[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: The Weekly Spin, February 16, 2005
Paul Etxeberri
eusko at greens.org
Thu Feb 17 00:56:30 PST 2005
>
>THE WEEKLY SPIN, February 16, 2005
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>The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to
>further information about media, political spin and propaganda.
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>THIS WEEK'S NEWS
>
>== BLOG POSTINGS ==
>
>== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
>1. Potemkin Town Hall Meetings
>2. SOA Watch Watchers
>3. Rise of the Media Machine
>4. Leading with Bleeding (Don't Mind the Elections)
>5. Not What Democracy Looks Like
>6. PR, as in Profit and Propaganda
>7. Playing Spin the Atom, Once Again
>8. Shill to the Beat of the Drum
>9. U.S. Scientists Say They Are Told To Alter Findings
>10. Wal-Mart: The Race to the Bottom Line
>11. Holding the Hand that Feeds You
>12. Lobbying, German-Style
>13. Buzz Kill
>14. Gannon Quits After Blogger Inquiry
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>== BLOG POSTINGS ==
>
>== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
>
>1. POTEMKIN TOWN HALL MEETINGS
>http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/shared/news/nation/stories/0213_BUSH_COMMUNICATIONS.html
> George W. Bush has been traveling throughout the United States to
> promote his plan to privative Social Security. Recent "Team Bush"
> events have been called "conversations," "forums" and "town hall
> meetings." But these gatherings are hardly public and far from
> spontanious. Cox News Service's Ken Herman writes, "Regardless of
> the name, such events are always the same: Bush as congenial host
> with hand-picked on-stage guests with stories to prove the
> president's point."
>SOURCE: Cox News Service, February 14, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3280
>
>2. SOA WATCH WATCHERS
>http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2005a/021805/021805t.htm
> At the trespassing trial of activists protesting the School of the
> Americas combat training base, "new information surfaced about a
> comprehensive plan devised by the U.S. Army to deflect criticism of
> the school, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for
> Security Cooperation." Defendant Aaron Shuman introduced as evidence
> WHINSEC's "Strategic Communications Campaign Plan," which he
> obtained from an Army public affairs officer. The $246,000 plan
> includes media monitoring, letters to the editor to counter negative
> coverage, and tracking Father Roy Bourgeois, the founder of the
> anti-WHINSEC group SOA Watch. For Bourgeois speaking events, the
> plan suggests "efforts to get an Army representative on the bill
> with the priest or in the same venue at a later date to present an
> opposing point of view."
>SOURCE: National Catholic Reporter, February 18, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3279
>
>3. RISE OF THE MEDIA MACHINE
>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/15/BAGU1BB0JA1.DTL
> Arnold Schwarzenegger's "current California media tour to promote
> his plans for reforming state government looks like a resounding
> success - if only because the California media, rather than turning
> up the heat, often ends up in marshmallow mode with the state's
> famous governor." While some ask about his "proposed merit pay for
> teachers, the state's budget deficit, nursing reform and pension
> overhaul," recent interview questions include, "Do you miss the
> movies?" and "You won what, five Mr. Universe titles?" Political
> science professor Barbara O'Connor says the "few reporters who cover
> state government on a regular basis" and Schwarzenegger's "celebrity
> status" help him "set the media agenda in a way we haven't seen in a
> long time."
>SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, February 15, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3278
>
>4. LEADING WITH BLEEDING (DON'T MIND THE ELECTIONS)
>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/14/business/media/14broadcast.html?
> A study analyzing 4,000 local newscasts in 11 major markets found
> that, "in the month leading up to last year's presidential election,
> local television stations in big cities devoted eight times as much
> air time to car crashes and other accidents than to campaigns for
> the House of Representatives, state senate, city hall and other
> local offices." Eight percent of news shows reported on local races,
> while more than half reported on the presidential race. Such local /
> national disparities are fueling "the debate over how many
> television stations a company may own." One type of airtime did
> focus on local races: "Advertising by House candidates eclipsed
> actual coverage of those races by a ratio of 5 to 1."
