Bush addresses the meetingThe recent U.S. State Department-hosted "Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change" was "a triumph of US media management," writes BBC News environment analyst Roger Harrabin. "The opening public statements were made by President Bush, Dr Rice and Jim Connaughton, the head of White House climate strategy. The only foreigner to speak publicly was Yvo de Boer who, as a representative of the UN, remained neutrally uncritical of his hosts. The two-day meeting then went into closed session. Other delegates were furious at what they said were false leadership claims on climate by Mr Bush, but they were not given a platform to address the media. When they emerged at the end of the conference ... they found that the co-ordinator, Mr Connaughton, had slipped out to brief the media half-an-hour before the end of the meeting, and the US TV networks had gone home." One European delegate "in search of the vanished American TV crews" complained, "The White House slaughtered us."

Florida's Broward County paid a travel writer $10,000 to mention Fort Lauderdale, "during a summer media tour that took him to 16 news stations in 37 days," reports the Miami Herald. Joel Widzer "seemed to have little trouble finding stations willing to interview him and air the footage of Fort Lauderdale's coral reefs and spas that the public relations firm, Plus Media, provided producers. A follow-up report ... said Widzer mentioned the destination in 20 television interviews from Tampa Bay to Albuquerque, reaching an estimated 430,000 viewers." One station contacted by the Miami Herald about airing Widzer's pitch, WXIX-19 in Cincinnati, admitted that "the segment violated station policy," because while "the producer knew the destinations Widzer mentioned were also sponsoring his tour, viewers weren't told of the connection." Of course, many paid spokespeople pose as impartial consumer experts. "Travel Mom" for hire Emily Kaufman told the Miami Herald, "There's a good market for it." DWJ Television has had nurse Lynne Griffin promote Colgate, Cepacol and Pfizer products, and companies can buy mentions in an upcoming media tour produced by Gourvitz Communications for between $10,000 and $12,000.

Blackwater USA has hired the PR firm Burson-Marsteller (B-M) for crisis management, following a September 16 incident in which the company killed 17 Iraqi civilians, according to the Iraqi government's investigation. "The State Department, which pays Blackwater hundreds of millions of dollars to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq, has stringent rules barring the private security contractor from discussing with the media the details of its work," reports AP. These constraints make it "difficult to repair a corporate image." B-M's Robert Tappan is working on the firm's Blackwater account. Tappan manages B-M's lobbying subsidiary, BKSH & Associates, and is a former State Department official. BKSH helped Blackwater founder and head Erik Prince prepare for his October 2 testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Public relations executives had conflicting advice for Blackwater. "They need to help people understand that as you attack Blackwater, you're really attacking soldiers," suggested Beau Phillips. But Richard Levick of Levick Strategic Communications warned that "figuratively wrapping your company in the American flag" doesn't work so well when an unpopular war is involved.