Thailand's unelected interim government, which was installed after a military coup in September 2006, is "increasingly unpopular at home" and "under attack abroad for overriding drug patents," reports Reuters. So, according to former army chief turned Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, Thailand will "spend $600,000 on a three-month public relations campaign" to improve the government's poor image. "The money isn't much, but we have to do what we have to do," said Chulanont. A foreign ministry spokesperson contradicted him, saying that "only $165,000" would be spent on a "three-month 'Thailand Branding' campaign." The spokesperson wouldn't say which PR firm is involved. Thailand's PR push is partially in response to "USA for Innovation," a pro-intellectual property group headed by Ken Adelman, a senior counselor for the PR firm Edelman. USA for Innovation accuses Thailand of "stealing American assets for military benefit," for overriding patents on HIV/AIDS drugs held by Merck and Abbott Laboratories, and Sanofi-Aventis' patent on a heart disease drug.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has rejected calls for an independent inquiry into three advance journalist briefings, prior to police raids in February that resulted in six men being arrested and charged with terrorism offences. Guardian reporters Ian Cobain, Vikram Dodd and Will Woodward have revealed that an adviser to the home secretary and leadership aspirant John Reid "was responsible for one of those leaks" and that high-ranking police suspect "that one of their own officers also briefed the media." Earlier in the week, the head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command, Peter Clarke, warned that the leaks were probably illegal, could "compromise investigations" and "put lives at risk." Clarke said that he struggled to understand "what motivates" the leakers. "Perhaps they look to curry favour with certain journalists, or to squeeze out some short term presentational advantage," he said.

Caribou in ANWR (photo: Ken Whitten, Sierra Club)

The Governor of Alaska is seeking bids from lobbying firms for a one-year $120,000 contract to lobby the U.S. Congress to allow "responsible oil and gas development" in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). PR Week reports that the selected firm would also lobby on natural gas transportation issues, with the winning bidder eligible for "up to five one-year contract renewals at the same price." One of the requirements is that bidders have experience lobbying on oil, gas or other natural resource development issues. In May 2006, the Alaskan government signed a $3 million PR contract with the Oregon-based PR firm Pac/West Communications, for a campaign promoting oil exploration in ANWR. The government allocated an additional $750,000 for a separate lobbying contract.

In an interview with LobbyWatch, British journalist George Monbiot reviews the network of the key players from Living Marxism. One of its offshoots is Spiked Online, which has hosted numerous debates sponsored by the PR firm Hill & Knowlton and more recently Clarke Mulder Purdie. Key individuals are also involved in other groups such as the Science Media Centre (SMC), the Institute of Ideas and Sense About Science. What they have in common, Monbiot argues, is masking their pro-corporate libertarianism with rhetorical support for science. In a submission to the Board of the SMC, Andy Rowell from SpinWatch notes that, despite climate change sceptics attacking the science behind global warming analyses, SMC has been comparatively silent. "Of the 120 odd press releases the SMC has issued ... only about four have been on climate," he wrote.

Jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff (graphic from the Village Voice)

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) "seized on the recent FBI raids of the businesses of the wives of Reps. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) and Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), both of whom are under investigation for linking legislative favors to personal profits through side businesses, as a continuing reason to push for" ethics reforms, reports Paul Kane. "But, four months into their reign, Democrats have yet to change any laws governing how lobbyists ply their trade or place any new limits or the revolving door for members and staff." A House bill is expected soon, but Representatives are reluctant to require "disclosure by public relations firms of grassroots efforts at lobbying that doesn't involve direct contact with Congress and therefore isn't currently disclosed." Other difficult reforms for Democrats include revealing bundled donations from lobbyists and extending the "cooling-off period" that members and senior staff must wait before lobbying former colleagues.

"Fearing increased oversight from the newly elected Democratic-controlled Congress, the Coalition for Government Procurement (CGP), a trade group representing government product and service suppliers, is planning a PR and marketing campaign to promote its members as responsible companies and not stereotypical 'corporate evildoers,'" reports Ted McKenna. The CGP is also forming a new group, the Council on Responsible Contracting (CORC). In a letter recruiting members for CORC, CGP's Larry Allen warned, "The new Congress will look upon contractors with the sort of contempt usually reserved for those who steal candy from babies." The campaign will focus on members of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, Defense Department and "other government customers," as well as "executive branch officials." The campaign "could have a budget of at least $250,000," according to Allen. "No PR firm is yet attached to the effort, though Qorvis Communications late last year arranged a conference call for coalition members to discuss the benefits of a PR campaign."