>SOURCE: New York Times, February 14, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3277
>
>5. NOT WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE
>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cameroon14feb14,0,2420523.story?coll=la-home-headlines
> When Paul Biya, "the strongman who has ruled the West African
> country of Cameroon for more than 20 years swept to another election
> victory last fall, a number of observers quickly questioned the
> process." But not the U.S. Association of Former Members of
> Congress, who said, "This is what democracy is about." Their
> delegation was organized by "a lobbyist for Biya's government," who
> "served as the mission's chief staffer and billed Cameroon for his
> work. Biya's government also picked up the $80,000 tab for the
> Americans' visit. And a month after the group left, one of the six
> observers signed his own lobbying contract with Cameroon."
>SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, February 14, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3276
>
>6. PR, AS IN PROFIT AND PROPAGANDA
>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/business/yourmoney/13flak.html
> "The Armstrong Williams scandal is an example of the close
> coordination between the advertiser and the commentator ... that
> violates disclosure and conflicts-of-interest principles," the
> Center for Media and Democracy's Sheldon Rampton told the New York
> Times' Timothy O'Brien. O'Brien's article gives a historical
> overview of the PR industry, including many firms' consolidation
> into marketing and communications companies. "Critics say firms like
> Ketchum that operate inside conglomerates are pushing harder to
> fatten the bottom line - which may lead them to cross ethical
> boundaries." PR firms' work on political issues also raises
> questions, since "one man's propaganda is another man's truth," said
> the chief executive of Manning, Selvage & Lee.
>SOURCE: New York Times, February 13, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3275
>
>7. PLAYING SPIN THE ATOM, ONCE AGAIN
>http://www.tompaine.com/articles/no_nukes.php
> "The new year saw the launch of a well-orchestrated, multi-pronged
> campaign calling for America to end its dependence on oil through
> massive federal investments in nuclear energy," warns Patrick
> Doherty. The campaign includes articles by American Enterprise
> Institute and Global Business Network staff, a book titled "A
> Brighter Tomorrow: Fulfilling the Promise of Nuclear Energy" by
> Senate Energy Committee Chair Pete Domenici, and President Bush's
> State of the Union address. But what the nuclear industry is pushing
> "will cost the taxpayer $8 billion" and won't decrease U.S. oil
> consumption for decades, writes Doherty. Instead, he suggests "small
> natural gas turbines combined with better grid design."
>SOURCE: TomPaine.com, February 10, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3273
>
>8. SHILL TO THE BEAT OF THE DRUM
>http://news.ft.com/cms/s/251c9cd6-7bae-11d9-9af4-00000e2511c8.html
> McDonald's and MTV Networks have partnered, in a bid by the
> fast-food giant "to reach young people without running
> advertisements." Instead of ads, a new "30-minute monthly programme
> called MTV Advance Warning" will "feature new musical talent
> combined with McDonald's advertising imagery." The program will run
> in the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asia. The move comes as
> officials in the U.S. and European Union consider "restrictions on
> food advertising" due to rising youth obesity rates. As part of its
> "I'm lovin' it" campaign, McDonald's is also sponsoring a global
> tour by the musical group Destiny's Child, called "Destiny Fulfilled
> and lovin' it." McDonald's global chief of marketing said, "Music is
> the one universal language."
>SOURCE: Financial Times, February 10, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3272
>
>9. U.S. SCIENTISTS SAY THEY ARE TOLD TO ALTER FINDINGS
>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scientists10feb10,0,4954654.story?coll=la-home-nation
> Scientists employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they
> have been told to change their research findings concerning the
> protection of plants and animals. A survey of USFWS biologists,
> ecologists, botanists and other science professionals sponsored by
> the Union of Concerned Scientists and Public Employees for
> Environmental Responsibility finds:
> * "Nearly half of all respondents whose work is related to
> endangered species scientific findings (44 percent) reported that
> they 'have been directed, for non-scientific reasons, to refrain
> from making jeopardy or other findings that are protective of
> species.' ¬ÝOne in five agency scientists revealed they have been
> instructed to compromise their scientific integrity’Äîreporting that
> they have been 'directed to inappropriately exclude or alter
> technical information from a USFWS scientific document,' such as a
> biological opinion;
> * "More than half of all respondents (56 percent) knew of cases
> where "commercial interests have inappropriately induced the
> reversal or withdrawal of scientific conclusions or decisions
> through political intervention."
>SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, February 10, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3271
>
>10. WAL-MART: THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM LINE
>http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/business/story.html?id=d2936f9b-234a-40b8-a137-43d6efd33cb4
> Saying they had "bargain[ed] in good faith," Wal-Mart announced it
> was closing a store in Quebec whose employees were negotiating the
> first union contract ever with the giant retailer. Wal-Mart said the
> move is not a union bust, but due to "the fragile condition of the
> Jonquiere store." A union spokesperson said, "We're going to carry
> on with our efforts to organize Wal-Marts." The Canadian firm
> National PR is helping Wal-Mart with "French-language media
> outreach" following the announcement. O'Dwyer's notes that the
> closing "comes as Hill & Knowlton is guiding a national campaign in
> the U.S. to help the company put out the 'unfiltered truth' and
> correct 'urban legends.'"
>SOURCE: Ottawa Citizen, February 10, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3270
>
>11. HOLDING THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU
>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/politics/10bush.html
> At a "conversation with experts and victims" organized by the White
> House to push legislation limiting class-action lawsuits, President
> Bush sat next to Clinton administration acting solicitor general
> Walter E. Dellinger III. "He represents the spirit needed to have
> good legal reform and that is the bipartisan spirit," Bush said. It
> was not disclosed that Dellinger's law firm, O'Melveny & Myers,
> received "$780,000 since 1999 - including $580,000 in the last two
> years - by two of the major lobbying groups set up by companies to
> try to push the legislation through Congress," including the
> Institute for Legal Reform, set up by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
>SOURCE: New York Times, February 10, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3269
>
>12. LOBBYING, GERMAN-STYLE
>http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110798692853250483,00.html?mod=world%5Fnews%5Ffeatured%5Farticles
> "In recent weeks, senior politicians from Germany's two biggest
> parties resigned following disclosures that they received tens of
> thousands of euros from corporate benefactors," even though "the
> payments were legal." Throughout Europe, companies are increasingly
> doing "aggressive lobbying in the absence of rules to rein them in."
> Public outrage has led watchdogs like the Corporate Europe
> Observatory to push for disclosure laws, though "many companies
> responded ... by further obscuring their lobbying efforts." Economic
> and political changes have made Berlin, in particular, a hotspot for
> corporate lobbying. "We're extremely well networked here," said
> Coca-Cola's head of public affairs in Berlin.
>SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (reg. req'd.), February 10, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3268
>
>13. BUZZ KILL
>http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0209womma.htm
> To counter criticism of "buzz" or guerrilla marketing, the year-old
> Word of Mouth Marketing Association developed a code of ethics. The
> Association includes the Burson-Marsteller, Edelman and Rowland
> Communications PR firms, along with marketing agencies and
> advertisers. The Association's ethics code calls for "honest
> disclosure of relationship, opinion and identity," which would end
> the practice of hiring actors to play satisfied consumers. "The
> whole idea of marketing is to not make it look like marketing,"
> remarked the co-founder of Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners, an agency
> that once hired actors to drink a brand of cognac "at trendy bars
> and chat with patrons about the pricey product."
>SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (reg. req'd.), February 9, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3267
>
>14. GANNON QUITS AFTER BLOGGER INQUIRY
>http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2005/02/gannon-quits-after-blogger-inquiry.html
> "The Talon News correspondent at the center of a scandal over his
> White House press credentials quit last night amid a growing online
> investigation into his history, including allegations of involvement
> with several websites appearing to support gay pornography and
> promote male prostitution," reports Timothy Karr. "Jeff Gannon (a
> pseudonym) announced last night via his personal website that he had
> found it 'no longer possible to effectively be a reporter for Talon
> News. In consideration of the welfare of me and my family I have
> decided to return to private life.'"
>SOURCE: MediaCitizen, February 9, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3266
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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--
Paul Etxeberri
"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow" ---Chateaubriand
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