The Harley-Davidson motorcycle company has arranged a deal with the film school at the University of California-Santa Barbara that recruits students as cheap labor to make Harley ads in the form of "short sponsored videos for online media or for downloading to other digital media platforms such as cell phones, iPods, and PDAs." Under the terms of the "partnership," students submit proposals to Harley-Davidson, describing the type of video they plan to make. If approved, the company pays a stipend of up to $1,200 for each proposal, and a prize of $5,000 to the winner. Harley then owns all rights to the videos. The university's website explains the project as follows: "This class will also address the significance of direct internet sales on sites such as eBay, and the role of the blogosphere, webcasting, podcasting, new user nets such as Craig’s List, among many others on the way young people both consume and produce media content. Today the YouTube 'viral video' phenomenon is challenging the dominant model of top-down, organization-driven approaches to getting messages communicated in favor of more spontaneous, organic and bottom-up strategies driven by consumers themselves."

CMD's Congresspedia Managing Editor Conor Kenny authored the cover story for the May issue of In These Times. Titled "Hello, I'm a Democrat," the article addresses the phenomenon of the netroots, or internet-based activists. "While they are engaged to one degree or another in the national-level actions and organizations, many of the most committed and involved activists are busy transforming the Democratic Party from the ground up." Conor also covers the commitment of the netroots to not assume that traditionally Republican areas are outside of the reach of this newly envisioned Democratic Party. "Whether inspired by Dean or the other way around, one of the activists' central tenets is the need to build the party in red areas abandoned by the state parties and, in the case of the DNC, entire states." The article also includes four profiles of netroots activists.

In the wake of the latest study showing heart attack risk in an FDA-approved drug, there have been increased calls for greater transparency of clinical trial results. What does the U.S. Food and Drug Administration think about requiring companies to publicly release all of their trial results? "I would be very concerned about wholesale posting of thousands of clinical trials leading to mass confusion," said Steve Galso, who directs the FDA's Drug Evaluation and Research division. But Merrill Goozner, who directs the Integrity in Science project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, doubts that consumers would "be any more confused than they now are from the information they get from direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. ... Let's not forget that a provision in the FDA reform bill calling for a two-year moratorium on DTC ads on some new drugs was rejected because it limited commercial freedom of speech. In 21st century America, the right to misinform consumers is protected, but consumers' right to information is denied because they might misinform themselves."

Professional Greenpeace turncoat Patrick Moore is going around with a slide show that "isn't as slick as Al Gore's," writes Amanda Witherell, promoting nuclear power as a safe, clean, reliable and emissions-free solution to global warming. Witherell discusses the role that the Nuclear Energy Institute and PR firm Hill and Knowlton have played in creating Moore's "Clean and Safe Energy Coalition" and takes a critical look at some of the factoids in his presentation, such as his claim that nuclear power plants could withstand a direct hit from a jetliner without breaching radioactive contamination.

A watchdog group that criticized the social and environmental failings of the Australian government's overseas aid policies has been stripped of its charitable tax status. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) informed Aid/Watch that it had lost it tax-deductible gift status because it was "trying to procure changes in Australia's aid and development programs." The ATO took exception to Aid/Watch urging supporters to write to the government to put pressure on the Burmese military dictatorship, and raising concerns about the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement. Dr Clive Hamilton, the Executive Director of The Australia Institute and co-editor of the book Silencing Dissent, believes the decision is also aimed at curtailing advocacy groups' election year campaigns. "A very clear message is being sent, especially in the lead-up to the next election, that the Government will crack down on non-government organisations it doesn't like," he said.

Joe Trippi

In a report filed with the U.S. Department of Justice, netroots guru Joe Trippi, who made his name advising Howard Dean's 2004 campaign on new media strategy, discloses he was paid $20,000 to advise former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the recent Nigerian elections. Abubakar, who also hired PR giant Hill & Knowlton and the James Mintz Group, lost the election to former President Olusegun Obasanjo's anointed successor, Umaru Yar'Adua. "Essentially, the text-messaging campaign said, 'Democracy is at risk right now with Obasanjo, do not let them take the election,' that sort of thing," Trippi told The Hill. An election monitoring group described the election as "a charade." The latest filings also reveal that since April 2006, Goodworks International, a PR firm co-founded by Andrew Young, was paid $500,000 by the government of Nigeria. Part of Goodworks strategy was to promote "the democratic election in Nigeria."

