A new Indiana University study concludes that "news reports by television reporters embedded with American troops in the early days of the Iraq War found little support for critics who question the journalists' objectivity." However, according to the study's abstract, the measure of objectivity was "the use of personal pronouns in embedded and nonembedded reports during CNN coverage of the 'Shock and Awe' campaign" and "the context in which personal pronouns were used by embedded reporters." While "there was more frequent use of personal pronouns by embedded reporters," the researchers judged the reports to be "void of personal values and ideologies." Whether embedded reporters were more or less likely to include the perspectives of Iraqis, United Nations officials, or war critics is not addressed. The media watchgroup FAIR has documented that U.S. television coverage of Iraq is "dominated by government and military officials."

From a VNR from Masterfoods and 1-800-Flowers

The Wall Street Journal interviewed Richard Edelman, the president of the major PR firm that bears his name. Edelman said, "There is room for video news releases and satellite media tours because, frankly, we provide interesting, newsworthy spokespeople with credibility. But ... they have to be identified, and I think it's the PR firm's job to make it clear about who the client is and that it's the media's job to post that." He added, "This is an era of total transparency. ... It's very subversive to credibility to have any other kind of structure." Edelman, a blogger himself, said blogging "is bridging, clearly into mainstream media." He feels "that public relations is going to grow faster than advertising or some of the other disciplines." Lastly, he noted that while most PR firms are part of large advertising conglomerates, "We see a real bright future for an independent company."

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) think tank, whose donors include Exxon Mobil and the American Petroleum Institute, is running a television ad campaign "targeting global warming 'alarmists,' especially Al Gore." Reuters reports, "The spots are timed to precede next week's theatrical release of An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary film on global warming that features Gore." In one ad, "a little girl blows away dandelion fluff as an announcer says, 'Carbon dioxide: they call it pollution; we call it life.'" As Think Progress notes, CEI "believes the dangers of global warming are akin 'to that of "an alien invasion."'"

The deal already looks suspiciously sweetened. On May 3, 2006, U.S. beverage firms announced an agreement with the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association gradually to pull most sweetened soft drinks from U.S. schools. Former President Bill Clinton led the press conference. But food policy expert Michele Simon says Clinton gave PR cover to the companies and coopted a more transparent public health-centered negotiation. Soda sales had already flattened. The beverage makers may have been looking to avoid a patchwork of state laws and to protect school vending machine slots for their other products--such as high calorie sports drinks, which were not part of the deal. Simon writes: "[T]his so-called agreement could undermine the massive public health effort currently underway in schools all across the nation."