The Center for Media and Democracy has previously reported on the PR firm Hill & Knowlton's work for the oppressive regime of the president of the Maldives, Maumoon Gayoom. Thanks to WikiScanner, a program mapping anonymous edits on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, CMD can report that someone on a computer mapping to Hill & Knowlton's UK office edited the Wikipedia article "Politics of the Maldives" in June 2005. The edits removed references to the lack of independent news outlets, election rigging and the imprisonment of political activists in the Maldives. The anonymous editor also rephrased a section on the lack of activity by organized political parties, up until June 2005. The anonymous editor changed a sentence beginning, "Political parties in Maldives was [sic] not allowed, though the constitution allowed it," to "[T]he Maldivian political system was based around the election of individuals, rather than the more common system of election according to party platform." While Hill & Knowlton's computers were apparently used to make the edits, it isn't possible to know who made the edits or whether they were part of the firm's official work for Gayoom.

"White House officials viewed former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona as a public relations tool, pushing him to make political appearances and promote the Bush administration's agenda while he was in office, according to a series of executive branch e-mails released yesterday by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)," reports the Washington Post. In July, Carmona had testified before Congress that Bush appointees routinely "sought to rewrite his speeches, send him on political trips, and suppress his reports on global health and other politically sensitive topics." The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is also investigating allegations that Carmona "was blocked from participating in [a] breast-feeding advocacy effort and that those designing [a pro-breast feeding] ad campaign were overruled by superiors at the formula industry's insistence." The ad campaign, as originally designed, graphically illustrated the dangers of not breast feeding, with "photos of insulin syringes and asthma inhalers topped with rubber nipples." The watered-down ad featured "more friendly images of dandelions and cherry-topped ice cream scoops," supposedly to communicate the risk of respiratory dangers and obesity.

The Barbour, Griffith and Rogers (BGR) lobbying firm "is talking to the Justice Department about how to amend its foreign-agent filings after department lawyers questioned whether the firm had adequately disclosed who was paying" for the $50,000 per month contract with former Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi. IraqSlogger first reported on the contract, and has since posted parts of it online. The contract is with Allawi and is signed by him, but is being paid by "two Iraqi supporters," according to Newsweek. Allawi refused to name his supporters, saying if he did, "They may be killed by the Iranians, they may be killed by the sectarian people." To comply with U.S. law, BGR may name Allawi's party, the Iraqi National Accord, as their client, instead of Allawi himself. The contract with BGR, an influential firm with White House contacts, has raised suspicions of "an attempt by Allawi and his backers to undermine and ultimately topple the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the corridors of Washington, rather than through the political process in Baghdad."

"As the 2008 U.S. election starts to sizzle, the Indian outsourcing firms have returned to win Washington over as veritable insiders, slicker and better connected than ever," reports Anand Giridharadas. Nasscom, a trade group that represents Indian outsourcing firms, has hired Robert Blackwill, a Barbour, Griffith and Rogers lobbyist also working for former Iraq prime minister Ayad Allawi. Indian executives have "met with aides to all the major presidential hopefuls," while their lobbyists have met with more than 100 U.S. Congressional offices. The Indian outsourcing firms are working "with research firms like the Brookings Institution to generate sympathetic research," and are "waging proxy battles through local front organizations, which spare them from appearing to be foreigners with an agenda. They provide facts, figures and arguments to trade groups like the Information Technology Association of America and to Indian-American political groups. Then they watch as those groups arrange for seemingly neutral voices to champion their causes in the newspapers or before Congress."

In a review of SourceWatch editor Bob Burton's new book, "Inside Spin: The Dark Underbelly of the PR Industry," New Zealand investigative journalist Nicky Hager writes that "its hair-raising stories help us see what is reasonable and what is harmful and unethical." Hager, who in 1999 co-authored "Secrets and Lies" with Burton, notes that "although media and the public feel negative towards PR, many of the tricks of the trade work anyway. PR companies get away with manufacturing news, closing down unwanted news, helping clients slide out of responsibility for wrong-doing, causing trouble for or silencing their clients' political and commercial opponents, and generally manipulating events in their clients' favour." The best antidote to PR spins, he writes, "is understanding and recognising them when they occur."

