A new report by the group Global Exchange says that Nike is failing to live up to its corporate promise to respect workers' rights in Asia and Mexico.

The same five US Supreme Court Justices who last year ruled that the FDA didn't have the authority to regulate tobacco products as drug delivery devices (and who then chose George Bush as President) preempted yesterday States from protecting children from cigarette advertising. The five conservative Justices (Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy & O'Connor) ruled that regulations restricting tobacco advertising within 1000 feet of school and playgrounds were preempted by federal law and violated the tobacco industry's right to free speech.

The Edelman PR firm has been conducting seminars driven by the realization that "Non-governmental organizations affect business like never before. From the WTO protests in Seattle to the battle over genetically-modified organisms and food, NGOs have become the new 'super brands' in global governance. As NGOs increase their visibility and credibility, trust in business continues to decline." The Edelman website includes seminar transcripts and webcasts, in which company CEO Richard Edelman and other speakers address topics such as, "NGOs--Why They Are Winning," "What the World Agrees On--NGOs Are Most Credible Source on Environmental, Social Issues" and "How to Tackle Hostile NGOs."

ABC's John Stossel attempted to defend himself by describing his critics as "brainwashed." Stossel appeared yesterday on Fox News Channel's "O'Reilly Factor." Responding to criticism by the Environmental Working Group, Stossel said, "I call them the totalitarian left. They want to silence people who criticize them." See earlier postings on Spin of the Day for the complete story on Stossel's media debacle.

The British Medical Association's journal "Tobacco Control" recently published Michael Givel and Stan Glantzs' article entitled: "Tobacco lobby political influence on US state legislatures in the 1990s." This article examines in great detail from previously secret tobacco cartel documents obtained through litigation, how the powerful tobacco cartel has exerted considerable political influence over tobacco control and public health legislation in all U.S. state legislatures in the 1990s. The approaches that the tobacco cartel has used are also a microcosm of how political power is exerted in general by corporations in a variety of issues.

This website for journalists provides a forum for anonymous griping about newsroom downsizing, profit-hungry shareholders, useless editors and other afflictions of the modern media.

Disney/ABC would probably prefer that viewers perceive John Stossel as a fair and investigative journalist, but pro-industry libertarians love him as an ally and leader in their attack on virtually all government. His videos are hot sellers and money-makers with such titles as "Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?" and "Junk Science." An ad for his latest video proclaims, "Finally, you see how private companies and associations do a great job providing water, roads, air traffic control, poor relief and other services we supposedly need government for." Stossel simply plagiarized industry lobbyist Steve Milloy of www.junkscience.com for one of Stossel's ABC pieces ridiculing serious dioxin contamination of our food.

The polluter-funded Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is using the upcoming Stossel report to escalate its attack on public funding of environmental education. CEI notes that "ABC News is airing a John Stossel special this Friday, June 29, exposing some of the liberal indoctrination children receive in the classroom under the guise of environmental education."

New index highlights worldwide corruption crisis, says Transparency International. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2001 ranks 91 countries. Almost two-thirds of the countries ranked in the new index score less than 5 out of a clean score of 10.

The Washington Post and other news media have started to pay attention to Stossel's latest. Here are some other examples of the coverage: Calif. Parents Attack ABC News Special (Reuters); Parents Complain About ABC Special (AP); Stossel Accused of "Tampering" (E! Online); UPDATE 1-Calif. Parents Attack ABC News Special (Reuters).

A panel of former government officials, food industry executives and a consumer advocate Friday called on the U.S. government to increase funding for agencies fighting to keep bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or Mad Cow from entering this country. During the BSE Symposium, held in Washington D.C. and sponsored by Edelman Public Relations, former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, now a partner at the DC-based law firm, Akin, Gump, said the U.S. is "years ahead" of Europe in protecting Americans from Mad Cow disease but cautioned that the measures are not "foolproof." Other panelists were Nick Nickelson, chief scientific officer, Foodbrands America, Inc.; Karen Brown, senior vice president, Food Marketing Institute; Lester Crawford, director, Georgetown University Center for Food and Nutrition Policy; and Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). O'Dwyer's PR Daily story on symposium.

As interactive television becomes a reality, cable companies and marketers will be able to monitor the viewing habits of millions of Americans, often without clear disclosure, according to a report by the Center for Digital Democracy, a new Washington-based advocacy group. Industry officials said they will use information about customers only to provide better service, but the CDD said the information could lead to manipulation or deceptive advertising.