A faux environmental ad campaign is ending. The ads "featured a series of somber models with smudged faces peering over a headline that said 'Face It, Coal is Filthy.' The ads ran in The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and several newspapers serving Capitol Hill, as well as on local buses and in the subway system," reports John Fialka. The ads were placed by the "Clean Sky Coalition," which "was set up by the chairman of Chesapeake Energy Corp., an Oklahoma City natural-gas-production company." Some ads claimed that Environmental Defense and the Sierra Club had "joined" the coalition -- a claim that both environmental groups deny. Chesapeake Chair Aubrey McClendon said the coalition had other members, but wouldn't name them. He defended the ad campaign as part of "the American way for a company to try to increase their market share." The ads were produced by Strategic Perception, a Hollywood advertising firm that lists California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Bush among their past clients.

Global warming skeptic William Gray, from the TCS Daily VNR

A White House "personnel announcement" states: "The President intends to nominate James K. Glassman, of Connecticut, to be a Member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, for the remainder of a three-year term expiring 8/13/07 and an additional three-year term expiring 8/13/10." President Bush will also nominate Glassman to be BBG Chair. Glassman is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute conservative think tank, the author of the wildly inaccurate book "Dow 36000," and the founder of Tech Central Station (TCS), a corporate-sponsored news and opinion site published by the Republican-associated lobbying firm DCI Group until last year. TCS has been accused of "journo-lobbying" or online fake news, for its tendency to not fully disclose its corporate sponsors (which often have a direct financial stake in the issues covered on the site). TCS also runs "TCS Daily," which received significant funding from ExxonMobil and paid for a video news release denying the evidence that global warming is causing more severe hurricane seasons. If confirmed by the Senate, Glassman would replace controversial BBG Chair Kenneth Tomlinson.

Exposing the activities and ethical shortcomings of public relations firms has been a focus of the Center for Media and Democracy's work since its founding in 1993. Now you can help, via our online collaborative encyclopedia, SourceWatch! The SourceWatch article on public relations firms links to entries on more than 200 PR firms. The trade publication O'Dwyer's maintains a list of the top-grossing U.S. independent PR firms, at www.odwyerpr.com/pr_firm_rankings/independents.htm. Can you help us track these PR firms, by adding the 2006 income and employee figures from O'Dwyer's to the SourceWatch entry on that firm? And, if O'Dwyer's lists a firm that's not already in SourceWatch, could you create a short "stub" article on it (with the PR firm's name, O'Dwyer's info, the firm's website URL or other contact information)? You can register as a SourceWatch volunteer editor here, and learn more about adding information to the site here and here. Thanks for joining the CMD truth squad!

Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar may have lost his bid to become president (though Nigeria's recent elections were "marred by violence and alleged fraud, and results are not yet final"), but it's not for lack of trying. To increase his influence, Abubakar maintains a Washington DC lobbying presence "separate from the embassy, costing him roughly $200,000 over several years," reports The Hill. Abubakar retains Edward Weidenfeld for legal counsel and "support for free and fair elections in Nigeria," according to lobbying registration forms. Weidenfeld, in turn, hired the PR firm Hill & Knowlton "to work on Abubakar's behalf. The firm has taken in more than $22,000 to work on 'U.S. media relations.'" Abubakar previously retained former Rep. J.C. Watts' lobbying firm, and briefly had a contract with Alexander Strategy Group. In addition to fighting for power in Nigeria, Abubakar is fighting allegations that he received "a $90,000 bribe from Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), who is under investigation by the FBI. ... Abubakar and Jefferson were allegedly working on establishing telecom contracts in Nigeria."

