George Kenney of Electric Politics called us for his March 30 podcast: "To get a sense of what's going on from the perspective of grassroots Wisconsin — historically one of the great incubators of American political thought — I turned to John Stauber of the Center for Media and Democracy, out of Madison. John's a great guy, very thoughtful, possessing an abundance of Midwestern common sense. An excellent, and necessary, reality corrective for the Washington perspective." (Total runtime of an hour and twenty two minutes.)

"While reporting a story on Microsoft's video blogging initiative -- something called Channel 9 -- the dossier that Microsoft and its outside public relations agency Waggener Edstrom keeps on me accidentally ended up in my email inbox," recounts Fred Vogelstein. Although he had "assumed that the people I interview do as much homework on me as I do on them," Vogelstein says that it "was strange to see just how many resources are aligned against me when I write a story about Microsoft. ... For something like six months prior they had been plotting to get Wired to write a story about Channel 9 and had dispatched three executives to meet with editors at the magazine." The 12-page document contains pre-interview tips (including a warning that Voelstein "is digging for tension," and a suggestion to "apologize for being so tough to reach"), post-interview assessments ("Fred's questions went as expected"), a profile of Vogelstein ("Fred can be a little tricky in interviews") -- even anticipated questions and answers, and "what we expect to see in the story." Waggener Edstrom president Frank Shaw writes that the document is not "surprising or nefarious," but part of preparing someone to give "a great interview."

Alternet's Don Hazen interviews the founders of MoveOn. He writes, "For the first time ... members of Congress -- at least the new Democratic majority, along with a handful of Republicans -- finally caught up with the population" and "confronted Bush over the financing of the war and a real timeline for ending it. ... The ability to win this first victory was difficult and complex. It was achieved in part with the energetic and savvy support of millions of progressives and particularly MoveOn.org ... Yet this victory, and MoveOn's role, is not without controversy."

U.S. soldiers in Mosul, Iraq, in 2005

It was Sarah Olson's reporting on military opposition to the war in Iraq that made her a target of an Army subpoena. That hasn't deterred her from continuing to report on the subject. She writes, "'I joined the Army to go to war, and now I’m fighting to get out,' says Pfc. Ryan Follan, laughing nervously. He quickly becomes serious. 'Some of the causes are good, but I don’t think the war is for the right reasons.' ... Private Follan is standing in a Taco Bell parking lot just outside Fort Stewart in Savannah, Georgia. ... On this particular day, the soldiers at Fort Stewart have visitors. ... Veterans for Peace members say they’re not trying to pressure GIs to resist war. They want to educate soldiers about their rights."

"Hailed as a major success of five years of democracy-building, media freedom in Afghanistan is under increasing pressures," writes Alisa Tang. A spokesperson for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said, "We've moved from an open media environment to a state-controlled media environment." A proposed law would increase government power over media outlets and make reporting "humiliating and offensive" news a criminal offense. The law "is being pushed by former warlords-turned-politicians who would rather have past deeds be forgotten," according to the head of the Afghan Journalists' Association. Meanwhile, highly-regarded Afghan journalist Ajmal Naqshbandi remains missing, weeks after being kidnapped by the Taliban. Ajmal was working with an Italian reporter, who was released after a controversial prisoner swap. The Committee to Protect Journalists and Western reporters who have worked with Ajmal are leading the campaign for his release, notes CJR Daily.

"Israel's official MySpace page was launched in January under the direction of officials from the Foreign Ministry," reports Gregory Levey. "The MySpace page automatically greets visitors with a sleekly produced hip-hop song called 'Peace in the Middle,'" and "shows pictures of Israel's beaches, glitzy hotels and the Tel Aviv skyline." It's part of the Israeli government's efforts "to reach out to young Americans" and "disarm the conflict-centric image so prevalent in the Western media." The Israeli government also has its own blog, which (like its MySpace page) links to YouTube videos on "Israel's achievements in technology, medicine, business and entertainment," as well as Gay Pride Parades and "a lot of people wearing bikinis. There is nobody wearing a military uniform in the videos, even though military service is compulsory for all Israelis after they turn 18." Future online plans include a second blog run by Israel's Foreign Ministry, "devoted exclusively to politics," and "an Internet television station aimed at American evangelicals and other Christians."