When Henry Kissinger turned up for a recent speech at the National Press Club, he was concerned about the question-and-answer segment. The moderator accommodated his wishes and withheld probing questions.

Writer Marianne Manilov interviews some of the teachers and parents involved in John Stossel's interviews for his upcoming "scared green" report and gets their version of what happened during the interview. "He started asking leading questions and it was very clear what he wanted to get," says environmental educator John Quigley, who witnessed the interviews. "He would say, 'Wow, it's really scary, isn't it?' And the kids weren't scared at all and so they just looked at him. He asked that question repeatedly. ... These were bright kids, and they were responding well. He was clearly trying to elicit certain responses on tape. When he didn't get the verbal response he wanted, he had the crew shoot from behind and had the students raise their hands while he asked, 'Is the air getting dirtier or cleaner?' It was clear that he wasn't interested in honest dialogue but was trying to elicit certain responses for a script he had already written."

A group of California parents who feel they were misled by ABC News correspondent John Stossel have revoked their permission for ABC News to use their children's images or voices in an upcoming program. The eight Los Angeles-area children were interviewed by Stossel on Earth Day, 2001 for his upcoming special, "Tampering with Nature," set to air Friday, June 29. In a letter to Stossel and other ABC News officials, each parent who had signed a permission form says that Stossel and his staff violated the Code of Ethics of the Society for Professional Journalists. The parents were not told of Stossel's involvement with the segment when ABC got their written permission to allow their children to be interviewed. They also said they were misled about the nature of the show and were disturbed when Stossel walked in, sat down and started asking the children leading questions about whether or not they were "scared" by the lessons they were being taught about the environment. John Borowski, an environmental educator in Seattle, says he was also approached to appear on the program by 20/20 producer Ted Balaker, who lied about the fact that he was working with Stossel and Michael Sanera of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). An "action alert" by a pesticide industry front group known as RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment), shows that Stossel and Sanera have been working since March on a program that purports to show how kids have been " 'scared green' by schools teaching doomsday environmentalism in the classroom." (This is not the first time that Stossel and CEI have collaborated. In August 2000, CEI launched the Save John Stossel website to help him keep his job after he was caught lying about organic foods.)

Fenton Communications is helping the Rainforest Action Network respond to a conservative non-profit group's claims that RAN illegally uses tax-deductible donations to fund its advocacy campaigns. In a move that could begin what the Wall Street Journal called a "war of the non-profits," Washington, D.C.-based Frontiers of Freedom, which bills itself the "antithesis" of the green movement, has urged the Internal Revenue Service to revoke RAN's tax-exempt status.

Former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro is back in the news as a celebrity spokesperson for thalidomide, the infamous drug that was taken off the market after causing more than 10,000 severe deformities in children whose mothers took it for morning sickness. Thalidomide is now being prescribed to combat multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer from which Ferraro suffers. Dan Klores Communications handled the PR for Ferraro and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

President Bush's roster of nominees for key environmental policy jobs is brimming with lawyers and lobbyists for the very industries these officials will oversee in their government posts.

In San Diego the annual meeting of BIO, the official trade and lobby association of the genetic engineering industry, is facing huge demonstrations from family farmers, consumers, environmentalist and others outraged at US policies that have forced untested, unlabeled GE foods onto the market. Industry front groups including the American Council on Science and Health and the Guest Choice Network are viciously attacking the real citizens groups in news releases and on websites such as www.guestchoice.com.

Genetically modified (GM) canola is appearing in farmers' fields where it wasn't planted, and because the plant has been engineered to resist conventional herbicides, it's tough to kill. "The GM canola has, in fact, spread much more rapidly than we thought it would," said Martin Entz, a plant scientist at the University of Manitoba. "It's absolutely impossible to control." Monsanto, which created one of the GM canola strains, says that if farmers call the company, they'll send out a team to manually pull up the weeds. But Martin Phillipson, a University of Saskatchewan law professor, said Monsanto may be liable for damages if their GM canola continues to spread.

The industry-funded American Council on Science and Health is warning journalists to beware of accepting misleading information presented by activists protesting the Bio 2001 conference being held in San Diego June 24-27. ACSH wants journalists to report on what it views as the sound science used by the biotech industry to demonstrate the safety of biofoods.