The term "Long War" has been used by the Bush administration to steel the U.S. public for a protracted War on Terror. The war might be around for a while, but the phrase won't, at least not at U.S. Central Command. Originally used by Gen. John P. Abizaid, his successor, Adm. William J. Fallon "quietly retired the phrase," according to journalist Michael R. Gordon. The change "is a product of our ongoing effort to use language that describes the conflict for our Western audience while understanding the cultural implications of how that language is construed in the Middle East," Lt. Col. Matthew McLaughlin, a spokesman for the command, said in an e-mail message. "The idea that we are going to be involved in a 'Long War,' at the current level of operations, is not likely and unhelpful." Whether the White House will follow the lead of Central Command is not sure. Gordon writes that a White House official, who declined to be identified, said, "This is a generational war, and we are going to be in it a long time. Nobody I have heard around here is talking about dropping it."

Around the world there are consultants, PR advisers and industry associations hyping nuclear power as a "solution" to global warming. However, they rarely mention the hidden costs. In a recent briefing for Wall Street analysts, the major U.S. trade association, the Nuclear Energy Institute, pointed to the need for government financial support such as loan guarantees to sustain the sector (PDF file). There are other subsidies, too. Paul Anthony, the CEO of the Australian electricity and gas retailer AGL Energy, pointed to two reasons why he thinks he'll never see nuclear power stations in his home country. "Nuclear power stations are uninsurable," he told Alan Kohler, the host of Inside Business, "so the insurer of last resort in all countries has to be the government." Nor, he said, has any country "effectively sorted out the long-term tail-end costs of holding redundant nuclear stations for the next 300 years."

"In the past year, the [Iraqi] Kurds have spent more than $3 million to retain lobbyists and set up a diplomatic office in Washington," writes Rajiv Chandrasekaran. "They are cultivating grass-roots supporters of President Bush's war policy," including through the PR firm Russo Marsh & Rogers and its pro-war project, Move America Forward, as was reported previously by the Center for Media and Democracy. "And they are seeking to build an emotional bond with ordinary Americans ... by running commercials on national cable news outlets." In Washington, the Kurdish Regional Government is represented by Qubad Talabani, the son of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. Qubad "has more clout than any other Iraqi in Washington because of his ability to call his father," and because Iraqi Kurds hold "enough seats in Iraq's parliament to wield effective veto power over ... legislation sought by the United States." The Kurds retain Barbour, Griffith and Rogers, and credit the lobbying firm with winning $1.4 billion in "oil-for-food money" for the Kurdish Regional Government. Future plans include running "The Other Iraq" TV commercials "on prime-time network television."

Jon Stewart's parody news show may make him "the most trusted name in fake news," but these days it "comes at us from every quarter of the media," writes journalism professor Robert Love — "not just as satire but disguised as the real thing, secretly paid for by folks who want to remain in the shadows. And though much of it is clever, it's not all funny." Love recounts some of the memorable frauds that have filled newspaper pages in the past: the New York Sun's Great Moon Hoax of 1835, Mark Twain's "petrified man," and H.L. Mencken's fabricated 75th anniversary of the bathtub. More recently, he notes, video news releases and pundits-for-hire like Armstrong Williams have ushered in an era where new technologies make it "easier to deliver the news and also easier to fake it," while "falling circulation, diminishing news budgets, and dismantled staffs" have given "third-party players — government, industry, politicians, you name 'em — sleeker weapons and greater power to turn the authority of the press to their own ends: to disseminate propaganda, disinformation, advertising, politically strategic misinformation — to in effect use the media to distort reality."

At the "Utah Energy Summit," Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer called for more federal money to develop "clean coal" as an alternative to petroleum and a solution to global warming. As David Roberts notes, the summit organizer is Jim Sims of Policy Communications, "a long-time lobbyist for extractive industries" and the head of front groups such as Partnership for the West and the Save Our Species Alliance, "an astroturf organization created for the purpose of convincing the public to accept the gutting of the Endangered Species Act. ... Remember: despite the new moniker, clean coal is coal, a fossil fuel backed by a fossil fuel industry. It's the same Big Coal with deep ties in state and federal government and a long history of corruption. It's an industry that's spent practically a century entrenching itself and fighting off competitors. It founded the 20-year campaign of obfuscation and denial on global warming. Now it's selling 'alternative energy.'"

