Screaming Nielsen and Count Astroturf

"A case study posted on the website of [Washington] DC-based Glover Park Group (GPG) has caused a PR snafu," reports PR Week. The case study describes how GPG (along with Dewey Square Group and Grassroots Enterprise, Inc., as reported earlier on SourceWatch) worked "to combat the rollout of new Nielsen TV viewership technology," on behalf of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. News Corp. is concerned the technology might affect its advertising rates. The PR firms organized a "grassroots coalition" called Don't Count Us Out, which claims the technology would undercount communities of color. After discovering GPG's case study, Nielsen Media Research released a statement saying GPG "is admitting for the first time that it created, organized and directed the activities of the Don't Count Us Out organization at the behest of News Corp." A spokesperson for Don't Count Us Out said, "Nielsen is trying to change the topic."