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."