"Within hours of Pat Tillman's death, the Army went into information-lockdown mode, cutting off phone and Internet connections at a base in Afghanistan, posting guards on a wounded platoon mate, and ordering a sergeant to burn Tillman's uniform," reports Scott Lindlaw. The revelations about "how the military sealed off information from all but a small ring of soldiers," following the death of former football star Tillman by "friendly fire," come from documents recently obtained by the Associated Press. Tillman's family was not told of the circumstances surrounding his death for five weeks. According to Army officers, "pulling the plug on base phones and e-mail" is routine after soldiers die, to ensure that families are notified "through official channels." However, the clampdown following Tillman's death was unusual. On April 24, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing on the Tillman incident and "misinformation surrounding the capture and rescue of Pvt. Jessica Lynch in Iraq."

E. Bruce Harrison, who began his PR career by helping the pesticide industry attack Rachel Carson and her classic 1962 environmental book "Silent Spring," now proclaims that the era of corporate greenwashing is almost over. In an opinion column, he writes that greenwashing in the 1990's "meant the company was painting over bad stuff with good words. It meant corporate communicators were not to be trusted when they talked green." That doesn't happen today, Harrison claims, pointing to the willingness of groups like Environmental Defense to cut deals with corporations such as McDonald's, TXU and Wal-Mart Stores. He optimistically (or perhaps strategically) writes, "We've reached the place where 'greenwashing' charges no longer hold very much water." However, even Harrison was quick to attach a caveat to his sweeping proclamations. "BP has become the don't-let-it-happen-to-us exemplar, where years of progressive green messaging are hollowed by evidence and events to the contrary," he conceded.

Tony Blair

With British Prime Minister Tony Blair expected to retire from politics in the next few weeks, some of his staff are already jumping ship. In August, Blair's former adviser on strategic communications, Julia Simpson, will begin work as head of corporate communications with British Airways. In doing so, Simpson is following a well-worn path, reports PR Week. "In 2001, Anji Hunter famously left Downing Street to take up BP’s director of comms role. More recently, key Blairites to jump ship include Darren Murphy, now head of government ­relations and external affairs at AstraZeneca and Jim Godfrey, now head of corporate affairs at ITV." Fleishman-Hillard director Nick Brown believes that Blair's staff will be in great demand among PR circles. "Anyone who has senior ­experience of this type of problem solving in politics, in the media and in the spotlight will attract interest," he said.

Gen. David Petraeus, "the top U.S. commander in Iraq, has asked for changes that would allow" the blending of public affairs -- the military's truth-telling function -- with "information operations," or propaganda. In response, Pentagon officials are reconsidering 2004 guidelines drafted by Gen. Richard Myers, which directed that the two be separate. (However, the Lincoln Group's covert planting of U.S. military-written articles in Iraqi newspapers occurred under the Myers guidelines.) "Many brigades in Iraq already have placed public affairs and information officers in adjoining offices," reports Julian Barnes. A "senior military official close to Petraeus" said the two "should work out of the same planning cell," to ensure that they do not "work at cross purposes." The official added that the military's credibility would not be undermined by such blurring, because "public affairs officers will not be involved in deception operations." Skeptics point to a 2004 incident where a Marine public affairs officer told CNN that a U.S. assault on Fallouja, Iraq, had started, three weeks prior to the actual operation, in order "to gauge the reaction of insurgents." O'Dwyer's reports that the U.S. Army command in Iraq is seeking a PR firm for a new $11 to 25 million contract, "to produce a marketing campaign for its electrical sector reconstruction unit, based in Baghdad."

PR executive Andrew Young parlayed his civil rights and liberal political background into a lucrative career representing Wal-Mart Stores, Nike and other corporations. The New York Times examines the role of Young and his firm GoodWorks International in Nigeria, reporting that "GoodWorks is paid to represent many major companies like Chevron, General Electric and Motorola that seek big contracts from the Nigerian government. In addition, executives of GoodWorks have stakes in Nigeria’s oil industry, the country’s main source of wealth. And several years ago, the firm’s chief executive, Carlton A. Masters, started an American company with close relatives of President Obasanjo ... .Mr. Masters said that GoodWorks typically received a 'success fee' equal to 1 ½ percent of a contract’s value, a fee that can lead to big payouts. In 2005, for example, G.E. Energy, a GoodWorks client, won a $400 million contract to supply generating turbines in Nigeria."