From a Campaign for Safe Cosmetics ad

In response to growing concerns about the safety of some cosmetics, the industry group Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA) "has embarked on what it calls an 'education process' designed to reassure consumers." As the Center for Media and Democracy reported previously, part of CTFA's PR campaign is a website with industry-provided safety information -- perhaps intended to counter the "Skin Deep" online database by environmental and public health advocates. "Consumers are looking for greater transparency," noted CTFA's John Bailey. While "the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not test cosmetics before they enter the market," companies apply "good science" to assess their products' safety, assured Bailey. But former model Olivia James, among others, has her doubts. Her son was born with a condition linked to exposure to phthalates, chemicals commonly in cosmetics. The European Union has banned some phthalates and other chemicals allowed in U.S. cosmetics.

In early March, George W. Bush announced the creation of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors as a way of ending controversy over substandard treatment of injured U.S. personnel at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The commission has been created to "conduct a comprehensive review" of the care provided to injured military on their return to the United States, but it is also planning its own PR campaign. On March 22, the commission stated that it would award a no-bid contract for the period to August 1, 2007 to the Bethesda-based PR company, LMW Strategies, which is run by Lorraine McHugh-Wytkind. McHugh-Wytkind is a former communications director for Sen. Hillary Clinton. O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports (sub req'd) that the contract is worth $100,000.

The European Commission has backed the introduction of a voluntary register for lobbyists seeking to influence European Union officials. "All these groups or bodies are invited to register publicly whom they represent and what their objectives are. They are invited to declare funding sources and major clients," the commission stated. “I hope the lobbying profession will see this as an opportunity, rather than a threat," the European Commission's Vice-President for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud Siim Kallas stated in a media release. Kallas announced European lobbyists would only be required to disclose total spending on lobbying EU bodies and "the relative weight per client." Associated Press notes that the new rules "fall far short of recent U.S. reforms to ethics laws that prevent senators from receiving gifts and free travel from lobbyists."

It didn't take Former Republican Senator Jim Talent of Missouri long to take a spin through the revolving door between government and the private sector. Talent just lost the Senate seat that he had held since 2003 in November, but the public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard has already hired him as co-chairman of its Government Relations subsidiary. Talent said that it is a "great platform to work on raising the profile of the same issues I did in Congress," including defense, health care and transportation. He also intends to continue his part-time fellowship at the Heritage Foundation in addition to advising Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on domestic policy issues.

UPDATE: PRWatch and WeeklySpin readers have posted the contact information for all the new members from Texas, Virginia and New Hampshire. Help us finish the rest!

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"All the surveys we have done shows that the biggest hasbara," or public diplomacy, "problem that Israel has is with males from the age of 18 - 35," said David Saranga, Israel's media and public affairs point person at its New York consulate. "In order to change their perception of Israel as only a land of conflict, we want to present to them an Israel that interests them," he added. So the "beer 'n' babes magazine Maxim" is sending photographers to Israel, for a photo shoot of attractive Israeli women. Saranga called the Israeli women models a "Trojan horse," to show Israel as "a modern country with nice beaches." The magazine will also include information on each of the seven models, "to show the diversity of Israeli society." Israel's consul-general in New York said his country "is a vibrant and vivid place, and capturing this on the pages of America's biggest male magazine helps us reaffirm our brand in an important way."

In yet another example of the government-industry revolving door, "Peabody Energy, the world's largest private sector coal company, has hired Dick Gephardt's firm to spearhead its drive to defeat efforts by Democrats to put caps on carbon emissions in a bid to combat global warming," reports O'Dwyer's. Gephardt, a Democrat and the former U.S. House Majority Leader, will advocate for increased public funding of "clean coal technologies." Peabody's coal generators produce 10 percent of U.S. electricity. The company says "clean coal" research will help achieve the "ultimate goal of near-zero emissions from coal." Peabody's corporate social responsibility report calls mandatory caps on emissions "irresponsible, contributing to adverse health impacts and economic harm through the loss of affordable electricity."

