A BBC investigation has found British American Tobacco (BAT) violating its own voluntary international marketing standards in Nigeria, Malawi and Mauritius, using tactics that appeal to youth and circumvent advertising restrictions. BAT promotes and sells single cigarettes in these countries, a marketing strategy that appeals to youth, who often can't afford to buy an entire pack. BAT also sponsored musical events that had no formal age checks at the door. Celebrities at these events wore clothing bearing cigarette brand logos. In Mauritius, where cigarette advertising was banned in 1999, BAT paid to paint retail stores the same color as their leading brand, Matinee. In Malawi and Nigeria, posters were seen depicting single cigarettes and pricing cigarettes individually. BBC observed children as young as eleven buying single cigarettes. BAT's website says the company's voluntary marketing standards "embody ... our commitment to marketing appropriately and only to adult smokers." They promise their tobacco advertising will not "be aimed at, or particularly appeal to youth," will "not feature a celebrity," and that the company will engage in "no event sponsorship unless the participants and audience are adults." Previously-secret tobacco industry documents show that BAT adopted voluntary marketing standards as a way to "demonstrate responsibility" while staving off stricter government regulation of their products.

Daniel Libit of The Politico reports that "among the things that the proliferation of TV cable news has wrought is slackened standards for what constitutes a political strategist," a term which has lost its meaning now that it is "used as a catchall tag for a whole host of people with varied -- and often peripheral -- backgrounds in electoral politics." Jane Fleming Kleeb, a so-called "Democratic strategist" -- a label which she openly admits is misleading -- says "this group of make-believe strategists has become something of a pundits club, with participants working together to compensate for each other's experiential or informational deficiencies." Bona fide strategist Ed Rollins "blames the cable news networks for 'dumbing down' good analysis in the name of multitudinous voices." Independent TV analyst Andrew Tyndall "thinks the 'mislabeling' is also the product of the media's unyielding 'bid to seem as though they are inside the horse race.'" Fleming Keeb says, "If you had a bunch of us in a room and asked if we are political strategists, I think you would get a lot of laughter."

Aerial view of Yucca Mountain"The State of Nevada faces almost a billion dollar budget shortfall," reports Edward Lawrence. "The Nuclear Energy Institute says there is a solution ... but it comes with one very large string attached" -- that the state end opposition to the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. "In exchange for dropping any objection to shipping the waste here, [NEI's Paul] Seidler says Nevada can get access to the nuclear waste fund." That fund, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy, has a balance of "more than $20 billion." An Energy Department spokesperson agreed that "even though a benefit package clause in the original Nuclear Waste Act expired, nothing prevents the state from starting a negotiation that could be worth $1 billion a year." But Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons said he would "not sell away the safety of the state to the Yucca Mountain proponents." In related news, the law firm "awarded a four-year $47.7 million contract to shepherd the licensing for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, has acknowledged conflicts of interest," reports ABC. The firm, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, is "seeking damage payments from the government" for its utility clients, on nuclear waste issues, and has also lobbied for NEI.

U.S. PR firms seem to be doing well despite uncertain economic times, at least for now. The annual Best Practices Benchmarking Survey by StevensGouldPincus showed that while the industry didn't match its 22% growth of 2006, in 2007 they still managed a 19.7% average profit.The survey found "a remarkable average of $221,388 per professional in annual billings and a huge jump in average monthly fee minimums to $14,000 from $10,000 one year earlier. "But other indications in the survey might point to leaner times ahead. Billable hours as well as account managers' salaries and bonuses were flat, and overhead costs were starting to rise. Total labor costs rose 1% over the previous year.

Americans think that doctors are influenced by drug companies and want to know about gifts given to their healthcare provider, according to a national survey by the non-profit Prescription Project. Over two-thirds of those surveyed would support legislation that would require drug companies to disclose gifts to doctors. But only about a third said that they would ask their physician about his or her relationships with the pharmaceutical industry. Two-thirds said that they would rather have experts with no ties to the drug companies give doctors information on drugs, as a hopefully more objective alternative to the current marketing-driven system. As CMD previously reported, the state of Massachusetts is considering legislation to ban perks given by drug companies to physicians.