Two weeks ago we told you about the "Wikipedia Scanner" - a new tool that scans the anonymous edits made to Wikipedia and can identify those made from the computers at places like the CIA, Wal-Mart and political campaign headquarters. The Wikipedia community has done a solid job of rooting out the attempts to add spin and misinformation to the encyclopedia, but at SourceWatch we want to make sure those additions are preserved as part of these companies' and organizations' permanent records. You join the citizen journalists and CMD staff in this effort by taking the Scanner for a spin and logging your results into SourceWatch. The full details, instructions and tips are at this participatory project's homepage on SourceWatch - no technical expertise is necessary.

If this is your first time editing on SourceWatch, you can register here, and learn more about adding information to the site here and here.

The Australian supermarket company Woolworths has withdrawn a range of tissue products after being outed by an anonymous blogger for using a "Sustainable Forest Fibre" logo on products sourced from a notorious Indonesian forestry company. In its most recent corporate social responsibility report, Woolworths states that a "key element of our 'Corporate Social Responsibility' (CSR) commitment is transparency." The packaging on Woolworths' "Select" tissues claimed they were sourced "from a certified environmentally managed company that is environmentally, socially and economically responsible." However, environmental groups had never heard of a "Sustainable Forest Fibre" certification scheme. In a statement, NSW Greens member of parliament John Kaye said consumers "should treat such claims as greenwash and spin." Following widespread reporting of Asia Pulp and Paper's track record in logging Indonesian rainforests, Woolworths withdrew the product range.

The University of California (UC) has dismissed objections by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union to UC management's hiring of Hill & Knowlton to spin its labor record. UC's Executive Director of Systemwide Labor Relations, Howard J. Pripas, did not respond to the specific concerns raised by AFSCME, such as H&K's work for the tobacco industry, instead praising the PR firm. "Hill & Knowlton," Pripas wrote, "is one of the most well-known and well respected firms in the world." After AFSCME went public with its concern, H&K's Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, Mark Thorne, wrote wrote to PR Week, stating that the firm has a policy "that we will not provide services in any way related to tobacco, anywhere in the world." The UC hierarchy, on the other hand, is opposing a policy that would ban the university from accepting tobacco industry funding of research projects.

The biggest U.S. advertiser, Procter & Gamble, is launching "a new multibrand campaign called 'My Black Is Beautiful,'" reports Advertising Age. The brainchild of P&G multicultural marketing director Najoh Tita Reid, the campaign seeks to "make all black girls and women" feel beautiful, while forging "a closer relationship between P&G brands and their black consumers." According to P&G research, "71% of black women feel they're portrayed worse than other women in media and advertising. Despite that, they spend on average three times more than the general market on beauty products." In April 2007, P&G was a month away from unveiling the campaign to employees when radio host Don Imus made his infamous racist remarks. P&G's Reid encouraged the company to pull its ads from Imus' show, in part to lay the groundwork for "Black Is Beautiful." Reid explained: "We said, 'Let's start grass roots and work our way toward national advertising.' ... It's more authentic." The still-evolving campaign will include grants from P&G's Always and Tampax, "booklets likely to be distributed by Essence," and "a series of community discussions," organized in conjunction with women's groups.