Consumers Union, long a trusted name in rating consumer products, has launched the "Web Credibility Project," which will try to measure how well websites disclose business relationships with the companies and products they cover or sell, especially when these relationships pose a potential conflict of interest. "Consider ibreathe.com," explains the Wall Street Journal. "At first glance, ibreathe appears to be an independent health-information site, serving up advice about asthma, allergies and other respiratory ailments, but visitors have to scroll to the bottom of the page to learn that the site is operated by GlaxoSmithKline PLC. Consumers interested in asthma medications, for example, are provided with information on GlaxoSmithKline drugs. Another example offered by Consumers Union's Brendler is the Web site of Keep America Beautiful," which "looks like a grass-roots organization's Web outpost" when in reality KAB's corporate backers include "200 companies that manufacture aluminum cans, paper goods, glass bottles and plastics."

The 2001 Environmental Excellence Awards, presented by International Paper and The Conservation Fund were presented to William H. Crawford of Frederick, Okla., and Keith Etheridge of East Lansing, Mich. Each award is accompanied by a $10,000 grant from the International Paper Company Foundation. The Conservation Fund works to protect land through corporate partnerships. "Though the concept of the EPA as an enabler -- rather than enforcer -- has been seen as a sea change by some, it is clear that it is an old concept to folks at the Conservation Fund, International Paper, and certainly to today's honorees," said EPA Administrator Christine Whitman, who spoke at the ceremony. Mr. Crawford, received his award for leading a six-year effort to restore the Hackberry Flat wetlands in southwestern Oklahoma through a partnership between business, government, and conservation organizations. Mr. Etheridge, a fifth grade teacher at Murphy Elementary School, was awarded for promoting elementary environmental education that reflects the complex relationship between the environment, business, and a healthy economy.

The conservative Frontiers of Freedom Institute has petitioned the Internal Revenue Service to rescind nonprofit status for the San Francisco environmental group Rainforest Action Network (RAN). The Arlington, VA-based research and education group--funded by the John M. Olin Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, and other right-wing foundations--has condemned RAN for being "fundamentally radical, anti-capitalist and lawless." Environmentalists worry this may have a chilling effect on activist organizations.

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights put together this report on "the destruction of initiative democracy by big corporations trying to disguise themselves. ... When consumer advocates sponsor HMO reform, or utility rate reduction proposals, for example, insurance lobbyists or utility executives stay behind the scenes. Instead, they give money to individuals or organizations who then appear in their television ads, press conferences and other events, pretending to be impartial experts, consumer advocates, environmentalists, etc. The strategy's been called 'astroturf' or 'corporate camouflage.' We call these phony individuals and organizations the 'goon squad.' " Examples include David Horowitz, Voter Revolt, Andrew Tobias, the Planning & Conservation League, Walter Zelman, the Greenlining Institute, Jeffrey O'Connell, and the University of Wisconsin's Auto Accident Compensation Project.

Fleishman-Hillard is helping Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America deal with its PR crisis triggered by today's news that Consumer Reports magazine rated its 2001 Montero Limited SUV as "not acceptable" because it tipped during sharp turns at 37 miles per hour.

In Toxic Sludge Is Good For You we described a PR campaign to rename sewage sludge as "biosolids" so that it could be used as fertilizer. We also detailed the implementation of this plan by New York City, which began shipping its sludge in 1992 to help "fertilize" Sierra Blanca, a tiny, impoverished town in Texas. Now New York has cancelled its sludge disposal contract, but will leave behind the world's largest sludge field. "A minimum of 250 tons per day and a maximum of 400 tons a day was flung over the surface of the registered 81,000 acre land application area," notes Sierra Blanca resident Bill Addington, an opponent of the sludge operation. "An example of the heavy metal contamination is there is one pure pound of lead to every ton of NYC 'biosolids.' So 10 pounds of pure lead per year was spread over nearly every acre of the application area. This is but one example, as every chemical and metal known to man exists in the toxic material they call 'biosolids.' Yes, PCBs, a lot of dioxin, banned pesticides, every heavy metal, pathogens, viruses, etc., etc. ... We will continue to have to live with the many thousands of tons of non-biodegradeable sewage resting over the surface of these dumping grounds at Sierra Blanca. ... May god and mother earth forgive them, as many were blinded by the love of money."