Listen to this week's edition of the "Weekly Radio Spin," the Center for Media and Democracy's audio report on the stories behind the news. This week, we look at the type of attacks Barack Obama can expect, PR firms' involvement in the crisis in Zimbabwe, and cross marketing of bottled water and video games. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," we look at the client list of global marketing giant Young and Rubicam. The Weekly Radio Spin is freely available for personal and broadcast use. Podcasters can subscribe to the XML feed on www.prwatch.org/audio or via iTunes. If you air the Weekly Radio Spin on your radio station, please email us at editor@prwatch.org to let us know. Thanks!

When the major American tobacco companies signed the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with the 46 states who sued to recover the costs of treating sick smokers, the companies agreed to nominal advertising restrictions and massive yearly payouts to the states. Lawyers who made money on the settlement began donating heavily to the Democratic Party, which opposes the corporate-organized "tort reform movement" that works to block such suits in the future. The massive lawsuit, subsequent settlement and increased donations to the Democratic Party (particularly in the South) sparked a vicious, under-the-radar war between Southern Democrats, the Republican Party and its corporate allies. Raw Story exposes the serious repercussions the tobacco settlement has had on the integrity of U.S. elections, particularly in the Southern U.S., as the Republican Party and corporate interests seek to cut off Democratic donations and exact retribution on lawyers and public officials involved in the original lawsuit.

Despite U.S. Food and Drug Administration warnings, the Veterans Administration (VA) failed to alert 32,000 veterans using the smoking cessation drug, Chantix. Nearly 1,000 of the vets were "enrolled in the Chantix study suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and had been recruited, with monthly $30 payments, for a behavioral study with the drug." The combination of PTSD and Chantix puts the vets at particularly high risk for suicidal or violent behavior. There was a three month lag between the link being discovered and the vets being notified. Despite that, the White House said the VA "is doing everything they can to be mindful of the safety of these veterans ... under wonderful leadership by Secretary Peake." Deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto said, "It hurts me to have anyone think we would treat our veterans as lab rats." The initial warning letter to the vets did not mention suicide specifically, but a new letter currently being drafted will. As CMD previously reported, Pfizer has been working to counter bad press about the drug.

Alhurra's "Inside Washington" showThe U.S. government-funded Arabic news channel Alhurra "paid former Bush and Clinton administration officials, lobbyists and high-profile Washington journalists tens of thousands of dollars in U.S. taxpayer money to appear on the network as commentators," report Dafna Linzer and Paul Kiel. "While it is common for television networks to pay journalists who appear on their programs, many reporters decline to accept money from government-funded organizations." Media ethics specialist Kelly McBride commented, "You wouldn't let a reporter take money from a clearly partisan group. The same standard should apply to taking money from an operation set up by the government to influence opinion." The highest-paid Alhurra commentator was Thomas Donnelly of the American Enterprise Institute, who received $10,300. Donnelly said his discussions of the U.S. presidential primaries on Alhurra were "useful" in highlighting "the competitive and participatory nature of an American democracy." Other paid guests include Republican official turned lobbyist Chad Kolton and Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen recently called for an investigation of Alhurra, following reports on station practices and broadcasts of "anti-American and anti-Israeli viewpoints," along with "pro-Iranian policies."

Saying "we believe the media whitewashed the candidate," the president of Regnery Publishing announced an August release for a book titled "The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate." The PR firm Creative Response Concepts (CRC) is promoting the book. In August 2004, CRC publicized "Unfit for Command," an attack on then Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's Vietnam War record. CRC also worked for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth; other clients include federal Republican Party committees, Concerned Women for America and the National Abstinence Education Association. David Freddoso, who authored the Obama book, is a former Ron Paul supporter who works at National Review Online. Regnery's president said the book will "look closely at Obama's relationships with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and onetime radical William Ayers, among other things."

The Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco is engaged in an effort to rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the "George W. Bush Sewage Plant." The group has been gathering signatures at local festivals, events and city parks and has already collected 8,500 signatures, about 1,300 more than is needed to put the question on the city's ballot in November. If the measure passes, the new name will become effective starting next January, when the new president is sworn in. Supporters plan to engage in a "synchronized flush" during the inauguration as a way to send a "gift" to the newly-renamed plant, saying they believe this will be a "fitting monument to this president's work." The chair of the San Francisco Republican Party called the group's effort "loony bin direct democracy," and vowed to defeat it. A spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which owns the plant, says that while his agency understands the humorous intent of the endeavor, the award-winning facility has been efficient at keeping the streets and ocean clean, thus the plant should be "the last place" the group should use to make a negative statement about George Bush.

"Horrified directors of global marketing giant Young & Rubicam have begun a sell-off of their holdings in Zimbabwe, after learning the company's head was behind Robert Mugabe's election campaign image makeover," reports Rowan Philp. The head of the Zimbabwe firm, Imago Y&R, used "pop culture figures such as rapper Tupac Shakur and reggae icon Bob Marley to 'sex up' a campaign that Mugabe's own advisers called dismal." The firm also designed ads that labeled opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as being in "the losers club," claimed that Tsvangirai's party "has a reputation for violence," and mocked British and U.S. leaders. The UK Sunday Times reported that Imago's "benign images" of Mugabe "are a world apart from the cruel reality of Zimbabwe. Assaults with iron bars, clubs and guns were growing more frequent," and "more gruesome murders were recorded as a vicious crackdown against Mugabe's opponents intensified." The violence led the United Nations Security Council to declare it "impossible" for Zimbabwe to hold a fair election on June 27. Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change party have been receiving PR assistance from Fleishman-Hillard since at least May, reports O'Dwyer's.

To promote its bottled water for children, Nestle has "signed on as a strategic partner" for the launch of "Active Life: Outdoor Challenge," a Namco video game for the Nintendo Wii that will be released in September. Nestle's "Aquapod" water comes in a rocket-shaped bottle, and is marketed to "families with kids aged 6 to 11." The increased scrutiny of the link between soft drinks and childhood obesity led to the creation of bottled water for kids. But, after spending "billions to get children to crave their sugary-sweet, colorful drinks," the beverage industry must now figure out "how do we get kids to prefer water," as Nestle Waters' director of youth marketing pointed out. The "Active Life" game may help insulate both "the video-game and beverage industries from criticism that they contribute to childhood obesity," notes Advertising Age. The Nestle / Namco deal includes one million bottles of Aquapod with branded packaging promoting "Active Life," and coupons for Aquapod water in the video game box. However, there won't be ads inserted into the game itself.

A new YouTube video raises the question of whether CNN's coverage of the clean coal debate has been biased by a multi-million dollar advertising campaign purchased on CNN by the coal industry through Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, a coal front group since renamed the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. The ad campaign, which began a year ago, was created by Waylon Ad, a firm representing both ABEC and the National Mining Association. A coal industry website describes the purpose of the CNN ad campaign: "The St. Louis ad agency's spot, which follows a debut effort that broke in April, suggests coal use is economically efficient and environmentally friendly. In the latest spot, a panorama of people and faces, including a man in the middle of a field with an electric guitar, is shown as a voiceover touts coal use." The low budget video piece was posted on YouTube June 24. Watch it for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKR-6Szlv0g

Charles R. Black, Jr., a former lobbyist who is now a top adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain, commented in an interview with Fortune magazine that another terrorist attack inside the U.S. would "be a big advantage" to McCain in the November presidential election. Black's comments brought the politics of fear and terrorism back into the 2008 presidential campaign, mirroring the 2004 campaign between Senator John Kerry and George W. Bush. McCain disagreed with Black's comments, saying he has long worked to prevent terrorist attacks in the U.S. and could not imagine why Black had said such a thing. Democratic candidate Barack Obama's campaign called Black's comments "a complete disgrace." Black later backpedaled, telling reporters, "I deeply regret the comments. They were inappropriate." Richard Ben-Veniste, a close campaign adviser and representative for Obama, called Black's comments a "very disappointing glimpse into the thinking of one of McCain's closest advisers."