As more information surfaces about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' role in the Justice Department scandal over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, Gonzales is going "on a public relations tour to boost his image," reports Jennifer Hoar. "To mitigate backlash," Gonzales is making "a conference call to U.S. attorneys, personal meetings and lunches with senators and members of Congress and an impromptu appearance at the National Hispanic Leadership Summit." In addition, "the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Alliance for Progress Institute and the Fraternal Order of Police, among others" have issued letters of support for Gonzales. Some public relations professionals questioned the effectiveness of involving Latino groups in Gonzales' damage control. "Gonzales is a nice guy, but he represents an administration that is cause for disillusionment," said Marc Campos, the president of the PR firm Campos Communications, which specializes in "Hispanic community relations." Campos said that if Gonzales "is asked to resign, there are not going to be a whole lot of tears shed."

University of California at Berkeley senior staff attorney and senior fellow at the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology Chris Hoofnagle writes, "In my work on consumer protection, I have begun to recognize patterns" in the actions and arguments of corporations and think tanks opposing regulations and other oversight. "Whether the topic is tobacco, food and drug safety, or privacy legislation, these groups employ the same rhetorical devices to delay and stop consumer reform." Hoofnagle presents common arguments by these pro-corporate "denialists" as a deck of cards. Arguments likely to be made early on in anti-reform campaigns are lower-level cards, progressing up to the face cards. "No Problem" is the two of clubs, "Stifles Innovation" is the six of hearts, "Fake Consumer Groups" is the ten of clubs, and "We'll Lose Money!" is the ace of clubs. "I hope the Denialists' Deck of Cards has been an entertaining critique," concludes Hoofnagle, adding that it "can help consumer advocates frame the opposition that they receive."

Farhad Manjoo of Salon.com examines MoveOn's new role as power-broker for the Democratic Party. "MoveOn, which began with an e-mail petition opposing President Clinton's impeachment in 1998, has grown into one of the biggest and best-known netroots groups on the left. ... Now, however, with the Democrats running the House and Senate, MoveOn's stance on the Pelosi bill has led critics to suggest complicity with the new congressional power structure. ... MoveOn has long been part of Win Without War, a large collection of progressive antiwar groups; now it is virtually alone among the coalition's membership in its support for the Pelosi plan."

As noted in previous Spins, the movie "InnerState" was bankrolled by Johnson & Johnson to promote a drug produced by its biopharmaceutical unit, Centocor. But J&J isn't alone. The Fireman's Fund, along with its PR firm, Ketchum, "brokered a deal with the History Channel for its 'Into the Fire' in 2006." The TV movie was geared to show that "post-9/11, firemen's services are basically under-funded," said Mark Owens of Ketchum Entertainment Marketing. "We didn't set up to make a documentary about the brand. ... If it were a preachy story about what the brand was doing, it wouldn't work." Owens said that although TV movies get better numbers -- "Into the Fire" was watched by three million people -- "showing a corporate documentary in a theater is a 'Holy Grail for what a brand would like to have. It is prestigious and has a great sound and feel.'"

Examples of product placement

The New York Times reports on two marketing trends. "The Online Publishers Association released a study showing that mobile Internet use was on the rise, as was acceptance of mobile advertising," reports Eric Pfanner. While "the publishing group's numbers seem surprisingly high when compared with other recent surveys of Web access by mobile phone users," mobile marketing "could be a big thing simply because the potential audience size is enormous." Nokia recently announced "new services to increase mobile advertising." For television, the trend is to make commercials seem more like programs and less like ads, reports Stuart Elliott. "We want to bring the audiences right to the commercial so they don't feel they've gone into the commercial," explained ABC's Michael Shaw. The CW network "is selling commercials that resemble programs, with the sponsors' products incorporated into the plots." VH1 has "Showstoppers," which intersperse "program snippets and [ad] spots." General Electric is producing commercials for "new-media outlets like video on demand and the Internet, which bear titles like 'G.E. One-Second Theater' and 'G.E.'s Imagination Theater,'" named to evoke the old "General Electric Theater" shows hosted by Ronald Reagan.