PR firm giant Weber Shandwick Worldwide will represent McDonald's in the United Kingdom. WSW will address food safety issues and how McDonald's will deal with the UK's plan to restructure its agriculture sector in the aftermath of mad cow and foot and mouth disease.

The credibility of university research is on the line as corporations step up their funding. One issue is academic freedom. Corporations that fund university research often demand the right to control what scientists can say publicly about their work. "They're like bullies in a sandbox who take away their toys when you don't agree with them," says David Kahn, a researcher at the University of California-San Francisco who was sued for $10 million by the company that sponsored his study, after he published a report that the AIDS drug he was testing was ineffective.

"PR Man," which opened in New York city on June 15, will run for the next two weekends through July 1. Written and directed by Robert Lyons, and based on Toxic Sludge Is Good For You by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, the play examines one PR man's strategic damage control surrounding a grassroots protest of "bio-soil" -- toxic sludge used as fertilizer. Bogus experts, seduction, and crafted deniability fuel a momentum that even he can't control in this fast-paced, sexually-charged comic drama. As a special bonus, the evening also includes a screening of This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow videos, including "Sparkman vs. the WTO, Parts 1 & 2." PR MAN is showing at the Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster Street between Spring and Broome. Tickets are $15. For reservations call 212-966-4844. A note to all NYC area flacks: Friday, June 22 is PR industry night. If you show a PR business card you're invited to the post-performance party.

CNN has paid an undisclosed sum of money to settle a lawsuit by former CNN producer Jack Smith, who claims that he was unfairly fired for reporting on the U.S. military's use of nerve gas in Vietnam's "Operation Tailwind." Smith's $100 million defamation suit claims that he and fellow producer April Oliver actually got the story right, only to have their reputations and careers ruined when the network caved in to CIA pressure to retract the story. The network previously settled out of court with Oliver for $1 million after a deposition by Admiral Thomas Moorer, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "pretty much confirmed Oliver and Smith's reporting." However, the terms of the settlements are sealed. Allan Wolper observes that this "deprived the public of testimony from CNN founder Ted Turner, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and an A-list of TV network news stars." Smith says that if CNN had not settled, he would have demanded the network make public all the source material that he and Oliver collected for their heavily critiqued June 1998 documentary.

The American Medical Association is considering putting the brakes on its controversial practice of selling information about its members to the nation's largest drug marketers. The AMA generates more than $20 million in revenue from selling doctors' biographies, which include everything from medical license information and private telephone numbers to federal identification data issued to track controlled substances. This information is an important marketing tool, giving pharmaceutical companies valuable insight into which doctors to target for the latest brand-name drugs. Some lawmakers, prosecutors and employers say the industry's practices are driving up the usage of prescription drugs and overall health-care costs.

PR giant Porter Novelli steps up its efforts to oppose the patients' bill of rights as it makes its way to the Senate floor for a vote. Porter Novelli represents the Health Benefits Coalition, a 3-year-old industry front group made up of 32 organizations such as the Business Roundtable, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association of Manufacturers, according to a PR Week article. In preparation for the Senate debate on the bill, PN is doing polling, launching print, radio, and TV ads, creating briefing books, and holding a press conference the last week of June.

Amid debt and racial discrimination lawsuits, the Christian Coalition launches a new program that will teach "grassroots organizing skills to conservative Americans," according to PR Week. Beginning next month in Oregon, the schools will be held in 24 "key states" and will train "pro-life" and "pro-family" activists how to elect conservatives within their local communities as well as how to influence state and federal politics. PR Week reports the Christian Coalition, operating with a $2-million debt, was sued in February by 10 African-American employees who were not allowed to use the office front door and kitchen and by a fired Caucasian employee who refused to spy on African-American employees.

The Nevada State Legislature allocated $4 million for PR and legal fees to stop the creation of a nuclear waste depository at Yucca Mountain. PR Week quotes an unnamed Washington public affairs executive predicting that the PR contract would attract an unusual selection of bidders, because any company with nuclear interests would support the creation of the Yucca Mountain site, and most large PR agencies are likely to have clients that would be in direct or in indirect conflict with the state's campaign. "The pro-nuke side is much more lucrative," said the executive. "I would expect a smaller agency maybe to partner with someone, but this would be difficult for anyone big. Besides, state contracts are notoriously difficult to make profitable." For more information on the Yucca Mountain site, see PR Watch Vol. 2, #4 and Vol. 6, #2, or the website of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force.