Do federal scientists fear for their jobs for speaking the truth? What about corporate-funded science? Increasingly, powerful institutions have tried to curb scientific independence and integrity regarding issues as wide-ranging as public health, the environment, the economy, and government energy policy. To address these concerns, the Integrity in Science project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest is sponsoring a July 11 conference in Washington, DC. Titled "Rejuvenating Public Sector Science," the conference will feature sessions on the climate crisis; protecting and empowering scientists at federal agencies; insulating clean energy research from special interests; and how the scientific commumunity should handle conflict of interests. (CMD's research director, Sheldon Rampton, will moderate the global warming panel.) For more information and to register, call (202) 777-8348 or visit http://cspinet.org/integrity/conflictedscience_conf.html

Most American cigarette makers, including Philip Morris (PM), have used ammonia in their manufacturing processes for decades, to "puff up" tobacco to increase its volume, highlight certain flavors, help hold together reconstituted tobacco sheet and reduce the amount of nicotine. Lesser known is that tobacco companies use ammonia to "freebase" the nicotine in smoke, essentially turning it into "crack nicotine." Freebase nicotine is absorbed by the body more quickly and easily, resulting in a faster, harder "kick" after lighting up. Using ammonia has allowed tobacco companies to lower the tar and nicotine levels in cigarettes while still keeping smokers addicted, a strategy developed to deal with the health fears surrounding cigarettes. PM was the first to use "ammonia technology," applying it to Marlboros in the 1960s. After the change, Marlboro zoomed from a minor brand to a runaway market success, causing other cigarette makers to scramble to discover PM's "secret." After PM was accused of intentionally manipulating the nicotine deliveries of its cigarettes, the company pointed to all the other uses for ammonia to defend itself against the charge.

Product placement examplesThe U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) "is expected to open a formal proceeding about new rules requiring more disclosure of product placement." The "in-show advertising" practice is popular with marketers trying to "reach consumers who skip commercials." Product placement spending "increased 33.7% to $2.90 billion in 2007 from a year earlier," with "The Biggest Loser," "American Idol" and "The Apprentice" having the most product placements on network television. To improve disclosure, the FCC will consider requiring "notices similar to what political candidates must say before or after campaign ads." The agency will also "examine whether embedded advertisements violate FCC rules on children's programming, which require a few-second break in between the show and an ad. Commissioners will look at whether new product-placement rules need to be extended to cover cable programmers, which are currently exempt." Five years ago, Commercial Alert urged the FCC to require that product placements be "identified when they occur," instead of at the end of a show. The FCC didn't include that proposal in its new rule-making proceeding.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge recently filed a lobbying disclosure form on his work for the government of Albania -- nearly two years late. Ridge signed a $480,000, one-year contract with Albania in September 2006, to help the country "develop an overall homeland defense strategy based on land, air and sea security." The contract identified Ridge as the "lead on strategic advice" for the Albanian government. Ridge's firm, Ridge Global, no longer works for Albania. A spokesperson for the firm said Ridge didn't think he needed to disclose his Albania work. But the Justice Department, which maintains a database of lobbyists working with foreign entities, disagreed. The Department contacted Ridge's firm, "after a story about Ridge's work appeared in the press." According to a September 2006 Associated Press article, Ridge's "main priority" was "to help Albania meet its goal of joining NATO in 2008." Albania began accession talks with NATO in April 2008.

The Corn Refiners Association launched an 18-month, $20 to $30 million public relations and advertising campaign "to convince consumers that HFCS [high-fructose corn syrup] isn't the evil it has been made out to be." The industry group is running ads in major newspapers -- under the banner "time for a little food for thought" -- that say HFCS has the "same natural sweeteners as table sugar and honey." The campaign, which was created by the Omnicom Group firm DDB, also includes television and online ads and "phone and in-person conversations with influential mommy bloggers." The Corn Refiners Association "has been trying to counter the bad publicity around HFCS since 2004," but concluded it "could no longer afford to rely on simple grass-roots marketing tactics such as talking with nutritionists and doctors." Major food and beverage producers, such as Kraft, are now promoting products as HFCS-free. The American Medical Association recently concluded that HFCS "doesn't appear to contribute more to obesity than other caloric sweeteners," but called for "further independent research."