In the last few weeks we have fielded inquiries from journalists around the world seeking recent local examples of greenwashing. Given that the article on greenwashing has ranked up amongst the top 50 articles in terms of the number of readers over the last few months, we figure it is time to add some recent case studies. So, if you have an example that springs to mind, here's your chance to add it to our collection. If you haven't already registered as a SourceWatch contributor, you should register here. And if you have never made an entry in SourceWatch it would be worth having a quick look at this orientation page. We are aiming to add global examples as well as case studies from Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and the US. (If you have an example from elsewhere add it here and a more appropriate page can be created if necessary). Ideally each example should include at least a brief description of the company/organization, their claims and what evidence there is that it is greenwashing (with appropriate web references). If you don't have time to write an example up yourself but would like to nominate one to be followed up by others, you could just post a quick note here and other SourceWatch editors may be able to follow up on your tip.

In the 1950s, with the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer becoming well established, the tobacco industry was in crisis. Its PR strategy, devised by the firm Hill & Knowlton, was "entangling itself in the manipulation of fundamental scientific processes," as Allan Brandt describes in his new book, "The Cigarette Century." It was Hill & Knowlton's John Hill who "hit on the idea of creating an industry-sponsored research entity. Ultimately, he concluded, the best public relations approach was for the industry to become a major sponsor of medical research." This approach "implied that existing studies were inadequate or flawed," and made the tobacco industry "seem a committed participant in the scientific enterprise rather than a detractor." In 1953, tobacco companies jointly released a Hill & Knowlton-drafted memo that stated, "We always have and always will cooperate closely with those whose task it is to safeguard the public health." The industry also created the "Tobacco Industry Research Committee."

Telecom analyst Bruce Kushnick writes that "Astroturf and co-opted groups representing the deaf, disabled, black, low income and others" are "touting a plan to loosen cable franchise rules for the phone companies." He asks, "What do these groups" -- including the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Consumers for Cable Choice, Video Access Alliance, League of United Latin American Citizens, Alliance for Public Technology, National Association of the Deaf, and American Association of People with Disabilities -- "have in common? They all receive funding from AT&T and/or Verizon, and then lobby for them." This "deception ... is about playing on America's caring about the public interest and about minorities getting a fair shake," Kushnick concludes. Worse, "these organizations have very deep-pocketed funders with lobbying groups, PR firms and others to get them the loudest 'volume' in the media or access to regulators and legislators. They often overwhelm the message of independent consumer groups."

Sciences International -- the firm that evaluated the safety of certain chemicals for the U.S. Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction, "helping the government determine whether they pose dangers to reproduction and newborn babies" -- has been fired by the federal government. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) and others had raised conflict-of-interest concerns, as Sciences International was doing government work while "on the payroll of Dow Chemical, BASF, 3M and other companies that produce some of the chemicals under scrutiny." EWG director Richard Wiles said, "Protecting the public health is one of those jobs that can't be farmed out to contractors who have huge conflicts of interest with polluters and chemical makers." Sciences International "was in the fourth year of a $5 million, five-year contract" with the National Institutes of Health, which houses the reproductive health center.

Sun Myung Moon (Source: Universal Peace Federation)

Former president George H. W. Bush will deliver the keynote address at the 25th anniversary celebration for The Washington Times (TWT) newspaper, which is owned by a company affiliated with Reverend Sun Myung Moon. One former reporter with the paper, George Archibald, recently wrote, "I cannot think of a worse period in the TWT newsroom's history since the paper's founding in May 1982 in terms of low reporter and editor morale and low productivity when it comes to really important breaking news scoops." Moon has sunk approximately $3 billion into the paper, which suffers from low circulation. However, Bill Berkowitz notes that "Moon is clearly still drawing A-listers into his sphere, as evidenced by the upcoming appearance of George H.W. Bush at the paper's anniversary bash." Moon will also be in attendance and address the celebration.

