborate to collect examples of problems with
voting, whether exceptionally long lines or more direct actions
meant to scare off voters — the Voter Suppression Wiki and
SourceWatch’s Election Protection Wiki. Since 2006, the Video the
Vote project has sent out volunteers to monitor voting around the
country, and this year the group expects to dispatch at least 2,300
volunteers with cameras in all 50 states to videotape potential
trouble spots. … The ultimate home for much of this content
could be the video-sharing giant YouTube, which has created a
channel, Video Your Vote, in collaboration with PBS, to encourage
submissions. … While his organization is partnering with YouTube
(and received 300 cameras as part of the Video Your Vote project),
[project founder Ian] Inaba says he sees their missions as
different. ‘YouTube is there to generate content, to generate
eyeballs,’ he said. ‘We came at this from more of an election
protection framework. We want voters to oversee the election process
– it requires citizen oversight.'”
SOURCE: New York Times, October 27, 2008
3. BIG OIL’S CHARM OFFENSIVE
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7868
“The world’s best-known oil companies are pouring on the charm as
they get ready this week to parade another round of fat profits
before a public that is feeling suddenly poorer. The spotlight will
shine on Exxon on Thursday and Chevron on Friday. Such advertising
makes sense after a summer with oil at nearly $150 a barrel and a
fall likely to bring renewed scrutiny of their investments and tax
breaks. But when oil companies spend their money, it’s less about
you and me than about their shareholders. In many respects, industry
experts note, what’s good for Big Oil’s bottom line isn’t
necessarily good for Joe Q. Jetta. ‘That’s a game that oil
companies have been playing for a while, but they’ve been pumping
more money into it lately,’ said Sheldon Rampton, research director
at the Center for Media and Democracy. ‘They’re hoping to mitigate
their bad reputation rather than become beloved.'”
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, October 27, 2008
4. HEALTH WARNING LABELS MAKE PEOPLE WANT TO SMOKE
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7861
A three-year, $7 million neuromarketing study done in Oxford,
England has found that cigarette health warning labels actually make
smokers want to smoke more, not less. Neuromarketing research
studies how the brain reacts to various types of marketing stimuli.
Researchers studied 2,000 people from five different countries using
sophisticated brain-testing technology, like electroencephalography
and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to gain a better understanding
of consumer behavior. A surprising finding involved the health
warning labels placed on cigarette packs. Researchers asked subjects
if the warning labels worked to help them reduce smoking, and most
said “yes.” But when they repeated the same question while flashing
images of the labels to the subjects while they underwent an MRI,
they found that the images activated “craving spots” in the brain,
indicating that the health warnings actually encourage smokers to
smoke more.
SOURCE: Advertising Age, October 21, 2008
5. WEEKLY RADIO SPIN: VOTING TOO IMPORTANT TO WATCH
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7860
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 rigging the vote, nuking democracy
and Judith Miller’s new job. In “Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin’,”
the mostly-fortunate life of Scooter Libby. 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, October 24, 2008
6. FITZ-PEGADO AMONG THE NEW LOBBYISTS FOR A “DEMOCRATIC IRAN”
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7856
The Livingston Group, a lobbying and PR firm, “received a healthy
$300K during the third period,” or third quarter of 2008, from the
Council for a Democratic Iran. The website of the Virginia-based
group states, “We believe there is an alternative between military
confrontation with the current regime and accommodation.” According
to Lobbyists.info, the group previously retained the firm Cyber
Security Research Consultants. Its Livingston Group lobbyists
include former Congressman Robert Livingston and Lauri Fitz-Pegado.
Fitz-Pegado previously worked at Hill & Knowlton, where she helped
promote the first Gulf War for the government of Kuwait, using the
front group “Citizens for a Free Kuwait.” In a September 25, 2008
blog post, the Council for a Democratic Iran describes itself as “a
newly founded non profit organization.”
SOURCE: O’Dwyer’s PR Daily (sub req’d), October 22, 2008
7. SECOND UK CONSULTATION ON NUCLEAR POWER ALSO A SHAM
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7855
The British government’s second public consultation on nuclear
power, “which was run by a company linked to the Prime Minister’s
personal pollster,” has been criticized for material that was
“inaccurately or misleadingly presented.” In response to a complaint
from the environmental group Greenpeace, Britain’s Market Research
Standards Board ruled that the Opinion Leader firm presented
“imbalanced” information that risked leading focus group
participants “towards a particular answer.” Prime Minister Gordon
Brown’s pollster, Deborah Mattinson, used to co-chair the firm and
“remains a senior figure in its parent company.” The Brown
government supports building new nuclear plants. The Liberal
Democrat energy spokesman said the Standards Board ruling “shows
that the Government isn’t even competent enough to rig its own
consultation.” The Brown government says the ruling won’t affect its
nuclear plans, declaring that “the outcome of the consultation
stands.” The second consultation was launched after Britain’s High
Court ruled the government’s first consultation on nuclear power a
“sham.”
SOURCE: The Independent (UK), October 18, 2008
8. PENTAGON FLACK LEAVES AS INVESTIGATION CONTINUES
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7854
Allison Barber, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense who
launched the America Supports You (ASY) program and was also heavily
involved in the Pentagon pundit program, is resigning. Barber leaves
as the Pentagon’s inspector general continues to investigate ASY’s
financial practices and the pundit program (which is also being
investigated by the Government Accountability Office and the Federal
Communications Commission). Her boss, Robert Hastings, says Barber’s
resignation has nothing to do with the ASY investigation. “She and I
have been discussing the timing of her departure since early
summer,” Hastings told Stars and Stripes. “I asked her to stay until
DMA was launched,” he said, referring to the Defense Media Activity,
which has consolidated the Pentagon’s media operations. The Pentagon
announced DMA’s “activation” on October 20. According to military
support blogs, Barber sent a farewell to ASY groups saying, “Our
troops deserve this type of support and together, we have made it
happen.” Neither the Pentagon public affairs office nor Barber
herself responded to the Center for Media and Democracy’s request
for comment.
SOURCE: Stars and Stripes, October 22, 2008
9. NEWSPAPERS ARE DEAD; LONG LIVE NEWSPAPERS
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7853
“Newspapers are in trouble for reasons that have almost nothing to
do with newspaper journalism,” writes Paul Farhi. “Even a paper
stocked with the world’s finest editorial minds wouldn’t have a
fighting chance against the economic and technological forces
arrayed against the business.” Farhi says newspapers “remain
remarkably popular” but suffer from “the flight of classified
advertisers, the deterioration of retail advertising and the
indebtedness of newspaper owners.” The Internet, he maintains, has
expanded newspaper readership while sapping “newspapers’ economic
lifeblood. The most serious erosion has occurred in classified
advertising, which once made up more than 40 percent of a
newspaper’s revenues and more than half its profits. … Craigslist
and eBay and dozens of other low-cost and no-cost classified sites
began gobbling newspapers’ market share a few years ago. What they
didn’t wipe out, the tanking economy did.” In the same issue of
American Journalism Review, journalism professor Philip Meyer writes
that economic pressure will transform today’s general-audience
newspapers into “The Elite Newspaper of the Future,” offering
“analysis, interpretation and investigative reporting” to “the
educated, opinion-leading, news-junkie core of the audience” who
“will insist on it as a defense against ‘persuasive communication,’
the euphemism for advertising, public relations and spin that
exploits the confusion of information overload.”
SOURCE: American Journalism Review, November/December 2008
——————————————————————–
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