It's not surprising that big tobacco is funding attack ads around the primary election for California's State Board of Equalization, which regulates state cigarette sales and oversees $40 billion in tax collections. What is surprising is that the mailing, from a group called the California Political Empowerment Committee, accuses one candidate of "being a shill for Big Tobacco," according to the Los Angeles Times. The group has received at least $57,000 from Altria's Kraft subsidiary, Lorillard and UST. Its mailing targeted state Assemblywoman Judy Chu, saying she "accepted money from tobacco companies and then voted to reduce penalties on them for illegally selling cigarettes to minors." Chu is actually a "staunch foe of the industry and refuses to accept its campaign cash." Public health activists called the mailing "a cynical attempt to drive voters toward her opponent," state Assemblyman Jerome Horton, who is "one of the Legislature's biggest beneficiaries of tobacco money."

Several recent and forthcoming documentaries are, according to PR professionals, "docugandas." Those noted include "An Inconvenient Truth," which features Al Gore warning about global warming, last year's "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," and 2004's "Super Size Me," as well as the upcoming film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" "We need to clarify that this new wave of ‘documentaries’ are not, in fact, documentaries,” says Christopher Ian Bennett of New School Media, a communications and public-relations firm in Vancouver. “They fail to meet the Oxford Dictionary definition, in that they editorialize, and opine far too much.” Robert Greenwald, director of "Wal-Mart" and 2004's "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" comes at it from a slightly different perspective. When asked whether he feels the need to present more than one side of an issue, Greenwald said, "Is it my job to tell the story that everyone is already getting over and over 24/7? I don't think so. In a democratic system you want to hear something that hasn't been told."

In its "PR Toolbox" section, PR Week answers the question, "What is the difference between a guaranteed-placement ANR (audio news release) and a traditional one?" According to Maury Tobin of Tobin Communications, "Research indicates that most radio stations do not use ANRs." PR Week explains, "Some vendors offer guaranteed-placement ANRs -- or Sponsored Radio Features (SRFs). ... Unlike a traditional ANR, a guaranteed-placement one is certain to air because advertising time is purchased." Tobin adds that his firm "includes an indentification of the organization sponsoring the piece," for guaranteed-placement ANRs. "This is clear: Guaranteed-placement ANRs or SRFs would not exist if radio stations really ran traditional ANRs."