Remixed War Propaganda by Micah Ian Wright

"Propaganda is a part of war," writes Matthias Gebauer from Israel. "Vast armies of public relations workers develop an emotionally charged image meant to provide media and public support for the conflict's architects." And, "it's hard to criticize Israel for wanting to see victims of Hezbollah rockets ... in the media. ... Still, Israel's support and supervision of foreign journalists seems downright excessive. ... When covering other crisis regions, German reporters often have to make an effort to be extra nice and polite and have to search out interviewees and contacts themselves. Not here. In Israel, reporters are on an all-inclusive package trip -- and are well looked after." One of many recent emails to reporters from the Israeli government's press office offered interviewees on 11 topics related to military operations in Lebanon. "There's no need to go anywhere," Gebauer adds, quoting an Israeli press officer as saying, "The contacts can be reached by phone. It's better to do it that way, especially for the radio."

Pakistan hired the firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates, to promote the country to U.S. audiences as a "reliable and attractive member of the global economic community." One goal of the $616,000-per-year deal is to secure a "more robust bilateral relationship with the U.S. based on trade and security," according to the contract. In related news, Saudi Arabia paid the firm Qorvis Communications a whopping $3.6 million over six months, for work around Ambassador Prince Turki Al-Faisal's U.S. "listening tour." Qorvis secured editorial board meetings for the Ambassador with the Los Angeles Times, CNN and New York Times, as part of its "extensive media relations" for the kingdom.

For years, a group of fans and antisweatshop advocates has called on the Pittsburgh Pirates to source their souvenirs from factories that ensure fair labor conditions. The Big League response has been something of a greaseball: Major League Baseball (MLB) is "proud of the accomplishments of our licensees [who] provide gainful employment to tens of thousands of people" under "what we understand to be" full compliance with labor laws, wrote Ethan Orlinsky, general counsel MLB Properties (MLBP). He wrote that MLBP didn't use sweatshops. Shortly before the MLB All-Star game media arrived in Pittsburgh in mid-July, however, the Pittsburg Post-Gazette ran an editorial calling for "a genuine attempt at enforcement" of fair labor conditions. The editorial pointed out that 14-year-old Bangladeshis working 12-hour shifts without overtime pay could be "legally" making Pittsburgh's T-shirts. Orlinsky modified his pitch a bit, inviting the local group, led by activist Tim Stevens, to submit their concerns and said MLBP would "consider them." The Pittsburgh coalition responded but still awaits MLBP's answer.

Rick Berman, the corporate lobbyist and front group king who runs Berman and Co. is probably smiling all the way to the bank, no doubt enjoying a prominent profile in USA Today headlined "Got a nasty fight? Here's your man." The article quotes Berman's critics, including CMD's John Stauber who says "He obviously has made a very monetarily successful career out of bashing, smearing and attacking environmentalists... He's perfected the art of the personal attack and the personal smear. We know from political campaigns that it is a very effective device." Most public figures would cringe, but for Berman the piece is simply good advertising and will probably win him more corporate clients who pay him to be their high-profile attack dog while they stay hidden from scrutiny or responsibility. The USA Today article continues, "He seldom mentions his clients ... and he represents them through a variety of non-profit groups he has set up. His targets range from Mothers Against Drunk Driving to the Ralph Nader-founded Center for Science in the Public Interest, which works on food issues, to labor unions." The article notes that Berman now has a staff of 28 and an annual budget of $10 million dollars, but "only Berman and his bookkeeper/wife know for sure what he makes."

Aaron Glantz, author of How America Lost Iraq, reports on Free Speech Radio and in Inter Press Service that "Kurdish officials toured the United States last week to launch a massive advertising and public relations campaign [under the slogan Kurdistan - The Other Iraq ] thanking the United States ... . On the screen, Kurdish children wave U.S. flags. 'Thank you America,' one says. ... The ad campaign, as well as a U.S. tour by Kurdish politician Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, was put together by the California PR firm Russo Marsh and Rogers. In addition to representing the Kurdish government, the firm founded Move America Forward which has brought parents of dead U.S. soldiers to be counter-protesters at peace demonstrations. The firm has also brought right-wing talk show hosts to Iraq on a 'truth tour' to tell 'the good news that the old-line liberal news media won't tell you about.' All were in attendance at the Kurdish government's press conference in San Francisco with the head of Move America Forward, local radio talk show host Melanie Morgan, serving as master of ceremonies. 'What's going on here is that Russo Marsh and Rogers ... are engaged in an illegal propaganda campaign aimed at influencing the November elections," said John Stauber, co-author of the book Weapons of Mass Deception. 'They don't have to disclose anything so we may never really know where they got the money to run these campaigns.' " The Center's Diane Farsetta examined Move America Forward in a in a 2004 article for PR Watch quarterly.

Federal police have raided the home of a government employee seeking computer and other records indicating whether Ms. Tjanara Goreng had contact with the newspaper, the (NIT). This followed revelations in the paper that a senior federal Aboriginal affairs bureaucrat adopted "a bogus identity" to support claims by the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, that "pedophile rings" operated in Aboriginal communities. Brough was widely criticised after failing to produce any evidence to support his claims. In June, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Lateline program broadcast an interview with an "anonymous former youth worker" who supported Brough's claims and sensationally referred to young girls being held as "sex slaves." The NIT revealed the interviewee was Gregory Andrews, a branch head in the government agency advising Brough on Aboriginal policy.

Reynolds American, the parent company of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, is spending approximately $40 million in an attempt to defeat anti-smoking ballot initiatives to be voted on in November. Part of the tobacco industry campaign involves having front groups promoting alternative measures to those proposed by tobacco control groups. In Arizona, Reynolds is backing the Non-Smoker Protection Committee, while in Ohio it is supporting Smoke Less Ohio. "It is a significant amount of money, but it's very expensive to do these because it's like a political campaign," Carole Crosslin, a Reynolds spokeswoman told Associated Press. Shelly Kiser, a spokeswoman for SmokeFreeOhio, said "the tobacco industry has fought us every step of the way. They have taken out more than 30 lawsuits against us ... It's been horrible." The domain name for the website of Smoke Less Ohio was registered by the PR and lobbying company, Strategic Public Partners.