The chairperson of the Best Medicines Coalition (BMC), Louise Binder, recently appeared before the Canadian parliament's health committee to argue the case for patients gaining access to newer and more expensive drugs. When asked who funded BMC, Binder told the committee that half its funding came from the government agency, Health Canada, and the remainder was from the drug industry. However, CanWest News Service reports that the group receives all of its C$250,000 budget from the drug industry. (The Health Canada grant was in the preceding year.) Binder told CanWest reporter Carly Weeks that she would disclose funders it if she considered it "relevant." But she said, "I don't think it is." Alan Cassels, a drug-policy researcher at the University of Victoria, disagrees: "They don't have a disinterested position about the benefits or harms related to the drugs and they will maintain a position that's very much in their funder's interests."

Update: It's early, but the campaigns for the primaries of the 2008 congressional elections are starting to heat up, especially on the Democratic side, with everyone from Dennis Kucinich to Albert Wynn to Robert Wexler facing primary challenges. Please help out your fellow citizens by pitching in on this Congresspedia project to cover the campaigns and candidates of both the primary and general elections for Congress in 2008.

The Congresspedia staff editors will be kicking off a project soon to provide voters with comprehensive information on the congressional elections next year, including profiles on each candidate on the ballot in both the primary and general elections. More than 2/3 of the members of Congress hail from "safe" districts or states that overwhelmingly vote for one party, meaning that for most voters the primary election or caucus is the only way to hold them accountable. Before we get started on the profiles, however, we need to figure out when each state will be holding their primaries and when their ballots will be officially released. No one knows this better than you, the people who actually live there.

Please join us in helping your fellow citizens become educated voters by letting us know when those dates are. We've got an article set up on Congresspedia with spaces for every state. For many states we already found out which month they finalize their ballots, but we need to know the specific day and other information. You may need to dig around a bit on the websites of your state election authority or parties or even give them a call. If you do find any useful websites, please enter them under your state's entry so other citizen journalists can utilize them later.

If this is your first time editing, you can register as a SourceWatch volunteer editor here , and learn more about adding information to the site here and here. Have fun, and thanks for your help!

An in-depth poll of Muslim countries has found that large majorities believe undermining Islam is a key goal of U.S. foreign policy. Most want U.S. military forces out of the Middle East, and many approve of attacks on U.S. troops there. "While U.S. leaders may frame the conflict as a war on terrorism, people in the Islamic world clearly perceive the U.S. as being at war with Islam," said Steven Kull, editor of WorldPublicOpinion.org. However, respondents strongly oppose attacks on civilians. Large majorities approve of many of al Qaeda's principal goals, but believe its violence against civilians is "violating the principles of Islam."

The Associated Press notes that the Bush administration "will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease. The Agriculture Department tests fewer than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. A beef producer in the western state of Kansas, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wants to test all of its cows," but the US government has said such private testing is illegal. "U.S. District Judge James Robertson noted that Creekstone sought to use the same test the government relies on and said the government didn't have the authority to restrict it. The ruling was scheduled to take effect June 1, but the Agriculture Department said Tuesday it would appeal, effectively delaying the testing until the court challenge has played out." Way back in 1997, the book Mad Cow USA by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber exposed the US government's failure to protect cattle and people against this bizarre and always fatal brain disease, including the failure to adequately test US cattle. One decade later the US cover-up continues.

Will it be "one of the most comprehensive screening programs ever to check whether chemicals can disrupt human hormones" or "a misleading $76 million waste"? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, which is slated to begin tests in 2008, is already controversial. Some scientists are warning that the program will: use "a breed of rat that is relatively insensitive to several known hormone-disrupting chemicals"; feed the rats a soy-based chow containing natural hormone disruptors that may complicate test results; pay little attention to prenatal chemical exposure; test a too-high dosage range; and possibly allow "chemical companies to tailor certain aspects of the tests." The EPA counters that the program was developed "in an open manner to protect it from special interests," and that "it is not worried" about chemical industry involvement. Indeed, the EPA shaped the screening program with input "from people who may have financial interest in the outcome of the tests," using data from the American Chemistry Council and a toxicologist who works as an industry consultant.