In February the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) hired BKSH & Associates, Burson-Marsteller and the polling company Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, to promote the need for "free, open and transparent elections in Pakistan in 2007." The contract, which runs to June 2007, could be worth as much as $250,000. Pakistan's current Prime Minister, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, came to power in 1999 by a military coup while the leader of the PPP, Benazir Bhutto, is living in exile. Kevin Bogardus reports that the first stage of the campaign involves the development of op-eds and white papers. This is to be followed by a "broad public affairs campaign" which includes enlisting "third-party supporters," including former U.S. government officials and think tanks. In the final stage, the campaign hopes to organize meetings for Bhutto with the editorial boards of the New York Times and the Washington Post and also "target top journalists" such as the Times columnist Thomas Friedman.

An examination of records from Minnesota, where legislation requires drug company payments to doctors to be disclosed, reveals that between 1997 and 2005 over 5,500 medical professionals in the state were paid a total of over $57 million. Gardiner Harris and Janet Roberts report that "another $40 million went to clinics, research centers and other organizations. More than 20 percent of the state’s licensed physicians received money. The median payment per consultant was $1,000; more than 100 people received more than $100,000." Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, who worked as a sales representative for Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson until 2002, explained that "the vast majority of the time that we did any sort of paid relationship with a physician, they increased the use of our drug ... I hate to say it out loud, but it all comes down to ways to manipulate the doctors."

One of the key pieces of information on Congresspedia's member of Congress articles is the contact information for the member's district and Washington offices. This helps constituents know exactly where they can go to voice their opinions, deliver petitions or send letters. Congresspedia has all the phone numbers and addresses for the incumbents, but we need to update the pages of the freshman members, which now only list campaign offices. Consider helping out your fellow citizens out by quickly adding the information to the wiki if you're from one of these states: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI.

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The food company Chiquita Brands International, Inc. has pleaded guilty to funding a Colombian paramilitary group designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization. According to U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors, the company's Colombian subsidiary, Banadex, paid approximately $1.7 million to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) between 1997 and 2004. In its 2004 corporate social responsibility report, Chiquita stated that it had been "forced" to make the payments and had disclosed them to the Justice Department in early 2003. However, the Miami Herald reports that senior managers authorised payments "even after outside attorneys advised the company to halt the flow of money." In June 2004, Chiquita sold Banadex. In a deal struck with prosecutors, but not yet accepted by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, Chiquita has agreed to pay a $25 million fine. The names of the executives who approved the payments would not be revealed.

Two former food industry websites -- Best Food Nation and the Grow America Project -- are being merged and re-birthed as a new front group, the Center for Food Integrity (CFI). CFI's web domain was registered earlier this month by Charlie Arnot, who runs a small Missouri-based PR firm, CMA Consulting. CFI, which lists Monsanto as one of its supporters, states that it aims "to build consumer trust and confidence in the contemporary U.S. food system." Joseph Mendelson, the legal director of the Center for Food Safety, a consumer group, told Food NavigatorUSA.com that CFI is simply "a PR entity to try and battle regulations designed to create a safer food supply ... This is a way for it to promote its agenda under a green wash label." Mendelson also believes that the CFI's name was "chosen to try to distract attention from groups like ours and to confuse consumers." (Note: Mendelson is on the Center for Media and Democracy's Board of Directors.)

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released documents showing "hundreds of instances" where a former and current oil industry lobbyist had edited government reports to downplay the impact of human activities on global warming trends. Committee chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said the documents suggested "a systematic White House effort to minimize the significance of climate change." The edits were by Philip A. Cooney, the former chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Cooney, who has no scientific credentials, worked for the American Petroleum Institute prior to the Bush administration position and is now working for Exxon Mobil. Cooney said that his edits were meant to reflect the "most authoritative and current views of the state of scientific knowledge." NASA climate expert Dr. James Hansen warned at the House hearing, "If public affairs offices are left under the control of political appointees, it seems to me that inherently they become offices of propaganda."

Retailers "eager to connect with teen and twentysomething shoppers" are increasingly marketing to them through their cell phones, reports USA Today. New marketing approaches include "coupons that go to shoppers' cellphones." The marketing firm Access 360 Media "saw redemption rates of about 40%" with cell-delivered coupons, as opposed to "less than 2% for many print or online coupon campaigns." Then there's GPShopper, "an Internet-style search engine that lets shoppers search a chain's entire inventory," with Best Buy, Toys R Us and Sports Authority among the chains using the service. Lastly, "an interactive dressing room mirror" was unveiled at a Manhattan Bloomingdale's last week. The mirror "streams high-definition video of shoppers modeling clothes to their friends' computers or mobile devices." The friends can then "comment on a shopper's outfits" and help "select other clothes for her [sic] to try."

