"Future generations may look back on this as the Century of the Spokesperson," comments Washington Post reporter Linton Weeks. "The Mouthpiece Millennium. The Night of the Living Flacks. Only a year and half into the 2000s and already we've seen: Marina Ein for Rep. Gary Condit and lawyer Billy Martin for Chandra Levy's family. Elizabeth Quigley for the family of confessed child-drowner Andrea Yates. William Shatner for Priceline.com. Cheryl Ladd for Presbyopia Awareness Month. And Tiger Woods for everything else."

Anxious to avoid another public relations calamity, the Italian government has agreed to allow a parliamentary inquiry into the horrific police violence that injured 240 protesters during recent globalization talks in Genoa. The violence included the secret torture of arrestees in police cells. "I heard my ribs break, like snapping matchsticks. I thought, my God, this is it, I'm going to die," said Mark Covell, one of the journalists injured when police attacked the school where he was staying. Splinters of rib punctured his left lung; 10 teeth fell from his mouth. Blood obscured Covell's view as the police charged past him and he collapsed. "The last thing I heard was a lot of screaming. Then I lost consciousness."

Coca-Cola, which was ranked as the world's most valuable brand for the third straight year by Omnicom Group's Interbrand unit, apparently has seen little harm to its brand reputation from a recent lawsuit for human rights abuses. The Corporate Crime Reporter writes that the United Steel Workers Union and the International Labor Rights Fund filed suit against Coke and Panamerican Beverages Inc. in federal court in mid-July. The case was initiated by Sinaltrainal, a trade union that represents Coca-Cola workers in Columbia. Sinaltrainal says that Coke maintains open relations with death squads which have been responsible for the murder of union leaders as part of a program of intimidation. Meanwhile, when asked how to minimize negative PR resulting from being associated with the Beijing Olympics, Coke PR manager for global sports Kelly Brooks told PR Week, "I think it's important to remind people that business and politics have distinctly different aims. ... The only role I can imagine for Coca-Cola in helping to minimize negative publicity about China is to tell our own story -- that we have been operating there successfully for more than 20 years and have built strong and treasured relationships with the Chinese people."

The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo and Sony have signed a multi-year pact to cross promote each other's products. They will also develop a "co-branded" website called "Sony on My Yahoo," which will be the default page for Sony's internet-access service, Sony Style Connect. No financial details about the deal have been released.

The efforts of the 30-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to reform "tax haven" countries such as Liechtenstein and the Cayman Islands are being countered in the U.S. by a lobbying campaign run by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. Capitol Hill veteran Andrew Quinlan, who also works for the Swiss Investors Protection Association, heads the Center. According to the Wall Street Journal, Quinlan and "his coalition of antitax activists and attorneys for foreign banks are pressuring the Bush administration to back away from the OECD efforts, which the Clinton administration had backed strongly." The IRS estimates it loses $70 billion annually from Americans with offshore accounts. The WSJ reports that not surprisingly Quinlan will not disclose who funds the lobbying effort.

Rubenstein Associates, the PR firm that has represented clients such as Rupert Murdoch, Donald Trump, Leona Helmsley, Adnan Khashoggi and Kathie Lee Gifford, has been hired to help the state of Israel spruce up its image in the deadly conflict with the Palestinians. His advice so far? Paint military assault rifles that shoot rubber bullets purple or orange, and clean up the mess left behind after hours of shooting, shelling, rock throwing and burning cars to "create a sterile and less threatening scene." As Republican Party activist Carol Devin-Molin observes, "the media/communication effort to mold international opinion is just another tool to be utilized by Israel in its ongoing battle with the Palestinians, with military and diplomatic efforts representing other strategic endeavors in the mix."

NY-based, freelance PR Writer Debra Michals criticized her former client, the Women's Museum in Dallas, in the latest issue of Ms. magazine. In the article, "Did the Women's Museum Wimp Out?" Michals claims that corporate sponsorship and the conservative politics of Texas influenced the museum to not mention certain aspects of the feminist movement. According to PR Week, Michals criticized the museum for leaving out issues like abortion and bisexuality and for putting beauty pagents in a positive light. Michals had written for the museum's inaugural exhibit. Museum executive director Candace O'Keefe commented, "I suppose for some feminists, we'll never be edgy enough."