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) is criticizing U.S. news media for presenting Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's non-renewal of the television station RCTV's broadcast license "as a simple matter of censorship." FAIR points out that "RCTV and other commercial TV stations were key players in the April 2002 coup that briefly ousted Chavez's democratically elected government." Moreover, "the Venezuelan government is basing its denial of license on RCTV's involvement in the 2002 coup, not on the station's criticisms of or political opposition to the government." BBC News reports that the Latin American press is portraying Chavez as "authoritarian" and Venezuelan media as "increasingly suffocated." Journalism and human rights groups have denounced the non-renewal of RCTV's license. Governments have the right not to renew a broadcast license, but a standard process should be followed, international rights groups maintain. "We're not arguing that the concession ... should be given to RCTV," said the Committee to Project Journalists' Carlos Lauria. "We're just saying that there's no process to evaluate if it should be." Just Foreign Policy's Patrick McElwee agrees, but notes that a 1987 law -- enacted previous to Chavez -- "charges the executive branch with decisions about license renewal" and "does not seem to require any administrative hearing."

The Happy Valley Coalition protests Solid Energy

A private investigation company, Thompson & Clark Investigations, employed agents to infiltrate environmental, peace and animal rights groups in New Zealand, investigative journalist Nicky Hager has revealed. One of the company's clients was the government-owned coal company Solid Energy. A student was paid NZ$400 a month to infiltrate and report on the activities of Save Happy Valley, a group opposing a new coal mine. One task was to provide information on the group's legal strategies in response to being sued by Solid Energy over a spoof corporate social responsibility report. The Chief Executive Officer of Solid Energy, Don Elder, is unapologetic: "What do I think about it? So what? If Thompson & Clark had got someone to do the things you've said, then I would say good on them." The State-Owned Enterprises minister, Trevor Mallard, told Solid Energy that the spying operation is "unacceptable." However, Solid Energy has only said that it will consider the issue at its next board meeting.

In a signal that the departure of Tony Blair as British Prime Minister won't result in any major policy shifts, Prime Minister-elect Gordon Brown has supported the construction of up to eight new nuclear power stations. In February, Britain's High Court ruled that a national energy review had been a "sham" consultation exercise. Despite the setback, Trade and Industry Secretary and Brown ally, Alistair Darling, has launched a new round of "consultation" on its latest nuclear power white paper. "We will consider carefully the responses we get and this will enable us to take a decision on nuclear power later in the year," the Department of Trade and Industry website states. Darling, however, is not waiting for the public response, ridiculing those opposing nuclear power as being "daft." Greenpeace director John Sauven said the British government "has tinkered with its failing energy efficiency and renewables policy while indulging its nuclear obsession."

The Hill reports, "Automakers plan to attack congressional efforts to raise fuel mileage standards in a series of radio and newspaper advertisements this weekend, the unofficial start of summer driving season. The ad campaign, sponsored by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, focuses on states with a high proportion of truck and SUV drivers to stoke grassroots opposition to a Senate bill that would raise fuel standards for cars and trucks by 10 miles per gallon over the next 10 years. The Senate plans to take up the bill after the Memorial Day recess as part of a larger effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and wean the country off of foreign oil. The auto group plans to spend at least $1 million on the ad buy, a spokesman said. ... Fuel mileage standards for automobiles are currently set at 27.5 miles per gallon, and have not been raised since 1990." The auto lobby has a website at www.drivecongress.com with a toll-free number to get US drivers lobbying Congress against fuel efficiency standards.