Jeff Gannon"If you ever wondered what happened to Jeff Gannon, the former conservative reporter whose questionable White House credentialing and ties to several sex Web sites forced him out of a job," he's an active member of the National Press Club. Gannon -- whose real name is James Guckert -- initially drew attention after repeatedly asking softball questions during tense moments of White House press briefings. It was later revealed that Gannon had little journalism experience but regularly received day passes to White House briefings. "Press Club rules require that a new member be sponsored by at least two current members," explains Joe Strupp. One of Gannon's sponsors was Rick Dunham, now of the Houston Chronicle. Dunham said he supported Gannon because "my goal was to expand our membership into blogging and multimedia." The other sponsor isn't known. Gannon is on the Press Club's New Media and Newsmakers committees. The chair of the Newsmaker Committee, which "decides which 'newsmakers' to invite to some Press Club events," said of Gannon, "We need everyone we can get."

Four oil companies are in the final stage of contract negotiations to regain drilling rights in Iraq -- thirty-six years after they lost them. Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP -- founding partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company -- are currently in talks with Iraq's Oil Ministry "for no-bid contracts to service Iraq's largest fields." Joining them are Chevron and several smaller oil companies. The deal is expected to be approved by the end of the month and "will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations." The no-bid process has frozen out 40 other oil companies, including Indian, Russian and Chinese competitors. A spokesperson for the Oil Ministry said that "the no-bid contracts were a stop-gap measure to bring modern skills into the fields while the oil law was pending in Parliament." He added that the companies chosen already had a relationship with the government, "advising the ministry without charge for two years before being awarded the contracts." While the current contracts are relatively small, they represent a foot in the door for much more lucrative future deals.

The government of Pakistan awarded a one year, $900,000 contract to Locke Lord Strategies (LLS), a division of Locke, Lord Bissell & Liddell. LLS's responsibilities under the contract are to publicize "the country’s recent political, social and economic developments." It will communicate these changes through both earned media (favorable, free publicity gained through promotional efforts) and paid advertising. Mark Siegel, who was a speechwriter and co-author with assassinated former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, will head the account. Siegel's Democratic party ties are strong. He served as executive director of the Democratic National Committee and was deputy assistant to President Jimmy Carter. According to Roll Call's list of lobbyist endorsements, Siegel also supported Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy. LLS's parent company also has Republican party ties. Former Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers is a managing partner of the firm. She came back to work with the firm last year after resigning as White House counsel and deputy chief of staff for George W. Bush -- a prime example of the revolving door between government and industry.

Whitman with Rudy GiulianiAt the Nuclear Energy Institute's (NEI's) recent conference, Penn, Schoen & Berland pollster Craig T. Smith said the industry would soon be emphasizing the employment opportunities created by building new nuclear power plants. On June 17, the NEI front group "Clean and Safe Energy Coalition" (CASEnergy) released a white paper titled "Job Creation in the Nuclear Renaissance." CASEnergy co-chair Christine Todd Whitman said, "There's a reason why nuclear plant neighbors are so in favor of nuclear plants, and that's because they're economic generators for their communities." The white paper gives figures of "610,000 high-paying jobs," if "the U.S. builds 33 to 41 new nuclear power plants." But NEI estimates (pdf) that -- under favorable conditions -- four to eight new nuclear plants may come online by 2016. A 2004 study (pdf) by the Union of Concerned Scientists estimated that deriving 20 percent of U.S. electricity from renewable sources by 2020 would create 355,000 "high-paying jobs."