The Washington Post will close its Toronto bureau this summer, and with it, end direct coverage of Canadian issues by American newspaper correspondents. Permanent bureaus will be replaced by wire services, contract writers, freelancers and reporters deployed to cover specific events. Jill Carroll, a Christian Science Monitor correspondent in the Middle East, found an estimated 10 percent drop in foreign bureaus in the U.S. print media since 2000 and about a 30 percent decrease in the number of correspondents over the same time period. This trend has accelerated thanks to the costs of maintaining coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with no end in sight for those conflicts. "The thing you lose when you close a bureau or cut a beat is you lose expertise and you lose your attention," explained Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar at the Poynter Institute. "The value of the bureau is that when a newspaper plants a reporter somewhere, they're saying they think the place is important and what is happening in the place is newsworthy."

Later this month, proposals "that would jeopardise the current ban on direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs" in the European Union will be unveiled, reports Hannah Brown. The European Commission, which drafts legislation for the European Parliament, suffered a humiliating defeat when similar proposals to weaken the ban were resoundingly rejected in 2002. The commission is expected to propose that drug companies be allowed to provide "information," but not engage in product-specific advertising. "There is no discussion of whether industry is going to be an unbiased source about its own or other products or decisions not to treat," said Barbara Mintzes from the University of British Columbia. A coalition of public health groups opposing the anticipated changes argue that "relevant, comparative and appropriate information on health issues cannot be provided by drug companies," because they focus on promoting their product and ignore alternative, non-drug treatments.

For one year, Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein has been "held at a prison camp in Iraq by U.S. military officials who have neither formally charged him with a crime nor made public any evidence of wrongdoing," AP reports. Hussein "was taken prisoner in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on April 12, 2006." The director of the Committee to Protect Journalists commented, "It's unfathomable to me why, after an entire year, there has been no progress in terms of the legal process moving ahead." A Pentagon spokesperson pointed to four reviews of Hussein's case, each of which "determined Hussein represented an imperative threat to security and recommended continued detention," he said. AP, "numerous journalism organizations ... and many newspapers," have called for Hussein's release. AP executive editor Kathleen Carroll said, "The absence of evidence leads to the conclusion that Bilal is being held because of the photographs he took for the AP -- which were published around the world -- and which were part of AP's Pulitzer Prize-winning submission in 2005."

"It's no secret that the period of time between 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq represents one of the greatest collapses in the history of the American media," observes Gary Kamiya. "Why did the media fail so disastrously in its response to the biggest issue of a generation? To answer this, we need to look at three broad, interrelated areas, which I have called psychological, institutional and ideological. The media had serious preexisting weaknesses on all three fronts, and when a devastating terrorist attack and a radical, reckless and duplicitous administration came together, the result was a perfect storm." In the "psychological" category, he points to "the subtle, internalized, often unconscious way that the media conforms and defers to certain sacrosanct values and ideals. ... It's reflected in a cautious, centrist media that defers to accepted national dogmas." Institutionally, "The decline of newspapers, the rise of infotainment, and media company owners' insistence on delivering high returns to their shareholders have diminished resources and led to a bottom-line fixation unconducive to aggressive reporting." And ideologically, "the U.S. media works within a tiny ideological spectrum on the Middle East, using the same center-right and right-wing sources again and again."

Captain Abstinence, on an e-card from Washington state's "Teen Health and the Media" program

"Using membership dues paid in part by federal tax dollars, the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) hired the Washington, DC, public relations firm, Creative Response Concepts," writes Scott Swenson. CRC -- best known as the PR firm for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who smeared 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry -- will be heading a "proactive rapid response initiative to counteract negative attacks on abstinence education," reports O'Dwyer's PR Daily. The Nation's blog notes that the formation of NAEA and its hiring of a well-connected conservative PR firm comes after "a frigid winter for the abstinence-only crowd." The Government Accountability Office criticized the funding of abstinence-only programs without checking their "education materials for scientific accuracy," while the Institute of Medicine faulted abstinence programs in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as jeopardizing "the vitally important end of saving lives." That's not to mention that the abstinence-only programs "favored by Republicans and their conservative allies have lost momentum with the Democratic takeover of Congress," as O'Dwyer's observes.