U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton's top presidential campaign strategist is Mark Penn, worldwide CEO of the PR firm Burson-Marsteller and president of the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates. While the campaign says Penn "is currently working only with Microsoft" for his day job, an internal Burson-Marsteller blog "suggests ... he has been working with multiple clients," reports Bloomberg News. Blog posts by Penn mention work for Shell Oil, the energy company TXU, and the U.S. Tuna Foundation. In one post, Penn says "the mixing of corporate and political work" is "helpful in cross-pollinating new ideas and skills." The Nation notes Burson-Marsteller's astroturf "attacks against environmental and consumer groups," and its "confrontational relationship with organized labor," as well as Penn's polling firm's work for the nuclear power industry (which the Center for Media and Democracy previously reported on). AP reports that Colombia recently hired Burson-Marsteller on a $300,000-per-year contract, to "educate members of the U.S. Congress and other audiences" on "free trade" issues and Plan Colombia, a U.S. backed counter-narcotics program criticized by human rights groups. Colombia will also honor former president Bill Clinton "at a gala event next month in New York City." Her campaign said Hillary will not attend. The Colombian government's links to paramilitary groups led Al Gore to avoid an environmental conference last month that Colombian president Alvaro Uribe attended.

From a "Fun with Propaganda" graphics contest

Once again, the start of the U.S. "summer driving season" is coinciding with "record-high gas prices." The American Petroleum Institute (API) is ramping up media outreach, including bloggers for the first time. "We felt we should become more involved" in the blogosphere, explained API's Jane Van Ryan, "because there are a lot of policies and news-related items being discussed." The industry group has held three blogger teleconferences, "on subjects including energy and environment and, most recently on May 16, gasoline prices," reports Michael Bush. "Blogs the API has reached out to include The Oil Drum, Energy Outlook, and the Daily Reckoning." API's "team of seven media relations people" continues traditional media outreach, fielding "a 'huge amount of calls' from the networks, major dailies, trade press, small newspapers in 'virtually every state,' and consumers," after the latest price hike. Oil companies have their own PR campaigns, as well. Shell's president "is currently in the midst of a 50-city 'listening tour,'" and Exxon Mobil's Dave Gardner said they will "use our Op-Ed space - in national newspapers - to explain current gasoline price drivers to our customers."

As many speeches, magazines and books have done previously, the current issue of Fortune magazine calls Johnson & Johnson's (J&J's) response to the 1982 Tylenol capsule poisoning deaths "the gold standard in crisis control." O'Dwyer's PR Daily writes that "the Tylenol story, as commonly told, is a 'fairy tale,'" as PR executive James Lukaszewski once called it. J&J's CEO at the time, James Burke, "learned of the tragedy" of the seven Chicago-area deaths "on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and called a staff meeting for Monday" -- in contrast to the "myth" that he acted immediately. J&J also "tried to localize the problem, recalling two batches that were circulated in the Chicago area." A wider recall wasn't launched until "after another attempted poisoning using Tylenols took place on the following Tuesday in Oroville, Calif." And "while Burke has been lauded for his openness with the press, he did not hold a press conference." The problem was the capsules, which "some pharmacists would not stock," because they "could easily be taken apart and 'spiked.'" After another Tylenol capsule poisoning in 1986, J&J's Burke admitted he was sorry that the company "did not stop making Tylenols in capsules after the Chicago murders."

After giving an interview to Afghanistan's Tolo TV in which she called the Afghan parliament "worse than a stable or a zoo," because "at least there you have a donkey that carries a load and a cow that provides milk," Malalai Joya was suspended from Parliament. Joya, a young lawmaker and rights activist, has been threatened by warlords, while Afghan officials have sought to intimidate Tolo TV. Human Rights Watch is calling for Joya to be reinstated. In Thailand, the government is closing down community radio stations, allegedly for using "illegal frequencies." Rights activists say the shut-downs are at least partially due to stations having aired interviews with ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. In Iraq, local journalists and news organizations, along with the Committee to Protect Journalists, are protesting the government's ban on journalists reporting from attack scenes. Lastly, the OpenNet Initiative found that 25 of 40 countries it studied "block Web sites for political, social or other reasons." The "most extensive filters" are imposed by China, Iran, Myanmar, Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam.

Examining and exposing the activities of lobbyists and their firms is an important aspect of the Center for Media and Democracy's work. Now you can help, via our online collaborative encyclopedia, SourceWatch!

SourceWatch has many articles related to this industry, but because the players and the issue change frequently, our resources can always use some updating. The Hill recently released a list of the most powerful corporate lobbyists at http://thehill.com/business--lobby/the-best-in-the-business-2007-04-24.h....