California is a hotbed for political messaging, as same-sex couples get married and conservative groups try to stop them with a November ballot initiative. Equality for All, a coalition supporting same-sex marriage, has hired Ogilvy PR Worldwide, the Democrat-leaning firm Dewey Square Group and the polling firm Lake Research Partners. Dewey Square's Steve Smith is the coalition's lead campaign consultant, while Ogilvy's Maggie Linden, a ballot initiative veteran and former political aide, is heading media outreach. On the other side, ProtectMarriage.com has hired Schubert Flint Public Affairs. The firm's Jeff Flint is leading the effort in support of the ballot initiative, called the California Marriage Protection Act. Flint used to work at Russo Marsh & Rogers, the Republican-leaning political firm which counts the pro-war group Move America Forward among its clients. Other firms are focusing on the burgeoning same-sex marriage industry, with Manning, Selvage & Lee promoting Chemistry.com to Californians and Laramore Communications promoting marriage and honeymoon packages in "gay-friendly" Sonoma County.

"The U.S. military has long sought an agreement with Baghdad that gives American forces virtually unfettered freedom of action, casting into doubt the Bush administration's current claims that their demands are more limited," concludes the National Security Archive's analysis of recently declassified documents. In a 2003 cable, then-Coalition Provisional Authority head Paul Bremer wrote that any agreement with the future government of Iraq must give U.S. forces authority "to detain, intern, and interrogate"; "to retain custody of current POWs / detainees / internees"; and "unlimited authority to conduct military operations." Bremer added that U.S. personnel, including military contractors, "must be accorded ... full criminal immunity and immunity from civil process for official acts." In related news, the Wikileaks website has published what it says is "a sensitive U.S. military counterinsurgency manual." The document points to U.S. involvement in El Salvador and elsewhere in describing how to control foreign populations. Suggested tactics include martial law, censorship, psychological operations, supporting "civilian self-defense forces" and persuading "individuals among the general populace to become informants," by using as motives "civic-mindedness, patriotism, fear, punishment avoidance, gratitude, revenge or jealousy, financial rewards."

Dick CheneyThe Bush administration has long held that overly-aggressive interrogation methods used on detainees in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay were the work of a few "bad apples." Now, an investigation being conducted by the Senate Armed Services Committee has revealed that William Haynes II, General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense, sought the advice of military psychologists within a Pentagon agency to design the interrogation techniques. The Committee's findings add to mounting evidence that the detainees' torture resulted from decisions made at the highest levels of government, particularly within the office of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.

As the Center for Media and Democracy reported previously, the Sierra Club / Clorox deal -- where Clorox uses the Big Green environmental group's name and logo to sell its "Green Works" line of cleaning products, in exchange for Clorox paying Sierra Club "an (undisclosed) percentage of sales" -- is quite controversial. But it's brought in the green for Clorox. Advertising Age reports that "Green Works sales are estimated at $20 million, the product has gotten exposure on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' and 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show,' and Clorox has raised its volume forecast five times." Meanwhile, the Sierra Club has been slammed by members and non-members alike. Green Works "brand manager" Mark Kohler dismisses the criticism as "misinformation." Kohler says the negative press has been "frustrating" for Clorox, and AdAge advises marketers to "carefully review both sides of a relationship" before launching a corporate / non-profit partnership. But Clorox appears to be profiting handsomely, while four Sierra Club chapters actively opposed the deal, which -- according to some accounts -- was a factor in the Sierra Club's suspension of its Florida chapter.

China's webspace is infamous for censorship, but increasingly, public relations firms there are helping their clients "manage" online conversations. China-based firms such as Daqi, Chinese Web Union and CIC "charge $500 - $25,000 monthly to monitor postings and squelch negative information or to create positive buzz," reports BusinessWeek. Their clients include Nike, PepsiCo, McDonald's, Toyota and L'Oreal. Chinese Web Union (CWU) "pays thousands of people to write nice things about clients, and it compensates forum leaders who spread positive information and quash bad publicity." For Subaru, the firm helped manage criticism that the company's Chinese name "sounds like 'death to the Eighth Route army,' which was perceived as insulting to a Chinese unit that battled Japan in World War II. CWU urged forum leaders to delete negative comments, then asked its writers to post positive news about Subaru." Daqi and CIC "acknowledge pampering online opinion leaders," including by inviting them to events "where they can test and discuss new products."