To "cut costs and reduce questionable prescriptions," 20 U.S. states contract with Comprehensive NeuroScience (CNS). CNS "identifies doctors who are prescribing psychiatric drugs outside of recommended guidelines. ... The states then send warning letters to doctors." In Minnesota, the CNS contract is funded by the drug company Eli Lilly. Lilly makes the "top-selling antipsychotic drug" Zyprexa. Minnesota spent $28 million on Zyprexa for poor and disabled residents in 2005. Unlike other states, Minnesota does not require prior authorization for antipsychotic drugs, a practice that Lilly opposes. "In fact," reports the Pioneer Press, "none of the states with Lilly partnerships use prior authorization to manage antipsychotic drugs. ... Wisconsin had a contract with Lilly last year, when the state's Medicaid agency placed antipsychotic drugs, including Zyprexa, on the prior authorization list. State officials were informed shortly thereafter that Lilly was canceling the program." Minnesota also requires "dose optimization" -- often resulting in less profit for drug manufacturers -- for other antipsychotic medications, but not for Zyprexa.

"One after another, the men and women who have stepped forward to report corruption in the massive effort to rebuild Iraq have been vilified, fired and demoted. Or worse," reports Deborah Hastings. For reporting illegal arms sales, Navy veteran Donald Vance and a colleague say they were subjected to physical and mental interrogation tactics "reserved for terrorists and so-called enemy combatants." At least $8.8 billion of the $30 billion allocated by Congress for reconstruction in Iraq has disappeared according to a government audit (with some of it going to insurgents). Nevertheless, whistleblowers who call attention to fraud are being "destroyed," according to William Weaver, an advisor to the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition. "Sometimes people ask me, 'Should I do this?' And my answer is no. If they're married, they'll lose their family. They will lose their jobs. They will lose everything," Weaver said. Whistleblowers have been fired or demoted, shunned by colleagues, and denied government support in whistleblower lawsuits filed against contracting firms.

According to a recent ruling by federal judge Saundra Brown Armstrong, the Bush administration broke the law by failing to present the latest scientific research about global warming to Congress and the public. The ruling comes in response to a 2006 lawsuit filed by three environmental organizations who charged that the Bush administration violated the Global Change Research Act of 1990 by refusing to produce the National Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on the United States, which the White House is required to produce every four years. The last report was completed by the Clinton Administration in October 2000 and warned of severe climate change impacts to some regions of the United States.

"Two lobbyists with lengthy resumes in New Jersey government set up a conference call with the media last week to announce the formation of the New Jersey Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy Coalition (NJ ACRE), notes an Asbury Park Press editorial. The coalition will "advocate for nuclear energy and, more specifically, a 20-year license extension for the aging Oyster Creek plant" in Lacey, N.J. However, "the lobbyists neglected to point out they are being paid by Exelon Corp., Oyster Creek's owner. There also was no mention of that fact on the coalition's Web site until a news story about their being front men for Exelon appeared in Friday's Asbury Park Press." Since the Nuclear Regulatory Commission "is expected to reach a decision on relicensing by January," reasons the paper, "much of the lobbyists' energy will be directed at the decision-makers themselves." Judging by a press release, one of NJ ACRE's arguments is that "the loss of Oyster Creek and the need to replace its electricity in the face of steadily rising demand would cause significant economic hardship." The release says shutting down Oyster Creek would cost $190 million in increased energy prices and $126 million in lost "economic activity," citing a study funded by Exelon.

Allawi and Bush in 2004"Republican lobbyists with close ties to the Bush administration are aiding and supporting the efforts of an Iraqi opposition leader who is calling for the ouster of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki," reports IraqSlogger. On behalf of former prime minister Ayad Allawi, the firm Barbour, Griffith and Rogers purchased the website domain Allawi-for-Iraq.com and sent "hundreds of email messages in Allawi's name" to Congressional staffers and others in Washington. The emails included copies of a Washington Post op/ed by Allawi in which he wrote "there will be no lasting political reconcilitation under Maliki's sectarian regime" and "Maliki has squandered Iraq's credibility in Arab politics, and he cannot restore it." The firm's international president, Robert Blackwill, was Bush's Presidential Envoy to Iraq in 2004, when Allawi was in power. Barbour Griffith, and Rogers also works for the Kurdistan Regional Government.

