The major PR contract for the Multi National Corps-Iraq was awarded to Iraqex, a "business clearinghouse company formed specifically to provide a swath of services in the war-torn country." The Washington DC-based Lincoln Alliance Corporation, a "business 'intelligence' company that handles services from 'political campaign intelligence' to commercial real estate in Iraq," set up Iraqex last year. Iraqex has four Iraq offices, including in Baghdad and Basra. Iraqex will develop video and print publications, purchase TV and radio time, and oversee public affairs and advertising for MNC-I, to ensure "that the Coalition gains widespread Iraqi acceptance of its core themes and messages."

"Food industry lobbyists met privately with Bush administration officials 10 times while the government was crafting rules to protect the food supply from bioterrorism." The Center for Science in the Public Interest stated, "The result is regulations that the industry likes, but that don't fully protect the public interest." The Grocery Manufacturers of America, Altria Group and others lobbied to weaken proposed regulations requiring importers to notify the Food and Drug Administration before food shipments arrive from overseas. One GMA lobbyist explained, "We all want regulations to protect against bioterrorism, but in a way to achieve the goals and allow the business to operate in an efficient manner."

In some respects, the real presidential debate will take place in cyberspace, reports Wired magazine. "The Bush campaign has launched a massive rapid-response effort called Debate Facts to rebut challenger John Kerry's assertions during the debates," writes Louise Witt. "The campaign will provide a live feed to about 5,000 conservative blogs that subscribe to its news alerts. Debate Facts is similar to the "war room" the Bush campaign and the Republican National Committee set up in Boston during the Democratic convention - only much larger and more sophisticated." Staffed with a large team of policy, Internet and PR experts, Debate Facts will work closely with Republican luminaries including Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, Rudy Giuliani and John McCainto spin the post-debate debate, using carefully crafted talking points that they have compiled into a 150-page book called The John Kerry Attack Matrix.

Venezuela has launched an advertising campaign "pitching itself as an egalitarian nirvana where petro-dollars are funneled straight to the poor," reports the New York Times. "The idea, say Venezuelan officials, is to show American business executives and policy makers that a happy country is a stable one, even if many in Venezuela would disagree." The ads were created by Underground Advertising, a small San Francisco firm that does work for non-profit and progressive organizations. "The purpose [of the ads], of course, is to show that the Chavez government has grassroots support, and counter Bush administration spin that he is a lefty commie who loves to hang out with Fidel," Kevin McCauley, an editor for the trade publication O'Dwyer's PR, told the Times. Venezuela uses the well-connected Patton Boggs firm for lobbying in Washington.

The Washington Post reports on an "unusual public-relations effort by the Pentagon and the U.S. Agency for International Development ... to improve Americans' opinions about the Iraq conflict." USAID's reports on the number of insurgent attacks are now "restricted to those who need it for security planning." The Pentagon "is sponsoring a group of Iraqi Americans and former officials from the Coalition Provisional Authority to speak at [U.S.] military bases." And "the U.S. government and a representative of President Bush's reelection campaign" were "heavily involved in drafting the speech given to Congress last week by interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi."

"An Army Reserve staff sergeant who last week wrote a critical analysis of the United States' prospects in Iraq now faces possible disciplinary action for disloyalty and insubordination," reports Eric Boehlert. "If charges are bought and the officer is found guilty, he could face 20 years in prison. It would be the first such disloyalty prosecution since the Vietnam War. The essay that sparked the military investigation is titled "Why We Cannot Win" and was posted Sept. 20 on the conservative antiwar Web site LewRockwell.com. Written by Al Lorentz, a non-commissioned officer from Texas with nearly 20 years in the Army who is serving in Iraq, the essay offers a bleak assessment of America's chances for success in Iraq."

The news media have devoted scant coverage to the $280 billion federal lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against tobacco companies, but anti-tobacco activists are filling the gap with a weblog that offers blow-by-blow analysis of the trial and courtroom testimony.

