"Large American nonprofits spend at least $7.6 billion per year on marketing and public relations," according to a consulting firm's analysis of U.S. tax data. "$7.6 billion annually in spending for advertising, communications, public relations and branding ... is not an insignificant business sector," writes Tom Watson. "Total spending on public relations in the U.S. reached some $3.7 billion last year. ... So while corporations are increasingly tying their brands to nonprofit causes, the nonprofits themselves are -- in a way -- increasingly competing with corporations for consumer attention, and consumer dollars. Clearly, causes sell. ... According to projects sponsorship consultancy IEG, Inc., cause-marketing spending will rise 20.5% this year to $1.34 billion -- that means cause-marketing sponsorships are now outpacing sports sponsorships." While Watson sees this as good news for both nonprofits and marketers, Huffington Post readers seem less enthusiastic. "Couldn't that money be used to directly serve people?" one commenter asks. "In the end, the corporate-allied nonprofits wear out their welcome," warns another.

The 2008 U.S. presidential race is already taking shape. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rudy Giuliani "are lining up on opposite sides of their home state's debate over a controversial nuclear power plant," reports The Hill. Giuliani, "whose security firm works for the plant's owners," supports the Indian Point plant's re-licensing bid. Clinton has called for "an independent safety assessment," while "three House Democrats and Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer (D-N.Y.) have called for Indian Point's closure," due to radioactive leaks and the 9/11 Commission's finding that "al-Qaeda members considered hitting Indian Point on their way to the World Trade Center." But what about campaign advertising? Sen. John McCain "will likely be lining up with Mark McKinnon, who headed the Bush Maverick Media ad team," reports Advertising Age. Gov. Mitt Romney will turn to Alex Castellanos of National Media, Inc., and Sen. Sam Brownback will use Wilson Grand Communications. Clinton "looks to be aligning with Mandy Grunwald," while Sen. Barack Obama "is expected to go with David Axelrod's AKP Media & Message," and Sen. Joe Biden will likely tap Joe Slade White.

As the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing approach, "the Chinese government knows cameras and notebooks are just as likely to record angry farmers protesting, practitioners of the banned Falun Gong discipline clashing with police, or Hollywood stars campaigning for Tibet's independence -- if reporters have the access." While China has 31 journalists in jail -- more than any other country -- the government has "pledged to temporarily relax limits on foreign journalists" reporting on the Olympics. (China has declined to extend the new freedoms to domestic journalists.) For a gentler approach to media control, the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee has put the PR firm Hill & Knowlton on retainer, while "Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide has been conducting training sessions for local governments." "I think it is a part of the process of reform for them," said the president of Ogilvy's China office. Sun Weide, the Beijing Olympics Committee's "message man" who "works extensively with Hill & Knowlton," stressed, "The Olympic charter says very clearly that the Games are about sports, not politics."

The U.S. Government Accountability Office "released a scathing report on the way the Food and Drug Administration handles direct-to-consumer prescription-drug advertising." The FDA "has just six reviewers on staff" to "screen, review and track the 10,000 pieces of advertising generated by drug makers each year in what has become a $4.5 billion-a-year industry." The FDA's response time for problematic drug ads has ballooned, from an average of two weeks in the years 1997 through 2001, to four months in 2002 to 2005, to eight months in 2004 and 2005. Senator Herb Kohl, one of three legislators who requested the GAO report, commented, "We need an FDA capable of reviewing DTC ads and taking swift action when necessary." For a rebuttal, Advertising Age quoted the head of the Coalition for Healthcare Communication, who said, "Better government oversight doesn't necessarily mean spending more money and adding more staff." However, AdAge neglected to point out that the "coalition" was formed by advertisers and publishing companies who rely on advertising dollars.