During an August 15 news segment on nuclear power, why did National Public Radio's John Ydstie say "many environmentalists ... who began their careers opposed to nuclear power ... are now reconsidering nuclear power in the face of global warming"? In an alert, the media watchdog group FAIR notes that Ydstie only mentioned one by name: Stewart Brand. But Brand -- like fellow nuclear boosters Patrick Moore and Christine Todd Whitman, who consult for the Nuclear Energy Institute -- has financial ties to the nuclear industry. Brand's Global Business Network includes "more than a dozen corporations and governmental agencies involved in the production or promotion of nuclear energy." FAIR also found that NPR itself has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from nuclear companies Constellation Energy and Sempra Energy, between 1993 and 2005. FAIR is calling on NPR to accurately represent the consensus view of leading environmental groups: that "nuclear power, with its huge safety, security and cost issues, is not the solution to climate change."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will study whether direct-to-consumer drug ads "distract consumers from carefully considering and encoding risk information," reports AP. The agency will look at "how images used in ads affect consumers" and "how text on the screen can focus or divert attention from audio warnings." The FDA is concerned that "relaxing, upbeat images" and "text directing viewers to company Web sites or magazine advertisements" may detract from "important audio about side effects." FDA monitoring of drug ads has drastically decreased, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. The agency issued 21 citations in 2006, compared to 142 sent in 1997. During that time, drug industry spending on direct-to-consumer ads increased 330 percent, to $29.9 billion in 2005, according to the study. The industry group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America defends drug ads as educational, and promotes voluntary ad guidelines in an attempt to avoid more stringent or active regulation.

BP advertisement from 2004The oil and energy company BP recently received "a permit from the state of Indiana to dump more toxic discharges from its Whiting, Ind., refinery into Lake Michigan," reports Advertising Age. The permit, "which allows BP to dump 54% more ammonia and 35% more suspended solids" in the Great Lake, has "enraged" Chicago officials. Chicago's chief environmental officer remarked, "We'd like to have [BP] live up to their advertising." BP's rebranding as "Beyond Petroleum" has sought to associate the company with environmentally friendly initiatives. AdAge calls BP's move "the cardinal sin of touting an environmentally conscious image in marketing -- the central focus of BP's advertising for the past several years -- and failing to live up to the message." A company spokesman said BP had "started advertising in regional newspapers ... to clear up misconceptions about the issue." BP later said it would not increase its Lake Michigan dumping. Then, the Chicago Tribune reported that BP had requested and received an exemption from stricter soot emission limits.

Is there an attempt "to flush out would-be whistle-blowers" at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which "focuses on how pollution and other toxins in the environment contribute to disease"? Managers at the North Carolina institute recently "distributed 'record of congressional inquiry' forms to employees," asking "for details of each telephone call from the offices of members of the House or Senate, including on the information sought," reports the Associated Press. "Their distribution came in the midst of multiple and ongoing investigations by Congress," including by Sen. Charles Grassley's (R-Iowa) staff. Grassley wrote to National Institutes of Health director Dr. Elias Zerhouni about the "curious" timing of the forms. NIH whistle-blowers have informed Grassley's staff of previous management communications that "left them with the impression that there would be retaliation if it was discovered they had provided information to among others, congressional investigations," the Senator's letter states.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader has filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, objecting to General Motors giveaways to radio stations. Nader filed his complaint after reading an Automotive News article that described how GM is giving "America's best known radio personalities ... new GM cars and trucks to drive for two weeks each month," and inviting them "to Detroit for private meetings with top executives and VIP tours of GM facilities," in addition to advertising on their shows. Bloomberg News notes that "FCC rules require broadcasters to say if content has been aired in exchange for money or other considerations." The Automotive News article reported that Rush Limbaugh, one of those being wooed by GM, said on air that "GM cars and trucks have never been better." A GM spokeswoman retorted, "We've been very transparent. ... We think this is a good way to build relationships ... and to get the word out about our great vehicles." Other radio hosts being courted by GM include Bill O'Reilly, Laura Schlessinger, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Hannity, Ed Schultz, Bill Press and Ryan Seacrest. GM previously offered free trips to student journalists and funds many video news releases.