After MoveOn.org accused the Gallup polling firm of using a survey methodology that stacks the deck in favor of Republicans, CNN (which uses Gallup) responded with a news segment that "implicitly confirmed a criticism of itself that was leveled in the MoveOn ad: the charge that CNN winds up 'acting as unquestioning promotional partners [with Gallup], rather than as critical journalists.'" Gallup's polls have shown a substantial lead for Bush, but other recent polls say that Kerry and Bush are dead even.

"If 2000 was any indication," writes Joshua Micah Marshall, the winner of this week's presidential campaign debate "won't be determined during the 90 minute encounter itself but during the spin war that will follow it. And with the advantage the Republicans have on the cable nets, talk radio and chat TV shows, the odds are stacked in their favor." In 2000, the initial public reactions to the first Bush/Gore debate had Gore coming out on top. "It was only after several days of pundit churn that Bush became the winner," Marshall notes. "The Bush team won the post-debate debate." In the runup to this year's first debate, he notes, "Republicans are already leaking hints and taunts about whether Kerry will sweat profusely under the lights, whether he's too tanned and other similar nonsense. But the antic nature of these taunts doesn't mean they won't be effective. They're meant to throw the other side off balance and, in a related manner, to provide grist for a catty and frivolous press corps."

"The Kerry campaign has enlisted congressional Democrats to play down expectations of the challenger's performance in the first presidential debate this Thursday, and then flood the airwaves with jubilant analysis that he has won it." Kerry campaign officials asked press secretaries of Democratic members of Congress "to schedule their bosses on television and radio so that Democrats could create an 'echo chamber' where the sounding of pro-Kerry spin would create its own reality." Aides were told that "the perception of a Kerry victory would be easier to achieve if post-debate analysis" focused on substance, not questions of style like "Bush's syntax or Kerry's demeanor."

"Moblogging - short for 'mobile blogging' - will have a bigger impact on the public relations industry than any other technological change in the past five years," writes Steve Rubel. As weblogs begin to broadcast content from "an intelligent arsenal of millions of connected mobile devices ... suddenly the PR professional is faced with an entirely new set of challenges and opportunities." One of the threats, Rubel warns, is that corporate secrets and intellectual property are bound to leak onto the internet. On the other hand, "Moblogging offers PR pros the opportunity to leverage new tools to generate buzz."

U.S. lawmakers blocked a proposed "covert CIA operation to aid [Iraqi] candidates favored by Washington" - suggested because their opponents might have "covert backing from other countries, like Iran." Leading up to Afghanistan's October 9 elections, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad stands accused of "pushing behind the scenes to ensure a convincing victory by the pro-American incumbent, President Hamid Karzai." Author Rahul Mahajan recaps the "well-documented history of 'managed' elections" in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Apparently, the Bush administration is happy with elections in places it controls ... as long as there are no choices (when there are, as in Florida, strange things can happen)."

In addition to a "comprehensive PR and advertising push in Iraq," the Pentagon is "requesting media support for its public diplomacy efforts in the Middle East." The recipient of the new U.S. contract "will provide weekly reports on what is happening in the Arab media and what is said at Friday sermons delivered in Mosques throughout Iraq," and "will be expected to 'research current adversaries,' consult on outreach strategy, and provide a two-person liaison team to foster communication between the State Department and the Pentagon." Bids for the one-year contract were due September 13.

"After a case of mad cow disease surfaced in Washington State late last year, federal regulators vowed to move swiftly to adopt rules to reduce the risks of further problems. ... But a few weeks ago, the Food and Drug Administration, after heavy lobbying from the beef and feed industries, took steps to delay - and ... possibly kill" new animal feed regulations. Shortly after the FDA announcement, "the National Cattlemen's Beef Association broke its nonpartisan tradition and endorsed President Bush." Regulatory delays are common before elections, but some say "the tightness in the polls and the strong industry ties to the White House" have worsened the trend this year.

