Flack Attack

As the Center for Media and Democracy's Diane Farsetta writes, 2005 was indeed a very false year. In this issue of PR Watch, we've included our annual Falsies Awards. As we enter into another year of dazzling spin, we can see how far we have or haven't come.

We also take a look at how progressives are handling the issue of public relations and message development. Farsetta was invited to participate in the True Spin Conference in early February, which brought lefty activists together to discuss media strategies in Denver, Colorado. She reports back on what she said and heard.

CMD's research director Sheldon Rampton takes a look at the work of George Lakoff, a cognitive linguist at the University of California–Berkeley, who has popularized theories about the role of framing in the public debate. Progressives and Democrats have referred to Lakoff's work as they try to configure winning media strategies. Rampton explores Lakoff's ideas concerning metaphors, but stresses that there's more than metaphors shaping our political perceptions.

SourceWatch editor Bob Burton jumps metaphorically into the ring with PR professional Alan Caruba, who heads the National Anxiety Center. Caruba's anxieties include the environment, immigration and the United Nations. In a recent article defending his friend Michael Fumento (who wrote nice things about Monsanto after receiving money from the biotech giant), Caruba took a swipe at CMD's website SourceWatch. Burton defends SourceWatch's honor in his article, "Anxious Al Caruba."