PR Week gave its "Public Affairs Campaign of the Year 2007" award to the Porter Novelli firm and the Abundant Forests Alliance, a front group for the "wood and paper products industry." The campaign was launched in response to "environmental activist" efforts to "change the foresting industry's procurement practices." The campaign's goal was to convince "college-educated women ages 35 to 54 with children" that the logging industry is "encouraging recycling and other environmentally responsible practices." The $10 million "multifaceted campaign" included a children's book by The Rolling Stones' Chuck Leavell titled, "The Tree Farmer," a television satellite media tour, Earth Day and Arbor Day events, and "environmental grant programs" in Dallas and Los Angeles, developed in conjunction with Project Learning Tree. In addition, "lifestyle expert" Katie Brown and "paper artist" Lynette Young promoted "the use of wood and paper in homemade gifts," including through "scrapbooking demonstrations at 500 Wal-Marts around the country."

"Overseas political groups are increasingly seeking to raise their legitimacy and sell their agendas in their home countries through communications outreach to US politicians, media, think tanks, and other influential audiences," writes PR Week. The party of former Ukrainian "Orange Revolution" leader Yulia Tymoshenko is working with TD International, Glover Park Group and Dezenhall Resources. Armenian defense minister Serge Sarkisian, "who plans to run for president," has hired Burson-Marsteller and its BKSH & Associates unit, on a $65,000 per month contract. B-M is also working for Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Opposition Party. For their international clients, the firms arrange meetings "with government officials, members of Congress, the media, and others ... to emphasize the individual's or his or her party's desire to promote greater political freedom and human rights," often along with a focus on "energy security." Former CBS News correspondent turned PR executive David Henderson said, "Media is international, and this approach tends to add to [foreign groups'] perceived credibility and influence in their own countries."

After federal authorities accused Francesco Insolia "of running a sweatshop to fulfill $220 million in military contracts and employing 361 illegal immigrants," he closed his New Bedford, MA, factory to reporters. In an affidavit filed in conjunction with an immigration raid on the factory, U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan's office said "workers were docked $20 for taking more than two minutes in the bathroom, and for being more than 15 minutes late." But television news can still show the factory, thanks to a Boston PR firm that released "a three-minute video" on behalf of Insolia, showing "seamstresses diligently stitching camouflage backpacks ... and taking umbrage at what is being said and written about the company," reports Aaron Nicodemus. According to O'Dwyer's, the video was shot by the Rendon Group's Boston office and "was aired on Boston TV stations WGBH and Fox-25." Meanwhile, the Kansas City Pitch reports that KSHB-41 sportscaster Jack Harry praised the "laser acupuncture" company New Beginnings for helping him quit smoking, in a station news segment. "What Harry didn't mention is that he's also a paid spokesman for the company," adds the Pitch. New Beginnings' president "says it's common to find radio and TV personalities to plug a product during the course of a show." KSHB's news director admits "that the piece should've included a disclaimer. She said the initial script has one, but it was cut at the last minute because of time."

In documents filed with the International Court of Arbitration in New York, the state-owned Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor is accusing the Russian telecom company Altimo of having "bribed journalists, whipped up nationalism and distorted the truth in an attempt to gain control of a mobile network in Ukraine which is jointly owned by the two companies," reports Michael Harrison. Telenor's court filings include what it says is documentation that "Altimo was paying a local Ukrainian public relations firm $12,000 (£6,200) a month to run a campaign against it. The budget also included $141,000 to 'discredit the image of Norway in Ukraine.'" Altimo is also accused of paying journalists "for writing unfavourable stories about Telenor including $1,000 for an article about Telenor's share price falling and $5,600 for an interview with Altimo's vice-president." Altimo is challenging the allegations, which The Independent calls "the latest" in "a long-running dispute" between the two companies.