A few weeks ago we asked you, dear readers and citizen editors, to pitch in and help with our first "wikiproject" - a short, participatory effort to update and expand a part of the SourceWatch/Congresspedia wiki. Lots of people chipped in and we accomplished our goal: getting contact information for all the freshman members of Congress, including the addresses and phone numbers for each of their district offices. You can view the glorious results by visiting the individual profiles of the freshman members of Congress.

Now we've got a new project. Last summer we started a page that linked to the videos of the members of Congress that have submitted themselves to a grilling on the Colbert Report's "Better know a district" series. While nothing said in the comedic interviews should be taken too seriously, the segments often help humanize the public servants that run our government.

However, now the page has gotten seriously out of date and we need you to help out with updating it. We've created a new wikiproject project page that contains complete instructions on how to update the page - each interview takes just a few minutes to add!

The most recent racist remarks of Don Imus have yet to affect his popularity with political and media figures. David Carr points out that "Senator John Kerry has stopped by. Senator John McCain is on frequently. And Senators Joseph I. Lieberman and Joseph R. Biden are part of a legion eager to sit in the guest chair. NBC News uses 'Imus in the Morning' to promote the brands of Tim Russert, Andrea Mitchell and David Gregory. Tom Brokaw was a frequent guest, and his replacement, Brian Williams, has been sanctified by the I-man, as they call him. Chris Matthews from MSNBC has appeared, as have anchors and journalists from CNN and CBS and, on the print side, by reporters and editors from Newsweek and popular opinion columnists from The New York Times. ... There have been temporary breakups in the long-running affair. After Mr. Imus stepped over quite a few lines at the dinner of the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association in 1996, Cokie Roberts, now an analyst for ABC News, said, 'Now none of us can go on his show again.' But she went back; they always do."

Doug Simon, who has a video blog

"It has become harder for everyone, not just VNR producers, to get their story on television," writes broadcast PR executive Doug Simon, about video news releases or "fake TV news." According to Simon, "The average length of a television news story continues to shrink." In 2005, "One-third of PR video segments that aired were longer than 45 seconds," while in 2007, "80 percent of the placements are less than 20 seconds in length." Simon recommends a "VNR 2.0" approach, with more emphasis on "pre-distribution," to "assess interest in the story and create a media relations plan that matches the needs of broadcasters." Additional "targeted distribution outlets" for VNRs include "health clubs, airlines, cell phones, television station websites and ... online distribution channels." On O'Dwyer's PR Daily, PR executive Chris Rosica bemoans what he says is an increasing trend towards television "pay for play." He warns, "If this practice is accepted and veiled as it currently is, it won't be long before those with legislative or political agendas can secure news coverage by paying for it, just as with the (Armstrong) Williams case."

America's declining image is driving away tourists, according to the Discover America Partnership, an organization sponsored by the tourism industry. "We have lost nearly 60 million international travelers since 9/11 and the problem is only getting worse," said DAP Executive Director Geoff Freeman. "As travel around the world skyrockets, the U.S. is mired in a slump." Government figures show that overseas travel to the U.S. remains below pre-9/11 levels in six of the top eight overseas markets and fell further in 2006 in five out of the top eight overseas markets. A 2006 survey conducted by DAP found that many visitors are offended by the U.S. entry process, which subjects foreign visitors to fingerprinting, iris scans and other procedures that many find intrusive. The decline in tourism further feeds America's negative image, according to tourism industry executive Charles L. Merin, because "International travelers represent the opportunity to win the hearts and minds of people around the world. When travelers don’t come here, they learn about America and Americans through headlines rather than personal experiences. As a nation, we must recognize that the people-to-people communication generated through travel is our greatest public diplomacy tool."

In addition to the 3,200 U.S. soldiers who have died in Iraq, notes Howard Witt, "More than 770 civilians working for U.S. firms have lost their lives supporting the military in Iraq, and some families are now speaking out." Family members are complaining that companies like KBR/Halliburton have placed their workers in harm's way in Iraq without adequate protection and that their own financial and psychological hardships have been ignored.

Concerned about its "rapidly deteriorating image abroad," Russia has launched "a series of public relations events" designed to enhance the image of Vladimir Putin regime, the Russian gas company Gazprom, and the country's intelligence and military forces.