The lead U.S. drug industry lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), spent $10.7 million in the first six months of 2007 lobbying the U.S. government. (In the preceding six-month period, PhRMA spent $8.8 million.) Associated Press reports that PhRMA'S latest lobbying report, required under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, states that the group lobbied Congress, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies on "issues related to Medicare, patent reform, international trade and drug fees, importation and safety." Billy Tauzin, a former Republican member of the House of Representatives from Louisiana turned PhRMA chief executive, is one of the group's registered lobbyists.

Following Dr. Steven Nissen's publication of a study warning that "GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug Avandia increased the risk of heart attacks by 43% and death from cardiovascular events by possibly 64%," he was publicly pilloried. "More than one story from ostensibly different sources" derisively referred to him as "St Steven," the "Patron Saint of Drug Safety," and "Saint Steven the Pure," reports Evelyn Pringle. Among the attackers was FDA spokesman Douglas Arbesfeld. Arbesfeld previously worked at the PR firm Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L), helping Glaxo and other "healthcare clients maximize internet-relations." Former FDA Deputy Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who ridiculed Nissen in a Wall Street Journal editorial, also consulted for pharmaceutical companies at MS&L. Two more FDA alums, Peter Pitts and Robert Goldberg, mocked Nissen in a Washington Times piece. Pitts is the senior vice-president for global health affairs at MS&L. Goldberg doesn't have ties to the PR firm, but serves with Pitts as an officer of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, which Pringle describes as a "nest of ex-moles who served the industry in one capacity or another in the Bush Administration's FDA." It's a project of the Pacific Research Institute, a corporate-funded think tank.

The PR firm Edelman "is handling the recasting of Diebold Election Systems to Premier Election Solutions," following the parent company's failure to sell its e-voting subsidiary. PES "will have its own management team and board of directors," and is based in Allen, Texas, while Diebold headquarters are in Ohio. Diebold blamed the lack of buyers on "rapidly evolving political uncertainties and controversies surrounding ... electronic voting systems." Diebold also lowered its e-voting revenue expectations by $120 million, according to Crain's Cleveland Business. A Diebold spokesman "acknowledged that the highly charged attention paid to the subsidiary ... has been a distraction to Diebold." The parent company now hopes to "concentrate on its core ATM and security segments."

Wikipedia"Editing your own entry on Wikipedia is usually the province of vain celebrities keen for some good PR," writes Bobbie Johnson. "But a new website has uncovered dozens of companies that have been editing the site in order to improve their public image. The Wikipedia Scanner, which trawls the backwaters of the popular online encyclopaedia, has unearthed a catalogue of organisations massaging entries, including the CIA and the Labour party. ... But the biggest culprit that the Scanner claims to have discovered is Diebold, a supplier of e-voting machines, which it says has made huge alterations to entries about its involvement in the controversial 'hanging chad' election in the US in 2000."

The U.S. Defense Department's budget request for fiscal year 2008 includes $3 million for "strategic communication and integration," the Pentagon's attempts to "understand and engage" key audiences worldwide, through "coordinated information, themes, plans, programs and actions synchronized with other elements of national power." But, just before Congress' summer recess, the House Appropriations Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee denied the funds. The House committee objected to what it called an "unsupported program initiation," while the Senate committee expressed concern that blending public diplomacy, public affairs and information operations "could compromise the integrity of each of these functions." Public affairs and public diplomacy communications are supposed to be truthful, while information operations includes psychological operations, or attempts to cause "dissidence and disaffection" within enemy ranks. Debate on the funding bill will continue after Labor Day.