"Bay Media Lab host Howard Vicini will present new video evidence during a Friday night broadcast on San Francisco cable access in the case against vBlogger Josh Wolf, who has been held in coercive confinement for more than 200 days, a new U.S. record for a journalist, for refusing to turn over raw video he shot of a San Francisco protest rally in 2005, that was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury. The live broadcast will feature discussion among media activists and journalists concerning the Wolf case and others that have resulted in journalists facing federal subpoenas and the prospect of jail time if they refuse. Guests include Executive Director of Oakland-based Media Alliance, Jeff Perlstein; reporter & radio producer, Sarah Olson; Journalism Chair of the Bay Area Chapter of the National Writers Union, Richard Knee ; journalist & commercial media producer, Ralph Miller; reporter for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Sarah Phelan; Josh Wolf's father, Len Harrison; and members of the Free Josh Wolf Coalition, Andy Blue, Julian Davis, Amy De Reyes, and Njeri Sims.

Source: SunshineWeek.org

On March 14, the U.S. House of Representatives "passed three bills to open government records to the public, brushing aside White House opposition, and in one case, a veto threat." The bills "would force government to be more responsive to Freedom of Information Act requests, make contributions to presidential libraries public and overturn a 2001 presidential directive giving the president authority to keep his records from public view," reports Associated Press. President Bush opposes the FOIA bill and has threatened to veto the presidential records bill, as well as another bill extending whistleblower protections. The House FOIA bill would reinstitute a "presumption of disclosure" standard, overturning a post-9/11 directive from then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to not release information if there is "uncertainty over security or law enforcement exemptions." The measures are being considered during Sunshine Week, a media-led observance of "open government and freedom of information" issues.

"We sense the news business entering a new phase heading into 2007 -- a phase of more limited ambition," the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) writes in the overview to its "State of the News Media 2007" report. News organizations are "starting to redefine their appeal and their purpose based on diminished capacity. Increasingly outlets are looking for 'brand' or 'franchise' areas of coverage to build audiences around." These news "brands" include "hyper localism," citizen media, opinion, and personal involvement. PEJ warns that some of these "can be marketing speak for simply doing less," while "branding can also be a mask for bias." Among the report's conclusions: "The news industry must become more aggressive about developing a new economic model," and the "Argument Culture" is giving way to the "Answer Culture." By the "answer culture," PEJ means "news outlets, programs and journalists offering up solutions, crusades, certainty and the impression of putting all the blur of information in clear order for people."

Author Norman Solomon editorializes that "Nancy Pelosi is speaker of the House, and Harry Reid is majority leader of the Senate. But neither speaks for, much less leads, the antiwar movement that we need. When you look at the practicalities of the situation, Pelosi and Reid could be more accurately described as speaker and leader for the war-management movement." Solomon notes that the powerful liberal advocacy group "MoveOn seems to have wrapped itself around the political sensibilities of Reid, Pelosi and others at the top of Capitol Hill leadership. ... Last week, while MoveOn was sending out a mass e-mail to its 3.2 million members offering free bumper stickers urging 'End This War,' the MoveOn leadership was continuing its failure to back the efforts of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for 'a fully funded, and systematic, withdrawal of U.S. soldiers and military contractors from Iraq.' ... It's good to see MoveOn churning out bumper stickers that advocate an end to the Iraq war -- but sad to see its handful of decision-makers failing to support a measure to fund an orderly and prompt withdrawal from the war."

In its current issue, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition acknowledges that a review of soft drinks and obesity (which challenges links between the one and the other) was funded by the American Beverage Association. But the journal excludes information that one of the authors personally and professionally has had close ties to the beverage industry. "(T)he Associated Press reported last year that [Researcher Adam] Drewnowski owns stock in beverage companies and much of his prior research has been financed by the beverage industry," reports the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Another study by Drewnowski was funded by the Corn Refiners Association and American Beverage Institute. The journal article's co-author, France Bellisle, for his part, sits on an advisory board for McDonald's. Researchers, including CSPI staff, have written that industry-financed studies predictably reach conclusions favorable to the beverage companies.