Lobbyists are most successful if they can remain in the shadows. Can you help us shed some light on their antics? Go to SourceWatch and do a search for one of the corporate lobbyists on The Hill's list. If you find an article, please add the quote from the article in The Hill by saying, "According to the article "Best in the Business" in the April 24, 2007 issue of The Hill, lobbyist X is ....[insert the quote from the article]" and add the link to the article. If The Hill lists a lobbyist who is not already in SourceWatch, please create a short "stub" article on him or her (with the lobbyist's name, The Hill info, and any other information you might find on him/her).

If this is your first time editing, 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!

Le Palais Bourbon, seat of the French National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French government.

French daily Le Monde ran a piece examining the U.S. practice of watchdogging the role of money in the political process, which is lacking in France. "In France, the situation is quite different. The financial relationships between politicians and corporations are difficult to analyze ... there exists a total absence of regulation." Journalist Cécile Grégoriades cites Money and Politics, Open Secrets, Follow the Money, and CMD's own Congresspedia project. She describes Congresspedia very favorably: "Notably, it presents very precise figures on members of Congress ... The site also abounds with information on lobbyist firms." CMD Associate Director Judith Siers-Poisson is quoted as saying, "It's essential for a voter to have the most information possible about a candidate that they are prepared to vote for. If my representative, for example, had contacts with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, or is suspected of corruption, I have a right to know that as a voter."

"Amid strenuous lobbying across Europe" to end restrictions on direct-to-consumer drug advertising, four pharmaceutical companies are considering launching their own television station. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis and Procter & Gamble envision "Pharma TV" as "a dedicated interactive digital channel funded by the industry with health news and features," reports Sarah Boseley. The companies are calling it the "European Patient Information Channel," and say its "on demand" drug information would "enable patients and citizens to make better decisions." The pharmaceutical industry wants "direct access" to European patients, and is backed "by a number of influential patient groups that are themselves heavily funded by drug companies." Independent groups under the International Society of Drug Bulletins warn that industry messages tend to focus on "relatively few top sellers, exaggerating effects and concealing risks, confusing patients and putting pressure on doctors to prescribe drugs they would not use otherwise."

CMD is a proponent of citizen journalism, particularly through www.SourceWatch.org, our collaborative on-line encyclopedia of people, organizations, and issues shaping the public agenda. A twist on the idea that the process and product of gathering information benefits from more, rather than fewer, cooks in the kitchen is at work in the on-line project, World Without Oil. The non-profit game "aims to help fill a huge gap in our nation's thinking about oil and the economy. What will happen when demand inevitably outstrips supply ... will depend in large part upon how well people prepare, cooperate, and collectively create solutions. By playing it out in a serious way, the game aims to apply collective intelligence and imagination to the problem in advance, and to create a record that has value for educators, policymakers, and the common people ..." Currently in its 23rd week of play, WorldWithoutOil.org has over 1,600 active participants.

A recent U.S. Labor Department ruling against a whistleblower states that the department, which "has jurisdiction over environmental whistle-blower cases," only recognizes whistleblower protections in the "clean air and solid waste-disposal acts, not laws governing clean water, drinking water, toxic substances and hazardous waste." A department spokesperson said the wording does not reflect "any change in policy or practice." Environmental advocates and watchdog groups aren't so sure. The Government Accountability Project's legal director called the ruling "the latest attack in a systematic war to gut the environmental whistle-blowers' statutes." The 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act covers all federal employees, but only covers disclosures related to "an imminent danger." In 2005, the Justice Department declared the Clean Water Act's whistleblower protections invalid. The Environmental Protection Agency has said "it doesn't recognize the protections in any of the six major environmental laws."

As mentioned in a previous Spin, a Wisconsin branch of the AT&T astroturf group TV4US is "backing a bill to deregulate the state's cable TV franchise system." TV4US recently gave all 132 Wisconsin state legislators thick binders filled with names of state residents who it claims support the cable franchise bill. However, the list includes two lawmakers who voted against the bill in the state Assembly. "Apparently I couldn't convince myself," joked state Rep. Joe Parisi. The other legislator, state Rep. Sondy Pope Roberts, "said she made the discovery after a constituent called to say her husband's name was also erroneously included. ... Pope Roberts said she is now skeptical of the entire binder." Parisi questions the "piles of letters that all look alike that are generated by a large lobby group spending thousands and thousands of dollars." TV4US Wisconsin's Thad Nation (a PR professional and political consultant) couldn't explain why Pope Roberts was listed, but said Parisi's name might have been included because he signed up for email updates on the group's website.