MSNBC has been caught doctoring copy originating from the Wall Street Journal to make it more favourable to the news channel's co-owner Microsoft. The changes introduced by MSNBC also had the effect of removing references to Microsoft competitors.

Conservative financiers Capital City Partners have created a lobbying organization to back President Bush's faith-based initiatives program, according to PR Week. Americans for Community and Faith-Centered Enterprises (ACFE) plans to spend "millions of dollars" to push for "faith-based" policies and encourage more private sector support for such initiatives. ACFE will be based in Washington DC. A companion research and education group, the Foundation for Community and Faith-Centered Enterprises will be based in Phoenix, AZ. Michael Joyce, current head of the conservative Bradley Foundation, is incoming president and CEO for both the lobbying organization and the foundation.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal is developing a campaign to bring more retailers to Milwaukee. PR Week reports that as a result of declining ad revenue, the daily newspaper has created a business development director position to promote the city and to convince new retailers and potential advertisers to move there. Initially the paper will work with local public and private economic development and real estate organizations to determine what resources it can provide them such as demographic and purchasing-power data. The new business development director, Robert Schwartz, told PR Week that the editorial and reporting staff would not be involved in the promotion effort. In order for his efforts to work, he said, he must be able to maintain a retailer's confidentiality.

Lobbyist Rick Berman runs the DC-based Guest Choice Network, a mean and nasty PR operation serving the tobacco, booze and food industries. (See PR Watch Volume 8 #1 for the inside scoop on Berman & Co.) His favorite target is often Michael Jacobson's "food police" at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). But now, after years of sitting on the sidelines in the genetically engineered food debate, Jacobson has received biotech funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, and CSPI is praising the alleged benefits and safety of GE food. As a result, Berman's Guest Choice Network is praising CSPI, especially after CSPI's Gregory Jaffe told the New York Times that the benefits of GE food, "without any evidence of harm to humans or the environment

U.S. oil and gas companies are using PR to explain why the price of gasoline is rising amid record profits, writes Julie Earle in The Financial Times. "Through websites and campaigns, energy companies are spreading the word

ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil group, has become a major funder of the most visible "greenhouse skeptics", most of whom who have traditionally been funded by the coal industry -- including S. Fred Singer, Patrick Michaels, Robert Balling and Sherwood Idso. Now the Guardian of London reports that ExxonMobil is planning a public relations offensive to win back consumers and investors, amid fears the company is losing the war of words over climate change. A boycott of Exxon has seen support from celebrities such as Bianca Jagger and 350,000 hits on its Stop Esso website.

Since 1995, a private intelligence firm with close links to the British government's MI6 spy agency has been working for Shell and BP oil, collecting information on green activists. The firm's agent, who posed as a left-wing sympathiser and film maker, was asked to betray plans of Greenpeace's activities against oil giants. He also tried to dupe Anita Roddick's Body Shop group to pass on information about its opposition to Shell's oil drilling in Nigeria. British members of parliament say the affair poses serious questions about the blurring of the divisions between the secret service, a private intelligence company and the interests of big companies.

In its annual display of PR for PR, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) passed out Silver Anvil Awards to 46 winners during a ceremony held at Equitable Tower in New York City. According to a PRSA news release, the Silver Anvil (symbolizing the forging of public opinion) is annually awarded to public relations practitioners who, in the judgement of their peers, have successfully addressed a contemporary issue with exemplary professional skill, creativity and resourcefulness.

The Capital Research Center (CRC) is a conservative think tank whose stated mission is to do "opposition research" exposing the funding sources behind consumer, health and environmental groups. It maintains a searchable online database of funders for groups ranging from the Sierra Club to the American Cancer Society, which can be a useful research tool provided you take its pro-tobacco, pro-industry bias with a grain of salt. CRC claims that exposing the funding of environmental groups is important because "sunshine--the glare of public scrutiny--is 'the best of all disinfectants.' " But CRC doesn't seem to think its own hidden agenda should receive public scrutiny. We searched the CRC website in vain for any mention of where it gets its own funding. The organization CultureWatch has written a report on CRC's background, showing that its leadership "reads like a Who's Who of the establishment right."

