PR Watch, Third Quarter 2006, Volume 13, No. 3

Download PR Watch, Third Quarter 2006, Volume 13, No. 3

Flack Attack

With CMD's hot-off-the-press The Best War Ever: Lies, Damned Lies, and the Mess in Iraq by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber (excerpts proudly presented herein), the atmosphere around the office of the Center for Media and Democracy has been downright electric. Add to that the Federal Communications Commission's August 2006 demand to 77 TV news outlets for detailed information on corporate-funded video news releases that the stations presented as news (exposed, of course by our own Diane Farsetta and Daniel Price -- see PR Watch, Vol. 14, No. 2). No " dog days of summer " this year -- even if John has had to walk the dog anyway.

The Best War Ever

The Best War Ever
 

excerpted from the new book by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber

During the buildup to war with Iraq, the Bush Administration did not merely say it suspected that Iraq had weapons. It claimed to know for certain, and even to know where they were located. "We do know, with absolute certainty," said Dick Cheney, that Saddam Hussein "is using his procurement system to acquire the equipment he needs in order to enrich uranium to build a nuclear weapon."

Rewriting History

by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber

Since the war in Iraq began in 2003, the Bush administration's rhetoric has shifted in directions that undermine its original case for war. During the initial buildup to war, the main arguments were:

1. We know that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

2. Saddam Hussein is allied with Al Qaeda.

3. The people will welcome American troops as liberators, so the war will be a "cakewalk" and the post-invasion occupation will be brief.

These arguments have now shifted to the following:

1. We were wrong about our intelligence assessments, but so was everyone else.

CMD In The News

by Jonathan Rosenblum

The Center for Media and Democracy continues to provide a leading voice nationally and internationally in identifying manipulative PR and propaganda. Here are a few examples of recent media appearances of the Center and its staff:

  • CMD Executive Director John Stauber was prominently featured in a July 31, 2006, USA Today article about anti-union, business lobby darling Rick Berman. Berman "obviously has made a very monetarily successful career out of bashing, smearing and attacking environmentalists," John told reporter Jayne O'Donnell. John was also prominently quoted in a Buffalo News investigation of June 25, 2006, outing "Vets for Truth" as a Republican front organization built in the mold of Swift Boat Vets for Freedom.

Not Counting the Dead

by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber

During the initial invasion phase of the war in Iraq, the low number of U.S. and coalition casualties made it possible to imagine that the war would be a relatively blood-free affair. U.S. forces combined devastating aerial attacks with overwhelming technological superiority in ground operations to crush their Iraqi opponents. The march to Baghdad was so rapid that the main problem encountered by troops was the difficulty maintaining adequate deliveries of food and fuel at the front of the line. By the time President Bush declared an "end to major combat operations in Iraq" on May 1, 2003, only 173 coalition troops had died -- 140 Americans and 33 British.