Haley Barbour, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, "illustrates the synergistic relationship between lobbying and fundraising," said a July 23 article in the New York Times. His firm has been named by Fortune magazine as the number one lobby firm in the Capital, and Barbour is also the man in charge of raising money for Republican Senate campaigns. The New York Times noted that "Two years ago, Mr. Barbour sold his firm for $20 million in stock to the Interpublic Group of Companies, a global media company..." A "global media company?" The Interpublic Group is one of the world's largest PR conglomerates, also owning PR giants Shandwick International, Weber PR Worldwide, Golin Harris International and others. The most powerful lobbyist and GOP fundraiser in Washington works for a global PR empire. Some of Barbour's current and recent lobby clients include: BMI, CBS, Microsoft, RJR, Amgen and Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company and dozens more businesses. Now that's synergy!

"The Pentagon admitted yesterday that the "Son of Star Wars" missile interception test flight over the Pacific on July 14 succeeded partly because the target, an unarmed Minuteman II ballistic missile warhead, had an electronic beacon on it to help to guide the "hit-to-kill" weapon. ... Critics of the missile defense program have said that earlier flight tests had been unrealistic because they made it easier for the target to be hit."

PR Watch reported in 1997 that the Burson-Marsteller PR firm created the Global Climate Coalition. They've never challenged this statement prior to July 2001, but after they issued a denial we checked our files, and it looks like we were wrong. This doesn't change the fact that B-M has been a major force behind industry campaigns to block measures aimed at preventing global warming. For a report on what they've actually done, read our correction.

The American Chemistry Council, the trade association of the chemical industry, has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences "to improve testing chemicals for potential human developmental and reproductive effects," according to a July 26 NIEHS press release. ACC will provide $1 million and NIEHS $3 million to a $4 million fund that will support research "on the mechanisms of action of potential developmental toxicants using state-of-the-art tools, including genomics and genetic animal models." According to Our Stolen Future, however, the arrangement's main effect may be to undermine the independence and integrity of NIEHS science. ACC representatives will sit on the panel that selects research to be funded. This means NIEHS's $3 million budget for independent research will now be influenced by the priorities of the ACC.

According to SatireWire.com, "The profusion of international news available on the Internet has made it increasingly difficult for the average American to ignore the rest of the world, a trend researchers say threatens Americans' long, proud history of disregarding anything not about them." SatireWire has some other funny news parodies too, such as "Foot-and-mouth Believed to Be First Virus Unable to Spread Through Microsoft Outlook" and "Mad Cows Use Cell Phones."

"It was 2:05 a.m. when an ambulance brought Mr. Jacobs and his daughter to Sarasota Memorial Hospital's emergency room," stated a news release from Sarasota Memorial Hospital. "Mr. Jacobs was complaining of difficulty breathing. He was 65 years old, overweight and on medication for high blood pressure. The question that emergency room physicians needed to answer quickly was whether it was fluid in his lungs or a failing heart?" Doctors got the answers they needing using a spiffy new diagnostic tool called the BioZ cardiac monitor, resulting in fast treatment for heart failure and a happy ending: "Just 12 hours later, Mr. Jacobs was on his way to his granddaughter's soccer game." The only problem with this story is that Mr. Jacobs doesn't exist. He is a fictional character invented by Irene Paigah, the director of corporate communications for CardioDynamics International, which manufactures the BioZ monitors.

Steven C. Parrish, who is senior VP/corporate affairs at Philip Morris Cos., has apologized for a company-funded report calling cost savings from smokers' early demise one of the "positive effects" of cigarette consumption. According to O'Dwyer's PR, Parrish said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that it was a "terrible mistake" as well as wrong. "To say it's totally inappropriate is an understatement," Parrish said.

The Boise Cascade Corp. is targeting the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), the environmental group that has gotten major companies to stop buying wood from the remaining old-growth forests. Boise Cascade is working with two industry-supported front groups, the Frontiers of Freedom Institute and the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, trying to get the IRS to cancel RAN's tax-exempt status and to pressure its funders to cut off the group's money.

Burson-Marsteller's Black Kelly Scruggs and Healey lobbying wing has a $180,000 contract to provide strategic advice to the embattled Government of Ecuador. The South American government has faced intense protests by its citizens for imposing "austerity" measures and for a proposed pipeline. O'Dwyer's PR reports that the lobbiests are to make sure that Washington lawmakers understand "the issues facing the Government of Ecuador," according to the Justice Dept. filing. BKS&H also will work to increase trade and financial aid, especially military aid, to Ecuador.

