== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. Nigeria Strikes Back at British American Tobacco
== BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST ==
1. New Participatory Project: Updating Profiles on Think Tanks
== SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS ==
1. WWF Greenwashes Coca-Cola
2. Indonesia’s Years of Lobbying Furiously
3. Unilever: “Viva Marketing!”
4. Foreign Lobbyist Watchdogs, Rejoice!
5. Shell’s Broadwater Gathers ACORN’s Support
6. Hogging the Picture
7. Congresspedia Managing Editor’s In These Times Cover Story
8. FDA Rejects Sunlight
——————————————————————–
== BLOG POSTINGS ==
1. NIGERIA STRIKES BACK AT BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO
by Anne Landman
If you think the U.S. tobacco industry is bad, you’ll find
the behavior of many of the same companies overseas to be truly
shocking.
Happily, the industry is beginning to be held accountable for
its operations in the Global South. Nigeria’s two largest states are
following the lead of U.S. states, in suing British American Tobacco
(BAT) of Nigeria, its U.K. parent company and Philip Morris
International for the health care costs of treating sick smokers,
The Times of London reported this week.
The new lawsuits demonstrate the importance of the online
public databases of previously secret tobacco industry documents.
The 1998 U.S. Master Settlement Agreement required major tobacco
companies to reveal millions of pages documenting unethical — and
even illegal — marketing, public relations and lobbying campaigns.
A lesser-known treasure trove is the British American Tobacco
Documents Archive, which has made some seven million pages of BAT
documents freely available. These documents are of particular
importance to countries like Nigeria.
To read the rest of this item, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6101
== BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST ==
1. NEW PARTICIPATORY PROJECT: UPDATING PROFILES ON THINK TANKS
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6122
Some of the highest traffic pages in SourceWatch are those on the
proliferating number of think tanks scattered around the world.
Keeping track of what their latest projects are, their finances and
key personnel is a challenge. That’s where you come in. The profiles
on think tanks that are in our top 100 most visited pages, in order
of page views over the last week, are those on Oregon Institute of
Science and Medicine, the American Enterprise Institute, the
Heritage Foundation, the Council on Foreign Relations, the
Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Heartland Institute. With a
little bit of effort from a handful of citizen editors we could make
sure the profiles are right up to date. Or, if you’d prefer to pick
one of the other think tanks, go right ahead. What we need to check
is that listed staff and office bearers are current, funding
information is as up to date as possible, contact addresses are
correct and current priorities are included on the page. Most of
this information will be on each think tank’s website. (Though note,
some think tanks don’t publish their annual reports on their
website). If this is your first time editing, you can register as a
SourceWatch volunteer editor here, and learn more about adding
information to the site here and here. HAVE FUN, AND THANKS FOR YOUR
HELP!
SOURCE: SourceWatch
== SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS ==
1. WWF GREENWASHES COCA-COLA
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6123
As Ronald Reagan loved to remark, “There they go again.” WWF, the
corporate-funded environmental giant often accused of taking
greenbacks in return for greenwashing its corporate benefactors,
strikes again. WWF and the Coca-Cola Company today proclaimed a
“bold partnership” that has Coke paying WWF $20 million US dollars.
WWF touts the deal on its website. A full page New York Times
advertisement announcing the deal is headlined “This is our drop,” a
trademarked phrase of the Coca-Cola company. Indeed, $20 million
dollars is just a drop in the bucket, a cheap fee for the PR image
bonanza from its partnership with WWF. Other companies giving money
to and receiving the blessings of WWF include Alcoa, Altria Group,
Walt Disney Company, and dozens more listed on the WWF website. For
a run-down on Coke’s current global controversies, read our
SourceWatch article on Coca-Cola.
SOURCE: Environmental News Service, June 5, 2007
2. INDONESIA’S YEARS OF LOBBYING FURIOUSLY
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6116
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, has had a
complicated relationship with the U.S., especially during the
Indonesian military’s occupation of neighboring East Timor. After
9/11, however, the U.S. has increasingly dismissed human rights
concerns to provide Indonesia with military aid. Andreas Harsono
details two major lobbying contracts that helped Indonesia grease
the skids. From 2003 to 2004, the firm Alston & Bird had a $200,000
per month contract with Indonesia, which stipulated that former U.S.
Senator Bob Dole would “actively participate in and supervise”
lobbying for military aid, increased trade and business benefits for
Indonesia. In 2005, the firm Richard L. Collins & Co. was hired on a
$30,000 a month contract to lobby to “remove legislative and policy
restrictions on security cooperation with Indonesia.” This contract
was with Indonesia’s intelligence agency, BIN, which has “long been
linked to human rights violations, including the 2004 assassination
of human rights campaigner Munir Thalib.” BIN officials sometimes
accompanied Collins lobbyists on visits to U.S. Congressional
offices. In November 2005, the U.S. lifted human rights restrictions
on foreign military financing for Indonesia — “and Indonesia’s
contract with Collins & Co. came to an end.”