The Boston Globe reports "the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the nation's oldest and most influential veterans' organizations, have broken their relative silence on the merits of the Iraq war, joining some of the staunchest war supporters to lobby Congress and the public... Both organizations, which the White House has aggressively courted" are "recruiting members to argue for the surge strategy at town hall meetings, and have made their leaders available to the national media to declare that victory is still within reach. ... 'They have been speaking out more strongly than in the past,' said Pete Hegseth, an Iraq veteran who heads Vets for Freedom, which supports the surge." Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a think tank "that helps coordinate pro-war groups" told the Globe, 'we need to work very hard to educate both members of Congress and the general public.' " May is also active in Committee on the Present Danger, the Project for the New American Century, and was the Republican National Committee's Director of Communications. SourceWatch now contains a new article on the pro-war lobby.

David Petraeus In recent months, President Bush has deflected questions about progress in Iraq with statements like, "I'm going to wait for ... David Petraeus to come back and give us the report on what he sees." According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, however, "administration officials" said that the expected September report from General Petraeus "would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government." Blogger Markos Moulitsas comments, "Let me predict the future. The report: 'Success!' The interpetation: 'Smashing success!'"

As newspapers continue shrinking, Julian Friedland worries about how journalism will handle the "conflict of interest between pleasing the bottom line" versus "upholding its mission to educate the public by publishing a steady stream of hard-hitting investigative reports." As investigative journalism has been "eviscerated" by declining budgets, the "very best news sources in the country" are either family-owned newspapers like the New York Times or Washington Post, or publicly-funded media, such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. "Media represent an essential service like education and infrastructure. As such, media need to be protected from the corrupting influence of private interest, which has finally grown so massive as to exert a crushing grip on journalistic independence," Friedland argues. "If we look to Europe we can see media independence there is protected by public funds. Take the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which is mostly funded by taxes, permitting it to hold every corporation and government's feet to the fire. In France, two out of the three major networks receive no more than 40 percent of their operational funds from ads. ... It's high time we start putting a lot more money where our mouth is."

"It's not the first time that citizen 'investigative journalists' have uncovered some embarrassing, or telling, nugget from the past that apparently remained buried for years," writes Editor and Publisher magazine. "But it has happened again with the posting of a now wildly popular video on YouTube that shows Dick Cheney explaining in 1994 that trying to take over Iraq would be a bad idea and lead to a 'quagmire.'" Since August 10, when the video was posted on YouTube, it has been viewed by more than 400,000 people.

The Associated Press examines two dueling partisan lobby groups composed of military veterans, "valuable public relations tools" for politicians in the debate over the war in Iraq. VoteVets "has spent about $850,000 this year on political ads. ... Its board of advisers includes ... former Democratic Senator Bob Kerrey," who lobbied for attacking Iraq as a member of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. VoteVets is part of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, the MoveOn and SEIU coalition that pressures pro-war Republicans but not Democrats. On the Republican side, the pro-war Vets for Freedom "has worked with former White House spokesman Taylor Gross, and Campaign Solutions - headed by Republican consultant R. Rebecca Donatelli - helps manage its online media. Adriel Domenech, the press contact for the group, is a former intern with the Republican National Committee," who worked in public affairs for the Bush Administration in Iraq. The AP article fails to mention Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), an independent grassroots group that criticizes both Republicans and Democrats. The Center for Media and Democracy hosted IVAW leaders at a Coffee with the Troops in Chicago at the Netroots Nation (formerly Yearly Kos) convention.

Tasmanian logging (Photo: The Wilderness Society)The latest edition of the Tasmanian Business Reporter waxes lyrical about the importance of building a massive pulp mill proposed by the controversial logging company Gunns. Writing about the positive coverage in The Australian, D.D. McNicoll notes that the Reporter does not quote "a single voice of dissent to the project," despite widespread opposition by local small business owners. The editor of the Reporter is Ingrid Harrison, who's also the Executive Director of the PR firm Corporate Communications Tasmania (CCTas), an affiliate of Porter Novelli Australia. Ingrid's husband, Tony Harrison, is a PR advisor to Gunns. "Mere coincidence, perhaps," quips McNicoll. The Reporter is a joint venture between CCTas and the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a small business lobby group.