Eight of the major internet search engines insert advertisements in search engine results without clear and conspicuous disclosure that the ads are ads. The organization Commercial Alert has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against misleading practices by Lycos, HotBot, AltaVista, LookSmart, MSN.com, Netscape, iWon and Direct Hit. If you're looking for a search engine with some integrity, try Google, Yahoo or Excite instead.

First USA, a division of Bank One, is paying two young men to walk around the Jersey Shore this summer wearing white t-shirts showing their company logo. The company has also agreed to pay each $40,000 in tuition, room, board and books for the academic year when they enter college next month. In return, the two 18-year-old boys, will promote the First USA-sponsored message of smart budgeting and financial responsibility. They will make campus appearances, serve on a student advisory board and publicize financial tips for students on their website. The two young men have already appeared on the Today Show, CNN, and in the New York Times and LA Times. Through their website chrisandluke.com, they publicized their availability for corporate sponsorship.

The Sunday morning political talk shows shut out issues related to corporate power. That is the primary conclusion of a new report issued by Essential Information, a Ralph Nader founded organization based in Washington, DC. A quantitative analysis of transcripts broadcast over a period of eighteen months from four talk shows -- The McLaughlin Group, Meet the Press, Face the Nation, This Week -- found that topics related to corporate power -- such as the environment, corporate welfare, and free trade -- make up less than 4% of the shows' discussion topics. The report also uncovered that the overwhelming majority of invited guests on the shows are lawmakers, government officials, and politicians -- a skew that tends to reinforce narrow parameters of discussion and exclude issues of corporate power.

Many eyewitness reports have come in regarding the July 22, 2001 police raid on the Independent Media Center's office in Italy, where journalists were gathered to report on mass protests against the G8 meeting by a broad spectrum of groups seeking economic, environmental, and social justice. At least a hundred fully-armed riot police raided the office, looking for film and photographs in the possession of demonstration organizers. They kicked and clubbed people as they lay on the ground, even when an officer yelled at them to stop. Photos from the scene show the trashed, blood-smeared office after the attack.

The Body Shop has picked Ruder Finn to promote the company's U.S. store expansion. RF will handle several events and local PR campaigns aimed at increasing awareness and attracting traffic to Body Shop's new locations. In contrast with the Body Shop's animal and environment friendly image, Ruder Finn owns the almost legendary E. Bruce Harrison Company. Harrison is ironically considered "the founder of green PR" because of his work for the pesticide industry in the 1960s when he helped lead the attack on author Rachel Carson and her environmental classic, Silent Spring. E. Bruce Harrison and Company has also represented the Global Climate Coalition, an industry-funded group that between 1994-97 spent more than $1 million each year to downplay the threat of climate change. Ruder Finn also worked in the 90s for the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the parliamentary opposition in Kosovo, for which it won the 1996 CIPRA award. Ruder Finn lists as current clients Citibank, Novartis, Pfizer, Consumer Union, and Lexis-Nexis among other.

The belated discovery that George W. Bush's campaign applied two disparate standards for counting overseas ballots in Florida -- liberal for Bush strongholds and stringent for counties carried by Al Gore -- underscores again the huge advantage that the well-funded conservative news media gives the Republicans. "By having a powerful media of its own -- from TV networks to nationwide talk radio, from news magazines to daily newspapers -- the conservative movement can give its stamp to events during the crucial few days when the public is paying attention," writes Robert Parry. "By the time, the truth comes out -- if it does -- it's often too late to change the outcome." In addition to election 2000, Parry analyzes the influence of the conservative media on overall coverage of the Clinton administration, the nomination hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and current issues such as global warming and the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.

Gutting the First Amendment has become the "patriotic" last refuge for scoundrel PR firm Burson-Marsteller (B-M). Citizens Flag Alliance depicts themselves as a frustrated group of proud veterans saving our nation from flag burning by amending the constitution. However, the CFA website and media reports fail to identify perhaps their most important "member," the giant PR firm reaping big bucks managing the campaign. B-M's masterminds are no doubt the source of CFA talking points such as: "Putting a few disgusting means of expression out of bounds in no way threatens ... freedom of speech." But the CFA may need to hire new propagandists, since today's New York Times (Washington Talk column, p. A16) notes that the House vote for the amendment has fallen "below 300 for the first time since...1995."