From the Greenwald movie website

In 2006, Wal-Mart "had a long-haired employee infiltrate an anti-Wal-Mart group to determine if it planned protests at the company's annual meeting. ... The company also deployed cutting-edge monitoring systems made by a supplier to the Defense Department that allowed it to capture and record the actions of anyone connected to its global computer network." The system "could detect the degree of flesh-tone on a viewed Internet image, and alerted monitors that a vendor sharing Wal-Mart networks was viewing pornography." The giant retailer "also directed its surveillance operations at critical shareholders." These revelations come from internal memos and Bruce Gabbard, a former member of Wal-Mart's "Threat Research and Analysis Group." Gabbard was fired in March 2007, "for unauthorized recording of calls to and from a New York Times reporter and for intercepting pager messages"; his claims have been confirmed. After the revelations surfaced, Wal-Mart "apologized to several shareholder groups that the company had earlier evaluated as potential threats." The retailer has apparently not apologized to Wal-Mart Watch, ACORN, or Up Against the Wal, groups also targeted by Wal-Mart's "threat research" operations.

PR maven Rick Berman, the right-wing lobbyist who has made a lucrative career of starting and managing industry-funded front groups such as Center for Consumer Freedom and ActivistCash.com, gets a CBS 60 Minutes work-up this weekend. A teaser piece on the CBSNews.com website says, this 'Dr. Evil' "doesn't disappear when movie credits roll. He's a constant gadfly to other lobbyists and do-gooders who label him evil for taking money from corporations to fight causes like animal rights, healthy food, labor unions — even Mothers Against Drunk Driving." Berman excels at turning puffy media attention into ever more business from his secret clients in the fast food, booze, tobacco, drug and other industries, providing him with millions of dollars a year to front for their interests.

"The National Institutes of Health has temporarily suspended" the consulting firm Sciences International, which "had been reviewing the health dangers of chemicals for the government while also working for the chemical industry," reports Marla Cone. The evaluation of the firm's work is ongoing, and its $5 million government contract, "which runs through June 2008," remains in force. After Cone's earlier reporting, the NIH asked Sciences International "to conduct its own internal investigation." The self-reporting admitted that Sciences International had been "paid by three industry associations" -- the American Chemistry Council, the United Soybean Board, and "a styrene industry trade group" -- "to perform consulting work on three chemicals that it also reviewed for the government reproductive health center." However, Sciences International claimed that "no conflicts existed that impaired judgments or objectivity," and that employees doing government work "have historically been insulated" from industry contracts. The director of the Environmental Working Group, among others, expressed skepticism and called for "an independent investigation."

A white-tailed prairie dog, one of the species that Julie MacDonald fought to unprotect

A newly-released report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Interior details harassment of government scientists by Julie MacDonald, who was appointed by President Bush as Assistant Secretary of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. MacDonald, a former hydraulics engineer with no educational background in biology or other natural sciences, "has been heavily involved with editing, commenting on, and reshaping the Endangered Species Programs' scientific reports from the field." The report cites a former director of the Endangered Species Program who says her activities included "often intimidating and bullying" field staff "into producing documents that had the desired effect ... to minimize the Endangered Species Act as much as possible or ensnare it in court litigation.” MacDonald also violated federal rules by sending confidential internal government documents to industry lobbyists with the right-wing Pacific Legal Foundation and other opponents of the Endangered Species Act. Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus notes that MacDonald is one of many examples of what she calls "fox-in-the-henhouse government."

PBS journalist Mark Glaser has written a laudatory article featuring the Sunlight Foundation, which cosponsors our own Congresspedia project on SourceWatch, along with numerous other citizen journalism projects such as their exposing earmarks campaign. Glaser calls Sunlight a "shining example of independent citizen action ... The group has had far-reaching success not only in making Congress more accountable to the people they are supposed to serve, but also in creating bi-partisan fervor in the blogosphere for reform on Capitol Hill. Though the Foundation’s grants and projects, average citizens have been given the tools and resources to make a difference."

After withdrawing his nomination in the face of Congressional opposition, President Bush has used a recess appointment to make Sam Fox U.S. Ambassador to Belgium. At issue is Fox's ties to