SOURCE: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, May 31, 2007
3. UNILEVER: “VIVA MARKETING!”
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6113
The multinational consumer product company Unilever “has launched
ViveMejor, a multimedia marketing initiative that targets the
Hispanic community” in the U.S. The PR firm Edelman’s multicultural
practice is heading communications for the campaign. The campaign
includes a magazine, “distributed for free at grocery stores and
online … grassroots events, and two sub-platforms focusing on
beauty and food – Pasa Las Belleza (Spread the Beauty) and Desafio
del Sabor (The Flavor Challenge). Television segments created for
these sub-platforms, featuring celebrity stylists and a chef, will
appear on the popular Spanish morning show Despierta America (Wake
Up America).” Unilever’s Ivette Alvarez Santoro said, “The idea is
to offer simple, yet relevant tips on everything [the Hispanic
mother] is looking for … with the idea that she will share what
she has learned with her close family and friends.” Unilever
research found that “Hispanic women are more likely to make large
shopping trips … plan for meals, and be aware of advertised
specials than the general population,” and are “more open to recipes
and tips delivered in Spanish.”
SOURCE: PR Week, May 29, 2007
4. FOREIGN LOBBYIST WATCHDOGS, REJOICE!
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6112
Good news, everybody! The U.S. Department of Justice has posted
its near-final, revamped foreign lobbyist database online, at
www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fara/links/search.html. While it is still
“undergoing final testing,” the site links “to substantial
documents, such as contracts between lobbyists and foreign
governments as well as advocates’ reports listing contacts between
them and policymakers,” reports The Hill. The data is collected
under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which was “passed in 1938
to register propaganda by German Nazi agents before World War II.”
SOURCE: The Hill, May 30, 2007
5. SHELL’S BROADWATER GATHERS ACORN’S SUPPORT
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6111
Newsday reports on a successful cooptation of the activist group
ACORN by Shell Oil’s natural gas venture: “Amid its ongoing effort
to garner community support for its controversial offshore natural
gas terminal, Broadwater Energy yesterday announced a 10-year,
$10-million initiative to fund the weatherizing of more than 2,000
houses in low-income parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties [in New
York]. Critics of the proposed offshore terminal blasted the idea as
a naked attempt to buy friends for a project about which they have
raised a host of environmental and economic objections. … The
program would be administered by the Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. … Outspoken Broadwater
critic Adrienne Esposito … called the program ‘a bribe to bring
good public relations points. A lot of money doesn’t make
Broadwater a better project.’ … Partnerships with third parties
who have some community credibility is a common strategy in
advancing controversial projects, according to [CMD’s] Sheldon
Rampton … ‘I think the community ought to look carefully at what
they’re getting themselves into. Would [Broadwater parent] Shell Oil
be doing this project if they weren’t planning to build the natural
gas terminal?'” ACORN also receives funding from the Democracy
Alliance, a network of Democratic Party millionaires. Shell, long
advised by activist-busting PR firms including Mongoven, Biscoe and
Duchin, has an infamous history of targeting, dividing and
conquering activists.
SOURCE: Newsday, June 1, 2007
6. HOGGING THE PICTURE
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6110
The Harley-Davidson motorcycle company has arranged a deal with
the film school at the University of California-Santa Barbara that
recruits students as cheap labor to make Harley ads in the form of
“short sponsored videos for online media or for downloading to other
digital media platforms such as cell phones, iPods, and PDAs.” Under
the terms of the “partnership,” students submit proposals to
Harley-Davidson, describing the type of video they plan to make. If
approved, the company pays a stipend of up to $1,200 for each
proposal, and a prize of $5,000 to the winner. Harley then owns all
rights to the videos. The university’s website explains the project
as follows: “This class will also address the significance of direct
internet sales on sites such as eBay, and the role of the
blogosphere, webcasting, podcasting, new user nets such as Craig’s
List, among many others on the way young people both consume and
produce media content. Today the YouTube ‘viral video’ phenomenon is
challenging the dominant model of top-down, organization-driven
approaches to getting messages communicated in favor of more
spontaneous, organic and bottom-up strategies driven by consumers
themselves.”
SOURCE: UCSB website
7. CONGRESSPEDIA MANAGING EDITOR’S IN THESE TIMES COVER STORY
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6107
CMD’s Congresspedia Managing Editor Conor Kenny authored the cover
story for the May issue of In These Times. Titled “Hello, I’m a
Democrat,” the article addresses the phenomenon of the netroots, or
internet-based activists. “While they are engaged to one degree or
another in the national-level actions and organizations, many of the
most committed and involved activists are busy transforming the
Democratic Party from the ground up.” Conor also covers the
commitment of the netroots to not assume that traditionally
Republican areas are outside of the reach of this newly envisioned
Democratic Party. “Whether inspired by Dean or the other way around,
one of the activists’ central tenets is the need to build the party
in red areas abandoned by the state parties and, in the case of the
DNC, entire states.” The article also includes four profiles of
netroots activists.
SOURCE: In These Times, May 21, 2007
8. FDA REJECTS SUNLIGHT
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6105
In the wake of the latest study showing heart attack risk in an
FDA-approved drug, there have been increased calls for greater
transparency of clinical trial results. What does the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration think about requiring companies to publicly
release all of their trial results? “I would be very concerned about
wholesale posting of thousands of clinical trials leading to mass
confusion,” said Steve Galso, who directs the FDA’s Drug Evaluation
and Research division. But Merrill Goozner, who directs the
Integrity in Science project of the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, doubts that consumers would “be any more confused than
they now are from the information they get from direct-to-consumer
(DTC) advertising. … Let’s not forget that a provision in the FDA
reform bill calling for a two-year moratorium on DTC ads on some new
drugs was rejected because it limited commercial freedom of speech.
In 21st century America, the right to misinform consumers is
protected, but consumers’ right to information is denied because
they might misinform themselves.”
SOURCE: GoozNews, March 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. 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