"A new security study released by the Third Way, a Democratic-leaning think tank," and authored by two former Clinton administration officials, discusses how to rebuild U.S. credibility overseas. "American voters yearn for an alternative to the Bush administration's aggressive foreign policy stance," say the Brookings Institution's William Galston and Harvard's Elaine Kamarck, "but neither Democrats nor Republicans are articulating a different path." Their study calls for "a robust military response to the terrorist threat," along with "a massive public relations effort akin to the Cold War propaganda machine." Militarily, the study suggests 100,000 more ground troops and "reinvigorated intelligence services." It also calls for "a massive increase to the $140 million the United States spends annually on public diplomacy," and "re-creating the United States Information Agency, which was folded into the State Department during the Clinton administration."

A report commissioned by BP "to investigate corrosion-related oil pipeline spills last year in Prudhoe Bay ... offers a rare glimpse inside the London-based oil giant's corporate tactics in Alaska," writes Wesley Loy. The report, produced for BP by consultants at Booz Allen Hamilton, details BP's "formal relationship matrix," which matches up company executives with Alaska and federal officials. For example, BP's Randal Buckendorf liaises with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Buckendorf is a former DEC employee with "long-standing personal friendships and professional interactions" with the state regulator, according to the report. BP Alaska's president "is to deal with the commissioner of the [state] Department of Natural Resources." The report warned that after last year's pipeline leaks, "many regulatory relationships have become strained." A BP spokesperson said the "relationship matrix" was a standard approach to maintain "good, consistent lines of communication" with regulatory agencies.

An old advertisement for Exxon (then Esso)

In an apparent policy shift, earlier this year Exxon Mobil called climate change "a serious issue," saying that "action is warranted." The oil company also said it would stop funding groups that downplay the risks from global warming or lobby against measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions. But Exxon still funds about 40 "skeptic groups," including the American Enterprise Institute, Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation and National Black Chamber of Commerce, according to a new report from the environmental group Greenpeace. Exxon did "cut its donations to these groups by more than 40 percent from 2005." Rep. Brad Miller urged Exxon to release data on its 2006 donations, saying the money "appears to be an effort to distort public discussion about global warming." Exxon gave $3.9 million to "global warming deniers" in 2004, $3.6 million in 2005, and over $2 million in 2006. Exxon challenged Greenpeace's characterization of the groups as "deniers," and said the groups "do not represent Exxon or speak on its behalf."

With British Prime Minister Tony Blair leaving office in June, people are wondering "who will be the next famous Downing Street spinner, the new Alastair Campbell," writes columnist Andy McSmith. Under Blair and his "New Labour" party, the term "spin-doctor" became widely known in Britain, and "two in particular -- Alastair Campbell and Peter Mandelson -- became so well known that the comics could make jokes about them." Unless Blair's designated successor, Gordon Brown, "has a late change of mind, it seems he will run his media operation through people who have come up via the Treasury press office and kept out of the public eye. That will mean sticking with low-profile Damien McBride, a former civil servant whose style, while direct, is less slick." Reviewing "the rise of the spin-doctors" within the Labour Party and subsequent controversies, McSmith writes, "Spin-doctors are like poisoners: there are famous poisoners and successful poisoners -- but no famous, successful poisoners."

U.S. representatives "are trying to soften the message" of a climate change declaration to be issued at the June summit of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrial countries. G-8 draft documents obtained by the Washington Post show that the U.S. wants to delete a section pledging "to limit the global temperature rise this century to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit" and "an agreement to reduce worldwide greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050." Warming more than 3.6 degrees could trigger mass extinctions and "accelerated melting of polar ice sheets," climate scientists warn. U.S. negotiators want to remove other language recognizing the United Nations as "the appropriate forum for negotiating future global action on climate change." Also on the U.S. hit list is a statement that "tackling climate change is an imperative, not a choice." Other G-8 leaders are likely to resist the U.S. edits. "German Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has been pushing for a strong statement on climate change," and new French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said global warming is his "top priority."