The San Francisco Chronicles reports, "Big oil and energy firms are contributing heavily to political parties and pouring millions into expensive ads to boost their interests, hoping to swing support behind President Bush's embattled energy plan, a new study shows." The paper cites a study released by the Washington-based watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics, which shows how business and industry are bankrolling large ad campaigns to influence the political process. For example, the American Taxpayers Alliance spent $2 million last month running ads blaming California's energy woes on Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.

The head of Japan's fisheries agency admitted that his country uses foreign aid to pressure other countries into voting against restrictions on its whaling activities. Masayuki Komatsu added that there is "nothing wrong" with killing whales, comparing them to "cockroaches" and saying, "There are too many." We reported on the PR firms that help greenwash Japanese whaling in the 1st Quarter 2001 issue of PR Watch.

Kevin McCauley, editor for PR trade publication O'Dwyer's PR, calls on General Electric CEO Jack Welch to dredge up the company's PCBs in the Hudson River. Welch has adamantly opposed GE cleaning up the Hudson and denied a relationship between exposure to PCBs and cancer. The company has had success in creating opposition to dredging by bankrolling PR and ad campaigns. However, McCauley says, GE could get a big image boost "if Welch switched course and said: 'GE wants to be the country's No. 1 environmental citizen. We will dredge the Hudson River.'"

The Washingon Post reported NY-based PR firm Cohn & Wolfe's campaign for Glaxo SmithKline to promote its drug Paxil as a treatment for social anxiety disorder has raised concerns. The campaign calls into question whether pharmaceutical companies, traditionally in the business of finding new drugs for existing disorders, are increasingly in the business of seeking new disorders for existing drugs. The Post reports that because of C&W's work "media accounts of social anxiety rose from just 50 stories in 1997 and 1998 to more than 1 billion references in 1999 alone," and that 96% of those stories delivered the "key-message" that "Paxil is the first and only FDA-approved medication for the treatment of social anxiety disorder.'"

AlterNet, a left-leaning internet news site, has recently begun publishing clever fake news stories such as this report on an alleged memo detailing plans by the World Trade Organization "to remake its image, trading in the persona of global tyrant for that of a 'hip,' 'with it' agent of change." Among the proposals: launching a WTO line of trendy, youth-targeted fashion accessories; arranging "product placements" on reality TV shows such as Survivor 3; and developing a logo that associates the "WTO brand" with a "friendly talking frog." We hope that in the future AlterNet will put a disclaimer at the bottom of its spoofs. We know some sincere activists who were taken in by this one. It's actually not far removed from some genuine marketing schemes that we've seen.

A California coalition of economic development groups has formed to correct what it sees as misperceptions about the state's energy crisis and its effect on the state's economy. Calling itself the California Association of Local Economic Development (CALED), the group has hired New York public relations firm Development Counsellors International -- a specialist in economic development -- to manage the $150,000 international campaign.

In 1997, we noted that the anti-environmentalist Junk Science Home Page was sponsoring a Global Warming Sweepstakes as a way of opposing measures that combat global warming. Well, two can play at that game. Act for Change/Working Assets just announced its own sweepstakes, which supports measures to combat global warming. Participants get the chance to win a hybrid-electric car, a bicycle, or energy-efficient light bulbs. If this is democracy at work, we plan to vote early and vote often!

The Wall Street Journal reports: "Philip Morris Cos. officials in the Czech Republic have been distributing an economic analysis concluding that cigarette consumption isn't a drag on the country's budget, in part because smokers' early deaths help offset medical expenses. The report, commissioned by the cigarette maker and produced by consulting firm Arthur D. Little International, totes up smoking's 'positive effects' on national finances, including revenue from excise and other taxes on cigarettes and 'health-care cost savings due to early mortality.'"

PR behemoth Weber Shandwick Worldwide hopes its successful pitch for China to host the 2008 Olympics will lead to a long and profitable relationship between the two. According to O'Dwyer's Daily, the WSW campaign is the Chinese government's first Western-style global PR effort.

The New York Times, in an article titled "The Secret Agents of Capitalism Are All Around Us," profiled "undercover marketing" techniques used recently to promote an undisclosed brand of water in fashionable Lower East Side Manhatten bars. "Facially attractive" twentysomething shills were hired by Big Fat Promotions, a marketing firm that "uses guerilla, grassroots, and nightlife marketing to motivate consumers to take action." The shills were paid to go to trendy bars and "talk to as many people as possible and, when appropriate, subtly impart the sponsor's message...." Undercover marketing has drawn criticism because its practioners do not disclose to their target audience that they are being paid to promote a product.