Curious to know which PR firms are working for Coca-Cola? Answer: Dublin & Assocs.; Manning Selvage & Lee; Robinson Assocs.; College Hill, U.K.; Icon Group; and Crawley Haskins. How did we find this out? Simple. We just used the handy "client search tool" on the website of O'Dwyer's PR Daily. Go ahead, try it yourself. Just enter a company's name and hit the submit button:

The New York Daily News is trying to win back grocers with three advertorial sections. The Daily News lost up to $100,000 in weekly ad revenue because of its "Dirty Shame" investigation of supermarkets. All but one of the city's major supermarket chains stopped running ads after a series said many stores had failed state inspections. The series, based on state inspection reports, began on May 3. Ken Frydman, News spokesman, said the paper hopes the supplements, which were produced for the ad department by a freelance writer, will "bring supermarkets back into the newspaper."

Former Texas Governor Ann Richards will open a New York office as senior advisor for Texas-based powerhouse PR firm Public Strategies Inc.

Coffee giant Starbucks is being targeted by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) for selling genetically engineered products and failing to seriously address the economic injustices and ecological damages of industrial coffee production. Starbucks has fired back with a New York Times advertisement saying it is "proud to partner with TransFair USA," a major promoter of fair trade coffee. The Starbucks NYT ad carries the slogan "Fair Trade -- bringing us a little closer, making lives a little better." However, as OCA director Ronnie Cummins pointed out in a letter just two days earlier to Starbucks CEO Orin Smith, "Your so-called 'enormous commitment' to ... buying Fair Trade coffee ... amounts to a grand total of one tenth of one percent of your company's total coffee purchases. ... (this) does not constitute an honest good faith effort to sell and promote Fair Trade coffee."

When it comes to science about your health, the Financial Post of Canada turns to the industry-funded American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) as its guru. In its "3rd Annual Junk Science Week," the Financial Post defends "smog, genetically modified foods, business, government & science, pesticides & diesel." Yum. For the real dope on ACSH, read PR Watch, vol. 5, no. 4.

The Christian Science Monitor quotes industry mouthpiece Steven Milloy in defense of the Bush administration's decision to scrap regulations limiting arsenic in drinking water. "Over the last 40 years, and accelerating over the last 20, science has become very political in Washington," Milloy complains. Somehow the Monitor fails to mention that Milloy himself is a Washington policy wonk, not a scientist, who spends his days politicizing science and harassing researchers in defense of corporate polluters. (For Milloy's background, see How Big Tobacco Helped Create "the Junkman", PR Watch vol. 7, no. 3.)

The controversial Channel One Network, which broadcasts programming directly into 400,000 secondary school classrooms, is partnering with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Partnership for a Drug Free America, National Association of Secondary Principals, and the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign to form the "Coalition to Empower Teens" campaign. Channel One pledged to donate ten percent of its advertising time to public service announcements that "address the issues of underage drinking, prevention of school violence, illegal substance abuse, and mental health awareness."

Patton Boggs is working to enhance the image of Haiti under a $50,000-a-month contract the lobbying firm filed with the Justice Dept. The overall goal is to generate U.S. economic aid for the hard-pressed country.

Demonstrators are targeting the Starbucks coffee company for misleading the public about its "Fair Trade" coffee. Starbucks CEO Orin Smith has admitted that sales of Fair Trade coffee make up less than one-tenth of one percent of the company's revenues. Demonstrators also criticize Smith's support for coffee growers that operate "sweatshop plantations" in places like Viet Nam.

"Think like a reporter, ask the right questions and get the facts right," was White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer's advice to PRSA's National Capital Chapter at its 33rd Annual Thoth Awards dinner on June 7. A robust press keeps this nation strong, which is why it deserves respect from PR people, he told the more than 150 people at the Mayflower Hotel. He urged PR pros to be as helpful as possible to requests from the media. 'The public has a right to know what the government is doing.' Other advice for PR pros: "be substantive," "ask what are the facts and what is the truth," "do your homework," and "don't talk to the press until you're ready." He said PR people must, "be patient with reporters as they like to ask the same questions over and over."

This website tracks the environmental record of George W. Bush, including reports on the industry backgrounds of Bush administration members and nominees. Similar information can also be found on the Policy and Legislation page of Earthjustice.org, which notes that "a majority of his high-level nominees are individuals who have built lucrative careers as high-price lobbyists and attorneys for major corporations--defending them from having to comply with regulations that protect the environment or lobbying Congress to weaken public health standards."