"US efforts to win over the world's Muslims via news broadcasts, cultural exchanges, and other initiatives to explain American policies to skeptical audiences abroad are uncoordinated and underfunded, and risk sending contradictory messages about US intentions, according to a report by a bipartisan review panel appointed by President Bush," the Boston Globe writes. The 2004 Report of the Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy writes that "public diplomacy should be a national security priority," calling for increased funding and an "aggressive strategy" to counter the effects of international public opinion on the "success of American foreign policy objectives."

U.S. media "gives inordinate attention to fly-by-night groups with little evidence of real support. Why? Because these groups' sensational claims make for entertaining and easily produced news stories. The result is that a Swift Boats Veterans for Truth has greater impact on the national debate than long-established activist organizations," writes the Center for Media and Democracy's Diane Farsetta. The "easy formula to influence a national election - scrounge together enough money to air a sensational ad a few times" relies on journalists' tendency to "marginalize real grassroots efforts ... [and] focus on groups whose sole purpose is to introduce contrived controversies into political discourse."

"Seniors' anger and confusion as the Bush administration phases in the ambitious Medicare overhaul" may help Democratic candidates in November - unless an astroturf PR campaign succeeds. Noting that "a healthcare professional's opinion goes a long way in making a story seem more credible," the Republican lobbying firm the DCI Group "is offering healthcare consultants $3750 plus expenses over six weeks to generate positive news stories about the drug card and offer support to Congress for voting for the Medicare law." The DCI campaign is for RetireSafe, a project of the Council for Government Reform.

Conservative think tanks, including the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, the Center for Security Policy, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, the Heritage Foundation and the Hudson Institute, are trying "to promote a shift away from oil, as the best guarantor of global security, prosperity and freedom." "Set America Free," the coalition's energy security plan, "calls for the U.S. to immediately introduce next-generation fuels and vehicles that use existing technologies," "recommends popularizing existing hybrid electric vehicles," and "suggests increasing use of fuel additives, electricity, alcohol fuels like ethanol and non-oil based diesel," according to Oil Daily.

"The Oldways Preservation Trust, which earlier this year held a conference in Italy to promote pasta, is organizing another journalists' confab, this time to discuss the virtues of sugar," PR Week reports. "The trust ... has secured the Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness, a Coca-Cola affiliated organization, as a sponsor for its Conference on Sweetness and Health in Mexico City. ... Journalists are being offered free travel and accommodations, if their organizations permit, to attend the meeting. The conference will feature roughly 20 scientists plus chefs talking about the place of sweetness and sugar in proper diets. ... The conference aims to diffuse concerns that sugary foods are a culprit in America's obesity epidemic."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has directed staff to "refrain from answering" media calls in order to "prevent EPA management from being surprised by news coverage," according to an agency memo obtained by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The Mid-western region acting administrator Bharat Mathur told staff that in the interest of "open communication" and "shaping consistent messages" they were not to work with or talk to the press. "If you receive any request for information or an interview from a member of the media, you should refer the caller to [EPA's Office of Public Affairs]," Mathur wrote. "Please refrain from answering such inquires directly. OPA will determine the appropriate response - and who should respond - after consultation with program staff, and if necessary, after elevating issues for senior-level attention." Inside EPA reports similar instructions being given to staff in the Mountain and Plains region. "EPA is instructing its employees not to discuss political issues with reporters, citing fears that such interactions could inappropriately characterize Bush administration policies just weeks before the November elections," Inside EPA reports.

"For the third time, environmental advocates have discovered passages in the Bush administration's proposal for regulating mercury pollution from power plants that mirror almost word for word portions of memos written by a law firm representing coal-fired power plants." The passages, in language from the Latham & Watkins firm, say the EPA will not regulate other toxins emitted by power plants (including lead, chromium and arsenic). According to Public Citizen and the Environmental Integrity Project, three former Latham & Watkins employees now work at the EPA, including the person "in charge of all air pollution policy" and "a leading architect of new air pollution regulations."