In an industry-friendly puff piece bragging that Minnesota is the nation's number one producer of farmed elk used for food and "health supplements," Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Joy Powell makes no mention of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), the mad cow-type illness devastating elk and deer in western states and spreading across North America through virtually unregulated trafficking among game farms. CWD is already suspected in the cases of a number of young people in the US who have died in the last few years from CJD, the human equivalent of mad cow and mad elk disease. For background you can download (free) our 1997 book Mad Cow USA. For more recent information on CWD, search www.mad-cow.org or www.organicconsumers.org.

Scientists and experts who advise the Environmental Protection Agency on a broad range of regulations governing toxic chemicals and air and water quality frequently have ties to the affected industries or other conflicts of interest, according to a new government study.

Media Relations, a Minneapolis-based PR firm, tells potential clients, "The media is separated into two categories. One is content and the other is advertising. They're both for sale." In a press release sent to media watch-dog group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, the firm explains that one can now buy news articles for less money than advertisements. That's because unlike other PR firms, Media Relations only charges clients for stories that get picked up by media. According to the firm's website, "Normally clients spend between $3,000 and $50,000 per month with us."

Minnesota's largest health care system Allina Health System has been under the close scrutiny of the Minnesota attorney general. At issue is whether Allina improperly spent money on outside consultants and executive perks. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Allina spent over $300,000 this spring on "crisis management" consultants. Court documents filed yesterday in Hennepin County District Court show that Medica, the managed-care arm of Allina, spent at least $48 million over the past three years on outside consultants who provided no health care and instead offered training and management help to Medica executives. The Star Tribune also reports that Allina hired consultants to compile information on area reporters to determine which would be sympathetic to pro-Allina pitches. See also O'Dwyer's PR Daily.

Arbitron Inc., the research company that provides the ratings on which most U.S. radio advertising rates are based, plans to use new technology to increase the accuracy of its audience data. For nearly 35 years, Arbitron has collected data by having individuals fill out paper diaries documenting their radio listening habits. Needing to replace the outdated system to stay in business, Arbitron will be testing out "portable people meters." The beeper-like devices electronically measure every radio, television and cable broadcast a person takes in. Arbitron participants would be required to wear the meters during all of their waking hours for six months to a year. According to the Wall Street Journal, "If left dormant for about 20 minutes, the meters, which have motion sensors, are designed to blink rapidly. If that happens too often, users will receive a call from Arbitron. At night, the meters will sit in cradles that transfer the day's input to Arbitron."

An timber-industry sponsored children's book has been modeled on Dr. Seuss's "Lorax." The book, titled "Truax," by Terri Birkett was funded by the Hardwood Forest Foundation and the National Oak Flooring Manufacturers Association. Four hundred thousand copies of "Truax " have been distributed to elementary schools nationwide.

Food First, also known as The Institute for Food and Development Policy, is fund-raising for $450,000 to undertake a three-year campaign "to rebut the questionable PR tactics used by the biotech industry to promote genetically engineered (GE) food. Specifically, we will counter the industry tactics of green washing — 'biotech is pro-environment,' poor washing — 'we need biotech to feed the hungry,' and hope dashing — 'there is no alternative.' " Ross S. Irvine, president of ePublic Relations Ltd and a self-described corporate activist, opines on Food First's tactical and strategic advantages when facing the biotech industry's multi-million dollar PR campaigns.

In a move that has angered biotech opponents, the United Nations Development Programme says that many developing countries may reap great benefits from genetically modified foodstuffs. Grassroots groups, development charities and environmentalists in more than 50 countries described the UNDP's report as "simplistic," "pandering to the GM industry" and "failing to take into account the views of the poor."

A microbiologist who advocates the use of irradiation to kill food-borne pathogens was nominated by President Bush on Tuesday to oversee the Agriculture Department's food-safety programs. Elsa Murano, 41, is director of the Center for Food Safety at Texas A&M University, where she has done research on a variety of pathogens, including E. coli O157:H7, and methods for destroying them including irradiation.

Weber Shandwick Worldwide has regained its status as the biggest PR firm following Interpublic's decision to fold BSMG Wordwide--a former True North unit--into WSW. The move creates a PR colossus with $535 million in combined fees, according to rankings compiled by the Council of PR Firms. WSW beat out Fleishman-Hillard, who reported $343 million in fees to the Council, for the number one spot.