This essay by politics professor Jackie Stevens examines the behind-the-scenes influence of the biotech industry on "Paradise Now: Picturing the Genetic Revolution," a multimedia art show in New York City with a Madison Avenue publicity budget. "Why fund installations and images that might frighten us -- a painting of a designer farm, transgenic frogs, even pieces criticizing the industry itself? The show's pieces, some of its artist intentions notwithstanding, have been coopted by the funder to serve the larger marketing aim of conveying the impression that genetically modified foods and people are not subject to political debate but are here to stay. Grotesque and perverse visuals only acclimate the public to their new reality. While companies like Affymetrix, Orchid BioScience, and Variagenics all lurk among the sponsors of 'Paradise Now,' the 'man behind the curtain,' as one curator called him, is Howard Stein, who has joined forces with another 'Paradise Now' sponsor, Noonan/Russo Communications, a public relations firm boasting a client list with dozens of biotech firms." Stevens also examines links between the art exhibition and Gene Media Forum, an industry-funded group that has been trying to position itself as an "objective," neutral clearinghouse for information about biotechnology.

Though some may not admit it, Democrats have been largely ineffective in opposing President Bush during the first few months of his administration. One reason for this is the way that Bush has successfully shaped the political debate. In particular, Bush's seemingly innocuous campaign promise to "change the tone" in Washington has proven to be a powerful rhetorical weapon, helping suppress criticism while portraying the President as above the fray.

Melinda Ballard, former PR executive at Ruder Finn and United Brands in New York, on June 1 won a $32 million toxic mold case against a unit of Farmers Insurance Group. She charged the company mishandled her family's claim for mold damage which damaged the health of her husband and son and made her 22-room house uninhabitable.

Monsanto has established an external biotech advisory council as part of its "Monsanto pledge." The chemical and seed company promised in December to "commit to an ongoing dialogue with all interested parties to understand the issues and concerns related to this technology." "The role here is more in terms of listening," said Monsanto spokesman Loren Wassell. "We have an interest in hearing what they say and we want to get a better insight into the issues of what people think." Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, director of the center for international development at Harvard University, and Dr. Lynn Goldman, a principle investigator for the Children's Health component of the Pew Environmental Health Commission, have been choosen to sit on the international council. New members are still being recruited.

Newsweek exposed phony movie critic David Manning, who was created by an unidentified Sony employee to pen positive reviews of Sony movies. Paul Holmes, editor of PR trade newsletter "The Holmes Report," writes, "The most peculiar thing is that someone would go to such lengths to create fictional reviews for movies when everyone in Hollywood knows that getting legitimate--or at least flesh and blood--critics to say nice things about even the most egregoius movie is rarely a struggle."

Delivering "a breath of fresh air" to Texas consumers, Green Mountain Energy Company, the nation's largest residential retail provider of cleaner electricity, is kicking off the state's Electric Choice Pilot Program with the launch of the first phase of its year-long Texas Fresh Air Project. In partnership with American Forests, the nation's oldest non-profit conservation organization, Green Mountain Energy Company will donate additional fresh air to Texas by sponsoring the planting of 10,000 native trees in the state to help restore damaged forest ecosystems and provide clean air. The Texas Fresh Air Project is designed to complement the environmental choice that consumers make when choosing 100 percent pollution-free, wind-powered electricity generation from Green Mountain Energy Company.

Monsanto has launched The Advantage, a weekly electronic newsletter with news summaries regarding what it calls "a world of biotechnology benefits." Headlines for the week of May 30 included "Bush Proclaims National Biotechology Week," "Professor Cites Benefits of Biotechnology," "Enhanced Grape Could Mean Better, Cheaper Wine," and "Study Shows GM Plants Do Not Crowd Out Other Plants." Their website had a few bugs when we visited, but hopefully they'll fix those as easily as they've fixed the EPA.

This piece by David Corn looks at the background of John Graham, who has been nominated by George W. Bush to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which is part of the Office of Management and Budget. "The person who sits behind this desk is the regulatory czar of the entire federal government; he or she holds the power to slow down or smother public health, workplace safety, and environmental standards," Corn writes. "And Corporate America has cheered the selection of Graham." In his current incarnation as founding director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, "Graham has cozied up to industry, accused government scientists of rigging regulations for their own self-interest, and popped off on scientific matters beyond his expertise."