The largest PR and communications firm in France is asserting that "Wikipedia cannibalizes the image" of the biggest French corporations and their CEOs. Euro RSCG's complaint is that Wikipedia articles score exceptionally high in search engine rankings -- often ahead of the corporations' own websites. A recent study of the top 40 French corporations found that, for 39 companies, the Wikipedia article appeared on the first page of Internet search results. Euro RSCG disputes the veracity of the Wikipedia articles and claims that they "contribute to the enterprises' image and can harm the value of their brand." Pierre Beaudouin, President of Wikimedia France, responded that "PR firms forget that a Wikipedia article is not intended to assure promotion of a company." He added that corporations could help ensure accuracy by pointing out good sources of information, but he said that companies usually just want to have their press releases included verbatim.

From the Army's 2006 All-American BowlHow can you counter "daily stories and blog entries that portray the negative aspects of joining the military"? That was PR firm Weber Shandwick's job in the lead-up to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January 2008. For the 11 month, $342,000 PR campaign, Weber Shandwick paired "athletes with local Army members for bowl-watching parties and football and Army skills competitions, creating feature-story opportunities." Weber Shandwick and the Army "contacted Army bases in the regions where the players are from. The Army also named a soldier as an All-American Bowl hero for every player selected for the game and honored them during the pre-game ceremony. ... The Army also released practice footage of the players to local media in regions where they reside, and profiled players to publications targeted at specific multicultural demographics." The Army was happy enough with the resulting 3,600 media hits and high message penetration -- "partially due to a successful radio news release" -- that it hired Weber Shandwick to promote its 2009 All-American Bowl.

Companies, government bodies and not-for-profit organizations have been using video news releases (VNRs) in Australia since 1995, reports Sally Jackson. The practice began when former journalist turned public relations executive Jonathan Raymond started an Australian affiliate of Medialink, the U.S.-based VNR producer. Jackson noted that the Australian media's practice of using VNRs "receives little attention" and "TV news bosses are keen to downplay their use of VNRs." Raymond scoffs at these denials. "Our material is used in 99 per cent of cases," he told Jackson. Recent examples of VNR use in Australia include a network broadcast that relied on footage supplied by drugmaker Eli Lilly to promote its erectile dysfunction drug, an item extolling meat pies, and a plug for an anti-obesity drug.

In his first major speech on broadcasting, British culture secretary Andy Burnham minced few words. "I think there are some lines that we should not cross," Burnham told a media industry meeting. "One of which is that you can buy the space between the programmes on commercial channels, but not the space within them. ... There is a risk that product placement exacerbates this decline in trust and contaminates our programmes." The European Commission has directed member states "to say by the summer whether they will permit product placement." A spokesperson for ITV, which supports product placement, said the broadcaster "will be taking an active part in the consultation process on product placement." Burnham also "said he would not permit partisan news coverage in the UK in the style of Fox News in the U.S." Lastly, he argued in favor of self-regulation of Internet content through labeling. "If a clip on YouTube gets a million hits, it is akin to broadcasting and it doesn't seem to me to be too difficult to have an alert on that clip ... for language, violence or sex."

The multinational law firm Hunton & Williams -- whose clients include Altria, DTE Energy, General Dynamics and Pfizer -- has launched The Water Policy Institute. The Institute is chaired by former EPA chief turned PR consultant Christine Todd Whitman, who also co-chairs the Nuclear Energy Institute's Clean and Safe Energy Coalition. The Water Policy Institute describes itself as "a nonpartisan consortium bringing together industry leaders, including water suppliers, water users and nongovernmental organizations, to develop initiatives to address water supply, quality and use issues." Institute members include BP, Central Arizona Project and GE Water. Michael Campana, of Oregon State University's Institute for Water and Watersheds, notes that the Institute "is sponsored by a Park Avenue law firm, has corporate members, and has an advisory panel with attorneys for 6 of its 8 members. Ask me why I'm not expecting anything but the SOS."