A new UK environmental group called the Scientific Alliance has formed "in response to the growing concern that the debate on the environment has been distorted by extreme pressure groups," reports The Guardian. The group seeks to give a political voice to the often overlooked "sensible majority." Scientific Alliance contact Robert Durward--a self-discribed businessman and the director of the British Aggregates Association, a trade association for quarry operators--refuses to disclose who the financial backers are for the Scientific Alliance. Foresight Communications London, a political consulting firm, is advising the new group.

Pacific Lumber Co. announced it had been blessed by the American Forest & Paper Assn's "Sustainable Forestry Initiative" (SFI). Conservationists questioned Pacific Lumber's claims of sustainability, saying it reveals SFI to be little more than greenwashing. "To call Pacific Lumber's ongoing liquidation of ancient forests 'sustainable' exposes the self-serving nature of this program," commented Paul Mason of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC). The Sustainable Forestry Initiative is the timber industry's program for certifying sustainably managed forests.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to Florida optometrist Keith Finger warning him to not eat StarLink genetically modified corn during his presentation at a hearing on the matter. The agency said it couldn't "be responsible for ensuring your safety," citing concern that Dr. Finger might have an allergic reaction to something other than StarLink. Last month the EPA declared that StarLink corn didn't cause allergic reactions in test subjects. What was not reported in the WSJ is that Finger claims he went into anaphylactic shock after eating corn chips with StarLink in them. According to a transcript from NPR's Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, Finger is now part of a class-action suit against Aventis and others, alleging they knowingly or recklessly allowed StarLink corn to enter the human food chain. A Reuters Health story reports that the US Food and Drug Administration identified StarLink genetic material in white corn chips while investigating a complaint made by Finger, who said he alerted the FDA to the possible contamination after experiencing a mild allergic reaction.

Daniel J. Popeo, a former Nixon and Ford staffer, founded and runs the heavily corporate-funded Washington Legal Foundation, one of many business front groups smearing serious health and environmental concerns as "junk science." In its June 9 New York Times advertisement (p. A19) Popeo employs his trademark hysterical McCarthy-era Cold War rhetoric to accuse environmentalists of conspiring with "envious foreign competitors and international bureaucrats" to destroy the American economy and "satisfy an ideological agenda."

Magazines are offering more to advertisers than just ad space. "Integrated marketing" increasingly is being used by large publishers to draw in corporate advertisers. The Wall Street Journal reports that AOL Time Warner's Mutual Funds magazine offers marketing services at an additional charge to those who buy ad space. Available services include "access to its custom-publishing unit and subscriber list as well as Time Warner's database; help in customizing gifts to send to readers, such as coffee-table books; event marketing; sponsorship of e-mails sent to readers; specially designed cover wraps featuring the advertiser; magazine staffers to speak at events; a letter from the publisher highlighting the advertiser's ad; help sponsoring events in the industry; live chats on America Online's online service and primary research from Time Inc."

To journalists in Las Vegas, the proliferation of public information officers (PIOs) within local government is a cancer on the body politic. The city of Las Vegas has the same number of PIOs as the press office of New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. As a result, says veteran Vegas TV reporter Hank Thornley, the days a reporter could easily directly inspect public documents or directly contact public officials are long gone. "You're referred to public relations," he says. Charlie Zobell, managing editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, agrees: "We want to quote the people who are responsible, not their hired PIOs, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to do that."

Sweden has gained support from other EU members to ban television advertising aimed at children under 12. The LA Times reporters, "The move threatens to wipe out $200 million a year in advertising revenues for Europe's commercial broadcasters, entertainment industry lobbyists said. Perhaps more important to U.S. entertainment conglomerates, such a ban would significantly limit the ability of such companies as Viacom Inc.'s MTV and Nickelodeon and Walt Disney Co. to influence the buying habits of Europe's children."

Fenton Communications, a PR firm that's made a name for itself supporting public interest campaigns, has put together a booklet that outlines "the nine laws of successful advocacy communications." According to O'Dwyer's PR editor Kevin McCauley, "'Now Hear This' is an indispensable primer for NGOs looking for more professional ways of getting their messages across to the public. Of course, the 32-page book is a must-read for corporate and agency PR execs that must neutralize noisy protesters."

