Syngenta PR’s Weed-Killer Spin Machine: Investigating the Press and Shaping the "News" about Atrazine

Submitted by Beau Hodai on February 7, 2012 - 9:33am

- By Beau Hodai and Lisa Graves

Documents obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy, recently unsealed as part of a major lawsuit against Syngenta, reveal how the global chemical company's PR team investigated the press and spent millions to spin news coverage and public perceptions in the face of growing concerns about potential health risks from the widely used weed-killer "atrazine."

This story is part of a new series about this PR campaign to influence the media, potential jurors, potential plaintiffs, farmers, politicians, scientists, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the midst of reviews of the weed-killer's potential to act as an endocrine disruptor, over the past decade or so.

Dealing with Meddlesome Reporters

Reporter Danielle Ivory (Source: UC)Two years ago, on March 2, 2010, Huffington Post Investigative Fund (HuffPo) reporter Danielle Ivory contacted Syngenta Corporation Director of Corporate Communications-North America Paul Minehart and asked, as reporters do, a few questions.

Little did she know her questions to Syngenta—which reported sales of over $11 billion that year, almost half of which, $5 billion, was profit—would provoke the creation of a secret dossier on her.

Americans for Prosperity, a Nonprofit, Campaigning for Walker?

Submitted by Brendan Fischer on February 9, 2012 - 9:33am

The Koch-founded Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit "charity" prohibited from intervening in political campaigns, is spending $700,000 on ads and holding events around Wisconsin that look like appeals to re-elect Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who is facing a recall election. The campaigning seems to flout proposed state campaign finance rules that AFP helped block and comes as secretly-funded nonprofits are playing an increasingly important role in elections nationally.

Upcoming Events for the Wisconsin Uprising Anniversary

Submitted by PR Watcher on February 9, 2012 - 4:34am

For the anniversary of the Wisconsin Uprising, a series of events have been planned to commenorate the historic events of February and March 2011.

Book Reading: “Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street”

Date: Thursday, February 9th, 5:00 p.m. Location: Tripp Commons, Memorial Union

The Battle for Vermont's Health -- and Why It Matters for the Rest of the Country

Submitted by Wendell Potter on February 8, 2012 - 10:29am

Wendell Potter, CMD Fellow and former head of PR for CIGNAMONTPELIER, Vermont — You can’t see them. They’re hidden from view and probably always will be. But the health insurance industry’s big guns are in place and pointed directly at the citizens of Vermont.

WI Senate Leader Working Overtime to Stave Off Recall

Submitted by Mary Bottari on February 8, 2012 - 9:07am

Scott FitzgeraldWisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) is in a last-minute scramble to challenge "fraudulent" recall petition signatures.

Of the six public officials facing recall in Wisconsin, Fitzgerald has the slimmest margin of recall signatures. While the effort to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker garnered 185 percent of the necessary signatures, the effort to recall Fitzgerald in a heavily Republican district turned in 123 percent of the amount needed.

Thus, it was no surprise when Fitzgerald announced this week that he would challenge "more than 3,000" recall signatures -- enough to prevent a recall election against him, if he can convince the independent GAB to agree to strike the signatures.

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