A controversial nominee to head the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) just got more controversial. Michael E. Baroody, currently a senior lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), "will receive a $150,000 departing payment" from NAM "when he takes his new government job, which involves enforcing consumer laws against members of the association." Baroody informed CPSC of the "extraordinary payment" (as it's called under federal ethics rules), and will "remove himself from agency matters involving the association for two years." However, Baroody says he can immediately consider "matters involving individual companies that are members" of NAM -- "many of whom are defendants in agency proceedings over defective products or have other business before the commission" -- and matters involving smaller trade groups aligned with NAM. At NAM, Baroody lobbied to limit asbestos makers' liability and advocated against state safety standards for cigarettes. Consumer groups, firefighters, lawyers and doctors oppose Baroody's nomination, as do several Democrats. The American Academy of Pediatrics warned that Baroody has "led efforts to weaken the C.P.S.C. and opposed numerous initiatives to protect children and the public from unsafe products."

In the last several weeks, PR Watch and SourceWatch/Congresspedia readers have knocked out several collaborative citizen journalism projects, including identifying the party affiliations of members of Congress, tracking the activities of PR firms and getting the contact information for freshman members of Congress. Great work, everyone! Tens of thousands of people are tuning into the site every day and are benefiting from all your research.

This week's collaborative reporting project is on the 2008 congressional elections. The Congresspedia staff editors will be kicking off a project soon to provide voters with comprehensive information on the congressional elections next year, including profiles on each candidate on the ballot in both the primary and general elections. More than 2/3 of the members of Congress hail from "safe" districts or states that overwhelmingly vote for one party, meaning that for most voters the primary election or caucus is the only way to hold them accountable. Before we get started on the profiles, however, we need to figure out when each state will be holding their primaries and when their ballots will be officially released. No one knows this better than you, the people who actually live there.

Please join us in helping your fellow citizens become educated voters by letting us know when those dates are. We've got an article set up on Congresspedia with spaces for every state. For many states we already found out which month they finalize their ballots, but we need to know the specific day and other information. You may need to dig around a bit on the websites of your state election authority or parties or even give them a call. If you do find any useful websites, please enter them under your state's entry so other citizen journalists can utilize them later. Have fun, and thanks for your help!

In public relations, "the most striking single thing is the rapid growth in which companies are positioning or repositioning their environmentalism," said Burson-Marsteller's managing director of corporate responsibility. Manning Selvage & Lee's managing director said that helping "establish a company's credibility" on environmental issues is "a pretty powerful message." That's why Waste Management has its "Think Green" campaign, General Electric has "Ecomagination," Wal-Mart and Home Depot are installing efficient light bulbs in stores, and Delta Air Lines "pledges to soon plant trees on behalf of any passenger willing to pay extra." SustainableBusiness.com's founder called Delta's campaign "greenwashing," adding, "Conservation is a lot more than replanting trees." Environmentalists criticize Georgia Power's campaign to allow customers "to pay a premium ... to purchase energy made from renewable sources." The director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy pointed out that Georgia Power and its parent company, Southern Co., "are extremely aggressive in opposing any sort of regulatory action in protecting the environment."

In a move criticized as a "blatant attempt to bog down investigations of the [Iraq] war," a Defense Department official has issued guidelines that "prohibit most officers below the rank of colonel from appearing in [Congressional] hearings, restricting testimony to high-ranking officers and civilians appointed by President Bush." The guidelines were written by Robert L. Wilkie, "a former Bush administration national security official who left the White House to become assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs." Shortly after Wilkie's guidelines were given to the House Armed Services Committee, "Defense Department lawyers sought to apply" them to three Army officers "set to testify about their first-hand experience training Iraqi security forces." Republican and Democratic Representatives rebuffed the attempt, and the officers "theatrically stormed out." While Congress seeks to clarify the guidelines' impact, others called them unprecedented and questionable. Law professor David Golove said, "Congress has the power to subpoena anyone in the United States who has information relevant to their proceedings."