The Government of Chile picked top-dog PR firm Fleishman-Hillard to guide its effort to win a Free Trade Agreement with the US. Rory Davenport, F-H Senior VP in Washington, DC, expects the White House and Chile will iron out negotiations for an FTA by the end of the year. "The Congressional focus will be next year," he said. Also at this link, the most recent Foreign Agents Registration Act filings.

Michael Eisner, head of the Walt Disney Company, praises Radio Disney, which currently broadcasts in 48 markets, representing 54% of the country. According to a press release, "because Radio Disney is the only 24-hour kids' radio network, it has important synergy benefits for the entire company, helping to get the word out about everything from new movies to goings-on at our theme parks to Disney record releases." In May, the first non-English Radio Disney station outside the U.S. was launched in Buenos Aires. "All of this past and future success is due to three things: the fact we purchased Cap Cities/ABC in 1996, which gave us the ability to launch outstanding new growth initiatives such as this one; the outstanding work of the people at all levels of ABC Radio who operate Radio Disney; and finally that asset I mentioned at the outset of this letter ... the Disney name," writes Eisner in a company-wide e-mail that was also distributed as a press release.

A Harris Interactive/BBK Healthcare Poll showed that more Americans are considering clinical research studies as treatment options and they want more education about the federal and international measures designed to protect them. According to a press release on "The Will & Why Survey," 83 percent of the 5000 respondents to the nationwide online survey said they would consider a clinical research study, but only 13 percent said they have had the opportunity to take part in one. "The survey supports the belief that clinical research studies are perceived by the public as treatment options. This is an important trend because at the rapid rate with which new therapies are coming to market, clinical research studies must be evaluated in every patient's fight plan," BBK Healthcare Inc. CEO Joan F. Bachenheimer said. Additional survey results will be available at the 37th Annual Drug Information Association Meeting taking place July 8-12, 2001.

PR trade newsletter The Holmes Report credits good public relations as part of the nuclear industry's come back, noting that ongoing campaigns in Washington DC have been very successful in winning the support of opinion leaders. Companies have also been active on the "grassroots" front. The Exelon Corporation, which owns almost one-fifth of the nation's 103 nuclear facilities, points to its open houses and media roundtables for building industry credibility. "Improved performance, concern over global warming, the perception of an energy crisis, and the industry's long, sustained public relations effort have combined to create an atmosphere in which the construction of new nuclear plants in no longer unthinkable," writes The Holmes Report.

A majority of Americans consider corporate citizenship when making investment and purchasing decisions, but few companies get good marks, according to a survey sponsored by international PR firm Hill & Knowlton. Corporate philanthropy, a familiar standby for improving a corporation's image, may not always be effective. According to the survey's conclusions, "whether or not corporate citizenship has an effect on the bottom line, much of the public is likely to attribute a hidden profit motive to corporate social endeavors." Countering this "will involve developing a communications strategy that aligns a company's charitable endeavors with its existing corporate positioning and key messages."

A new book by conservative spinmeisters purports to correct the mainstream media's liberal spin on science news. It Ain't Necessarily So: How Media Make and Unmake the Scientific Picture of Reality, by authors David Murray, Joel Schwartz and S. Robert Lichter, argues that the mainstream media's science coverage is slanted by a liberal agenda. But the authors--scholars at the Hudson Institute and other conservative institutions--have an agenda of their own: debunking global warming, extinction reports, and other issues that paint an unflattering picture of their corporate sponsors.

In celebration of the 100-year anniversary of company founder Walt Disney's birth, Walt Disney World is pulling out all the advertising stops with a $250-million campaign. Disney's major corporate partners--McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Kellogg, American Express, and Hallmark Cards--will all contribute paid media to counter sagging attendance at the four Florida Disney parks. Advertising Age reports, "As with most of Disney's big marketing efforts, all its companies are synergistically involved, including the ABC Television Network, which will air a documentary on Walt Disney...."

The Association for Competitive Technology, which was created and funded by Microsoft to defend its interests against charges of antitrust violations, has applauded last week's appeals court ruling reversing the order to break up Microsoft. "From the outset of this trial, the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) has consistently argued that preserving the right of a company to add features to their products is the central issue in this case," states an ACT news release. ACT is one of several "think tanks," including the Independent Institute and the National Taxpayers Union, that have received substantial funding from the company while espousing its position regarding the antritust issue. Some of these financial ties were disclosed when Oracle, one of Microsoft's leading competitors, hired a private investigator to literally dig through ACT's trash in search of incriminating documents.