A lawsuit against airservices company Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., has been re-filed to include two more victims of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's extraordinary rendition program. In December 2002, Bisher al-Rawi was kidnapped from Gambia and flown to a secret U.S. prison in Afghanistan and then the Bagram airbase. In October 2003, Yemeni citizen Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah was kidnapped from Jordan and flown to the Bagram airbase. Both were tortured before being released without charges in March 2007 and early 2006, respectively. The American Civil Liberties Union alleges that the Boeing subsidiary "falsified flight plans submitted to European air traffic control authorities to avoid public scrutiny of CIA flights." Boeing spokesman John Dern would not say whether Jeppesen works for the CIA. "As a matter of policy we don't comment publicly on any of the work done or services for any of our customers without their consent," he said.

"Only 40% of PR pros are considered 'trustworthy' to the press," according to an annual survey of broadcasters conducted by the PR firm D S Simon Productions. The survey (of an unknown number of newsrooms) revealed that 84% of newsrooms "are allowed to use third-party video," such as video news releases, but 58% "now require management to sign off on this footage before it airs. A similar trend has emerged with satellite interviews" -- sponsored, and often canned, TV interviews conducted remotely -- "87% of newsrooms allow it, but 40% require management approval beforehand." O'Dwyer's reports that "restrictions on video and satellite feeds can almost certainly be attributed to increased pressure for VNR disclosure." Doug Simon explained, "Pitching stories to broadcast is changing and it's going to continue to be challenging. ... The clear new avenue is getting content on the web." Simon estimated that "95% of all news stories now go online."

McDonald's has been criticized by PR professionals for its response to the recent study by Stanford University School of Medicine and the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital which found that young children preferred foods associated with the company's packaging. In a media statement (not available in its website), McDonald's spokesman Matt Riker tried to shift the focus away from the fast food giant, writing that "parents make the decisions for their children." PR consultant Eric Dezenhall opined that "you really can't attack a children's hospital." Instead, Dezenhall suggested the company should embrace the third party technique, using scientists or other experts to attack the study. Peter Sandman took the opposite tack, suggesting the company would be better off admitting its responsibility to children. The effect, he said, would be to "take the wind out of the sails of your critics by giving them some credit for the positive changes you've made."

Rick Snell, the editor of the Freedom of Information Review and lecturer in law at the University of Tasmania, has welcomed reforms proposed by the Victorian government for its freedom of information (FOI) laws. The new Victorian Premier, John Brumby, has promised to introduce legislation "to ensure that, except in national security cases, only real Cabinet documents will be exempt from FoI." Snell believes the changes should be adopted elsewhere in Australia. "I have just returned from Cambodia, where they are considering introducing an FOI regime that is more liberal than all Australian FOI laws," he said.

"Over the weekend," comments SaveTheInternet.com, "AT&T gave us a glimpse of their plans for the Web when they censored a Pearl Jam performance that didn’t meet their standard of 'Internet freedom.' During the live Lollapalooza Webcast of a concert by the Seattle-based super-group, the telco giant muted lead singer Eddie Vedder just as he launched into a lyric against President George Bush. The lines — 'George Bush, leave this world alone' and 'George Bush find yourself another home' were somehow lost in the mix." After the band complained, an AT&T flack said the deletion was a mistake by its "content monitor," who was only supposed to be deleting profanity. (But since when do music groups need "content monitoring" at all?)

In a July 2005 PR Watch post, Laura Miller asked whether the U.S. Defense Department's "America Supports You" campaign was an attempt "to boost public support for war and distract ... from criticisms." Turns out, it's even more problematic. As Max Blumenthal reports, the "evangelical entertainment troupe" Operation Straight Up (OSU), which "actively proselytizes among active-duty members of the US military," is an official arm of America Supports You. OSU "plans to mail copies of the controversial apocalyptic video game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces to soldiers serving in Iraq." The game is based on the Tim LaHaye/Jerry Jenkins books, and players must "kill or convert ... non-believers left behind after the rapture." They're also mailing English and Arabic versions of the evangelical book More Than A Carpenter, "ostensibly intended for proselytizing efforts among Iraqi civilians." OSU will head to the Mideast for a "Military Crusade in Iraq." As OSU leader Jonathan Spinks explains: "At no greater time is our military acceptant of the principles of God and prayer, than when under extreme danger and concerned about their loved ones at home."

