Sudan Promotes Self to NY Times Readers

by Laura Miller — March 21, 2006 - 5:11pm

The Government of Sudan -- tired of international media focusing on the country's ongoing genocide -- paid for an upbeat eight-page advertising insert in Monday's New York Times. O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports that Summit Communications prepared the insert which "extols the investment opportunities in the energy-rich state" but "has no rebuttal to United Nations and U.S. accusations that the Sudanese Government is funding the Arab militia that have raped, murdered and driven two million Darfur villagers into refugee camps." According to its website, Summit Communications specializes in countering the "crisis-driven orientation of American news outlets" that provide "insufficient coverage of the sweeping reforms and positive developments taking place in emerging markets." In their "Africa Policy Outlook 2006" report, Foreign Policy In Focus writes that this year "is likely to be the pivotal year in determining the course of U.S. relations with Sudan and the ultimate response to the genocide in Darfur."

Main Source:

O'Dwyer's PR Daily, March 20, 2006

Comments

Red Lampshade for the Times

Submitted by MediaSentinel on March 22, 2006 - 2:56pm.

Aside from having lost its editorial credibility to a series of articles fabricated from whole cloth, the once-venerable Times is now whoring itself out to a group of mass-murderers?

It's no wonder the "national paper of record" is now regarded so poorly on both -- and all -- sides of political and philosophical debate.

Of course, the editors will say it's an "insert," not editorial material, and that we should direct our comments to the "publisher."

Evidently, genocide means nothing when dollars are involved.