WYTV-33 airs a VNR from Stiefel Laboratories (from CMD's April 2006 report)

As a result of "hospitals' desperate need to compete for lucrative lines of business" and "TV's hunger for cheap and easy stories," healthcare companies are increasingly getting into the (fake) news business. Sometimes "the hospitals pay for airtime"; sometimes "they don't but still provide expertise and story ideas" -- or prepackaged video news releases. "Viewers who think they are getting news are really getting a form of advertising," reports Trudy Lieberman. One healthcare company, Cleveland Clinic, "sends out prepackaged stories" every day, including to "Fox News Edge, a service for Fox affiliates that in turn distributes the pieces to 140 Fox stations." And, "since TV news operations are finding that they can get this kind of health 'news' supplied to them -- and might even make money on the deal -- they are tempted not to invest in a legitimate health reporter who would ask harder questions and look at the larger picture." Not surprisingly, Lieberman finds that "too often the full nature of the arrangements is not disclosed, or inadequately disclosed."

After billionaire insurance mogul Maurice "Hank" Greenberg was charged with fraud and insurance and securities violations, he hired the eSapience PR firm — whose executives include the dean of MIT's Sloan School of Management — to buff up his image. Now eSapience is suing Greenberg for unpaid bills. The lawsuit states that eSapience executives "set up a new think tank, the Barbon Institute, specifically to provide a credible-sounding new platform for Greenberg" to give an "image-rehabilitating speech." Greenberg is disputing $2 million in charges racked up by eSapience executives who billed him $400 to $1,000 hourly — rates that they said "reflected the level of detail, sophistication, and status necessary to present Greenberg in the best light and to assure the presence and participation of key intellectual and public figures."

While fleeing an ambush in Afghanistan, U.S. soldiers reportedly opened fire on civilian cars and pedestrians and then destroyed photos and video taken at the scene by freelance journalists. Destroying the evidence was necessary, a military official explained later, to protect "investigative integrity" because photos or video taken by "untrained people" might "capture visual details that are not as they originally were." He added, "We are completely committed to a free and independent press, and we hope that we can help encourage this tradition in places where new and free governments are taking root." Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll remained unconvinced. "In democratic societies," she noted, "legitimate journalists are allowed to work without having their equipment seized and their images deleted."

Beware the blog that gushes about a product, movie, or anything you might consider purchasing. There's a chance that the blogger is on the payroll of "new marketing middlemen such as PayPerPost Inc. that connect advertisers with mom-and-pop webmasters." PayPerPost alone pays 15,500 bloggers for inserting their clients into blog postings. Other companies that pay bloggers for mentions include ReviewMe, Loud Launch and SponsoredReviews.com. Not all bloggers think it's a good idea. "PayPerPost versus authentic blogging is like comparing prostitution with making love to someone you care for deeply. No one with any level of ethics would get involved with these clowns," said Jason McCabe Calacanis, co-founder of Weblogs Inc. The quid pro quo is multilayered; one sponsored blogger's "traffic has doubled thanks partly to PayPerPost's fanatical users, who link often to fellow Posties. That gives her a bigger audience for her unpaid musings." The Federal Trade Commission recently directed word-of-mouth marketers to clearly disclose.

Karen Hughes

The Washington Times reports on the U.S. State Department's "digital outreach team," mentioned in a recent interview by Karen Hughes, the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. "We want to make sure that U.S. views are present in the Arabic cyberspace," said the State Department's Jeremy Curtin. "The first step of success is to be there and have people respond. ... The second step is to engage in a conversation. We try to adopt an informal tone, and we are careful what we say." The State Department team "recently began a thread" on egyptiantalks.org, asking, "Will violence end in Iraq if U.S. forces withdraw?" In another online engagement described by Curtin, participants challenged "accusations that the U.S. military is engaged in widespread rape of men and women in Iraq." A team member explained, "I stated that, when there have been cases of misconduct by U.S. soldiers against Iraqi civilians, a legal process has been implemented. I also said allegations that such misconduct is widespread are untrue and unproven."