Five years ago in their book "Trust Us We're Experts," CMD's Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber exposed the propaganda machine selling Americans the idea that global warming is good for us. Newsweek's Sharon Begley examines the current situation: "If you think those who have long challenged the mainstream scientific findings about global warming recognize that the game is over, think again. ... Since the late 1980s, this well-coordinated, well-funded campaign by contrarian scientists, free-market think tanks and industry has created a paralyzing fog of doubt around climate change. ... Now they contend that the looming warming will be minuscule and harmless."

A survey of the impact of marketing on children's taste preferences has revealed the power of McDonald's. Sixty-three preschoolers from low-income families in California were presented with five samples of identical foods and beverages, one in McDonald's packaging and the other in unbranded packaging. They were then asked "to indicate if they tasted the same or if one tasted better." The results? "54.1 per cent of the children said baby carrots served on top of a paper bag bearing the McDonald's logo tasted better than those on a plain bag (23 per cent) - even though McDonald's does not have carrots on its menu," reported Kate Benson in the Sydney Morning Herald. The study authors concluded that the results are "consistent with recommendations to regulate marketing to young children."

The human rights group Friends of Maldives protests H&K

A local branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) representing University of California (UC) employees is protesting against UC management's hiring Hill & Knowlton to spin its labor record. The union called on the university to drop the PR firm, citing John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton's book, "Trust Us, We're Experts," which recounted H&K's work opposing measures to reduce children's lead exposure. In a letter to UC President Robert Dynes, a coalition supporting the AFSCME branch pointed out that the company had also worked for the tobacco industry and "some of the worst human rights abusing states in the world." In an email to PR Week, UC spokesperson Peter Schwartz responded that H&K "has been invaluable in helping us to keep our employees and the general public educated about UC labor negotiations."

Jamil Anderlini and Mure Dickie report that when the banking company HSBC and the China Charity Foundation recently held a celebration in Beijing, the event organizers paid attending Chinese journalists 200 renminbi ($26.40) as "transport money." "It's awful. It's an embarrassment for Chinese journalism ... and it's corruption," said Ying Chan, director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. Esmond Quek, the CEO for Hill & Knowlton's Beijing office, told the Financial Times that payments, which can be more for television crews, were at rates agreed with by China's Public Relations Association (CPRA). "The amount given is standard and specifically for transportation," said Quek, who previously worked for British American Tobacco. However, the "standard" amount is greater than the cost of cross-city taxi fares, and some PR practitioners dispute that the CPRA has endorsed the practice or set a rate.

Monsanto is discovering a troubling new side effect from use of Posilac, its controversial recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) injected into cows to increase milk production: use of rBGH is shriveling up the market for milk from Posilac-treated cows. In response to growing consumer demand for hormone-free dairy products, retailers are increasingly rejecting milk products derived from rBGH-injected cows. The Kroger Company announced in an August 1 press release that by February 2008 the company will sell only milk that is certified free of synthetic hormones. This represents no small blow to Monsanto; Kroger operates 2,458 supermarkets and other stores in 31 states, as well as 15 dairies and three ice cream plants. Kroger's holdings include the major grocery chains Ralphs, Fred Meyer, City Market, Food 4 Less, and King Soopers. Kroger joins Starbucks and other retailers in rejecting use of Posilac. The bottom line? A little more pain for Monsanto and little less pain for the cows.

Inside SpinThe PR industry in Australia "employs more than 10,000 people and turns over more tha