The USS George WashingtonConcerns about safety and the impact on the local fishing industry have led residents to protest the U.S. Navy's stationing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Japan. Some 48,000 residents called for a public referendum on the deployment of the USS George Washington, but the Yokosuka assembly rejected their plea. The U.S. Navy will distribute 26,000 copies of a comic book titled Manga CVN73, "named after the George Washington's hull number. ... The navy hopes the 200-page book, with its wholly positive take on life in the services, will dampen opposition to the George Washington's deployment amid protests by Yokosuka residents." The comic, drawn by Japanese cartoonists hired by the U.S. Navy, "follows Jack Ohara, a third-class petty officer, as he overcomes seasickness and prepares for his first overseas mission -- to Japan. In one scene he quickly puts out a fire that has broken out on board the ship." In May, the real George Washington had a fire on board that left "two crew members with minor burns and another 23 needing treatment." U.S. Real Admiral James Kelly said of the fire, "This is not something for the citizens of Yokosuka to worry about."

Western Sahara -- a North African territory and one of the last remaining official colonies, or non-self governing territories -- is controlled by Morocco. The Polisario Front, a political group of indigenous Sahrawis, wants independence. Tens of thousands of Sahrawis live in Polisario-run refugee camps in Algeria. Recently, "a delegation of six Sahrawi refugees ... visited New York and Washington to talk about their suffering under the Polisario Front." But human rights groups disputed their accounts, and the refugees' trip "was sponsored by a lobbying group for Morocco," the Moroccan American Center for Policy. Eric Goldstein of Human Rights Watch said, "The reason Morocco is funding their trip is to try to discredit the Polisario at a moment when they hope that its own proposal for autonomy will prevail." Morocco and the Polisario Front have been unable to agree on the details of a United Nations proposal to hold a referendum on the future of Western Sahara. As an alternative, Morocco proposed limited autonomy for Western Sahara, "under the purview of Morocco," which is a deal breaker for the Polisario.

The number of warning letters sent by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to corporations has dropped by 50% in the last decade. In 2002, the regulatory agency decided that all warning letters should go through the office of its chief counsel, a move "designed to strengthen the letters and make them legally consistent and credible." But the change may have just succeeded in slowing the process to a crawl. While in 2001 the agency sent out over 1,000 warning letters, in 2007 only 471 made it out the door. Members of Congress and current and former officials with the agency "criticized the change, suggesting it favored industry." Dr. David Kessler, FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997, said "The number of warning letters has always been one of the surrogate measures of FDA's enforcement performance. It's not the only measure, but any significant drop raises significant questions of what's going on." Other measures of FDA performance are mixed. While plant inspections are down from 22,543 in 2003 to 17,641 in 2006, product recalls are up almost 50%.

Jack Abramoff; graphic from the Village Voice"Hundreds of pages of documents, released Monday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee," show that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff "regularly communicated with former White House political adviser Karl Rove and his deputies regarding the administration’s domestic agenda," reports Jason Leopold. "Abramoff, who pleaded guilty two years ago to corruption charges, had 485 lobbying contacts with White House officials between January 2001 and March 2004, including 170 meetings over meals and 16 meetings over drinks, the report said. ... In an apparent effort to keep the contacts out of the official White House records systems, Abramoff communicated with Rove and others through non-governmental e-mail accounts that were maintained by the Republican National Committee. ... Using alternative e-mail accounts to conduct official White House business is a violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978."

Can you green a Hummer?Discovery Communications is spending $100 million to re-make its home television network into "Planet Green," the first television channel devoted entirely to environmentally-themed programming. Programs will feature "green" Hollywood stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, rocker Tommy Lee and rapper Ludacris, and will show viewers how to remodel their homes and cook using environmentally-friendly methods and materials. But the "exclusive automobile sponsor" of the new "green" channel is