A year into the Red campaign -- a cause-related marketing effort that allows partners to profit from charity -- $100 million has been spent on marketing, but only $18 million has been raised worldwide for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "The disproportionate ratio between the marketing outlay and the money raised is drawing concern among nonprofit watchdogs, cause-marketing experts and even executives in the ad business," reports Advertising Age. "It threatens to spur a backlash, not just against the Red campaign ... but also for the brands involved," Gap, Apple and Motorola. The Global Fund's Rajesh Anandan defended Red: "The launch cost of this kind of campaign is going to be hugely frontloaded." The website buylesscrap.org parodies Red, stating, "Shopping is not a solution," and encouraging direct donations to the Global Fund. Professor Mark Rosenman explained, "There is a broadening concern that business is taking on the patina of philanthropy and crowding out philanthropic activity and even substituting for it. It benefits the for-profit partners much more than the charitable causes."

"Exxon Mobil has teamed up with Stanford University to find breakthrough technologies that deliver more energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions," enthuses a TV commercial by the oil giant. Under Exxon Mobil's partnership with Stanford, first announced in 2002, the university "will get up to $100 million from the company over 10 years to fund climate and energy research." After seeing the ads, major Stanford donor Steve Bing "decided to rescind a promised $2.5 million donation to the school." He is also "asking other major philanthropists to reconsider their promises to give to the Stanford cause," and is pushing for "an end to the 4-year-old ad campaign." Bing's advisor on climate issues said, "Exxon Mobil is trying to greenwash itself, and it's using Stanford as its brush." A Stanford spokesperson countered, "We are proud of our work on seeking solutions to serious energy and environmental problems and our collaborations in these areas with a variety of private and non-profit organizations." An earlier Exxon print ad, carrying the Stanford seal, "suggested that scientists were debating the cause of global warming."

Ann Coulter on C-SPAN

In the last week at least seven newspapers have dropped the syndicated column of conservative firebrand Ann Coulter. Speaking at the American Conservative Union's annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. on March 2, Coulter said "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I -- so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards." Newspapers that have dropped her column include: Sanford Herald (North Carolina); Daily Chronicle (Illinois); American Press (Louisiana); Lancaster New Era (Pennsylvania); The Oakland Press, (Michigan); The Mountain Press (Tennessee); and The Times (Louisiana). The editorial director of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, David Hampton, said that while he disagreed with her opinions, the paper would keep her column. "I think her popularity will continue to wane. I believe ideas rise and fall on their merits, and I haven't seen much depth in hers," he said.

Andrew Parker, the head of the Australian PR and lobbying firm Parker & Partners -- a part of the Ogilvy PR Worldwide network -- is worried that the Australian government will re-introduce a system of regulating lobbyists. Calls for registering lobbyists have grown in the wake of a series of revelations over the lobbying activities of former West Australian Premier Brian Burke, who was later imprisoned after a Royal commission of Inquiry into business deals done by his government. After serving seven months of a two-year prison sentence, Burke re-invented himself as a lobbyist. "There is no denying the Brian Burkes of this world -- those lobbyists who rely on personal 'political mates' alone -- face extinction. But we need to speed up this process," Parker wrote in an opinion column. While Parker supports lobbyist registration, he has caveats. "Calls for complete financial disclosure are not only unprecedented for other professional service sectors but are designed to simply give these [anti-business] crusaders the ability to misrepresent and deceive," he complained. In the U.S., lobbyists are required to disclose clients and broad details of their work for them.

A satirical ad the New South Wales Mining Council wants banned from the web

By invoking Australian copyright law, the New South Wales Minerals Council (NSWMC) twice succeeded in shutting down a website that satirized its "Life: Brought to you by mining" advertising campaign. However, the website of the spoofers, Rising Tide Newcastle, is now hosted overseas. Following protests that the mining industry was attempting to "silence" them, the environmentalists are enjoying more web traffic than their corporate rivals. NSWMC's chief executive, Nikki Williams, said the industry's campaign is about "establishing a fair voice for the mining industry." Associate lecturer in law at the Queensland University of Technology Peter Black argues, "This is clearly a situation that would be covered by the fair dealing defence of parody and satire. ... This is political speech that is being suppressed by our copyright regulations, which is something that should not happen." The NSWMC represents major mining companies, including subsidiaries of global corporations such as BHP-Billiton and Xstrata.

The American Heart Association (AHA) is once again partnering with the Rite Aid Drug Store chain to promote its "