As of May 14, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) began "blocking access 'worldwide' to YouTube, MySpace and 11 other popular Web sites on its computers and networks." General B.B. Bell said the ban would limit "recreational traffic" that had impacted "our official DoD network and bandwidth ability, while posing a significant operational security challenge." While members of the military "can still access the sites on their own computers and networks," many soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan only have access to DoD computers. The ban covers sites used by soldiers to keep in touch with family and friends, and comes shortly after an order requiring soldiers to pre-clear blog posts and public emails. Editor & Publisher reports that the Iraqi government "will soon routinely ban journalists from the sites of bombings and other violent incidents." Iraq's Interior Ministry Operations Director said the ban was not "a curtailment of press freedom," and is needed "to protect journalists," to safeguard evidence, to deny terrorists "information that they achieved their goals," and to respect human rights, "by not photographing dead bodies."

GM's Bob Lutz, in one of the company's VNRs

General Motors is no stranger to fake news, having funded eight of the video news releases tracked in the Center for Media and Democracy's two reports on fake TV news. Now, the automaker is setting its sights on print media. "One area where we're beginning to do more, and will want to work with newspapers to explore new options in, is advertorials," said GM CEO Rick Wagoner, at the Newspaper Association of America conference. Advertorials are ads written as though they are independent op/ed columns. GM is also interested in overseas promotion. "Some of you own foreign-language newspapers that may have links to papers in other countries," explained Wagoner. "Hispanic papers with links to South America or the Caribbean, for example. Others, I'm sure, have business or editorial connections with foreign newspapers that we at GM probably have no idea about." Wagoner said that GM was putting less money towards traditional print ads in part because the company no longer offers a "deal of the month."

As part of its crisis management strategy, in response to public anger over high gas prices and record-breaking profits for the oil industry, Shell Oil president John Hofmeister recently spoke to a small invite-only group in Richmond, Virginia. The audience, ranging "from supportive state politicians to deeply skeptical environmentalists," was "selected by Shell's public relations agency, Burson-Marsteller," reports USA Today. After debating "spending millions on a new ad campaign or offering consumers special discounts," Shell opted for a more targeted and personal PR approach, "a strategy that the United Kingdom unit of multinational Royal Dutch Shell had used with some success." During the Virginia event, Hofmeister "deftly field[ed] even the most pointed questions," commending but then passing on one environmentalist's challenge to support higher automobile fuel economy standards. Hofmeister frequently alluded to "the need to tap into offshore oil reservoirs." Shell wants to drill off Virginia's southern coast, but the idea "remains controversial and requires congressional approval."

Bridget Behe, from her earlier VNR

On behalf of Procter & Gamble, DeVries Public Relations is promoting a video news release (VNR) from MultiVu that uses Mother's Day to sell Vicks. How, you ask? The VNR features "celebrity stylist" Aly Scott, who says, "Vicks Baby Rub provides a soothing way to give your baby a massage, relax and calm both of you, and making an easier way for you to bond with your child." The accompanying press release is titled, "Make Every Day Mother's Day." The PR firm Medialink Worldwide has other Mother's Day-themed fake news. One VNR from defense contractor Honeywell proclaims, "Mother's Day 2007: The Stay-in-the-Car Mom Generation is Here." It uses "Mom expert" Stacy DeBroff to sell Honeywell's "Blink" cleaning products. Another VNR offers "Mother's Day Flowers Do's and Don'ts for Dads," on behalf of FlowrMD, starring "flower doctor" Bridget Behe (who you might remember from CMD's "Fake TV News" report). Lastly, there's an audio news release from the non-profit Ploughshares Fund, informing listeners that Julia Ward Howe founded Mother's Day as "a plea for peace." Will peace sell as well as flowers, wipes or Vicks?

While "attending an open meeting of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities," Bruce Kushnick saw "something odd. Three guys are standing in the back by the exit door and they keep shaking the hands of the speakers, most of whom testified that Verizon should get a new, statewide franchise." The three guys were Verizon employees, and many of the speakers were from groups that receive Verizon funding. Such telecom astroturf is spreading, warns Kushnick. "Groups like Consumers for Cable Choice, TV4US, LULAC and others are popping up all over the country." In Wisconsin, TV4US -- an AT&T astroturf group that retains the PR firm