The PR firm Porter Novelli is helping the Business Roundtable, an organization of U.S. corporate CEOs, promote its "Climate RESOLVE" program, O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. Climate RESOLVE was created to encourage companies to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, responding to George W. Bush's call for a voluntary 18 percent reduction of emissions by 2012 and attempting to undermine an international treaty on GHG. The Climate RESOLVE campaign kicks off on Sept. 23 with ads in the Washington Post and Roll Call to be followed by "one-pagers" for "Congressional aides, environmental officials and reporters to keep them abreast of efforts to control greenhouse gas." Climate RESOLVE is also hosting a two-day "GHG Management Workshop," featuring a talk by White House Council on Environmental Quality chair James Connaughton. The Business Roundtable says 70 percent of its members have signed up for Climate RESOLVE. "They are eager to avoid the mandated cuts that are going into effect in much of the world under the Kyoto Protocol, the pending international treaty of global warming," O'Dwyer's writes.

"The most important type of story is that which casts doubt on the cause and effect theory of smoking and cancer," read one internal Council for Tobaccco Research memo presented by the U.S. Justice Department on the first day of the largest civil racketeering trial brought by the government. "Public relations is key," the memo continued, "to getting us out of this hole." The tobacco industry is accused of conspiring to "deceive the public about the proven dangers of smoking to protect billions of dollars in profits the industry earned from cigarette sales." Defendants in the suit are Philip Morris USA Inc. and its parent, Altria Group Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., British American Tobacco Ltd., Lorillard Tobacco Co. and Liggett Group Inc. Two now-defunct tobacco industry organizations, the Council for Tobacco Research and the Tobacco Institute, are also being sued. The government claims the conspiracy began in the 1950s, when the industry began meeting to devise a strategy to undermine reports linking smoking and lung cancer. They ended up creating what Justice Department attorney Frank Marine called "one of the most elaborate public relations schemes in history."

Slate magazine editor Jack Schafer wonders why it took CBS anchorman Dan Rather so long to back away from two now-discredited memos that were part of the documentation for its story about George Bush's National Guard service. Numerous commentators have pointed out that the incident marks the latest example of bloggers successfully challenging the traditional broadcast media. The irony in this case, as Salon.com's Eric Boehlert observes, is the CBS apology obscures the real story about Bush's National Guard service, which has been well-documented already: "What is also already known is that in the spring of 1972, with 770 days left of required duty, Bush unilaterally decided that he was done fulfilling his military obligation," Boehlert writes. "Also in the spring of 1972, Bush refused to take a physical and quickly cleared out of his Guard base in Houston. ... His public records paint a portrait of a Guardsman who, with the cooperation of his Texas Air National Guard superiors, simply flouted regulation after regulation (more than 30 by Salon's count) indifferent to his signed obligation to serve. ... The authenticity of the memos, which contain very few facts about Bush's actual service, is a sideshow in the effort to determine the truth about Bush's military service."

After terrorists besieged the Beslan school, a "semiofficial" document circulated among Russian networks demanded "media self-censorship ... 'Special operation' was prohibited, as was 'shahid' [suicide martyr] - a word that, along with the phrase 'war in Chechnya,' has already been prohibited on state TV for a year. ... Analysis of options to save the hostages, of steps already taken, or reasons for the crisis was also forbidden." Russian security forces have been accused of drugging journalists and preventing "two known Kremlin critics" from reaching Beslan. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe noted "worrying developments in the relationship between the [Russian] Government and the media."

The presidential campaign trail offer lessons to the "public affairs community, the PR people paid to push the issues. But what they're watching isn't so much who wins, but how they do it," PR Week's Douglas Quenqua writes. "Nearly every technique for moving public opinion, every tactic employed by public affairs people to get an issue on the radar or to get legislation passed, traces its roots back to a political campaign - usually a presidential one. It's become Washington vogue in recent decades to run public affairs campaigns in the electoral style: treating an issue like a candidate, branding it, organizing constituencies, managing messages, even setting up rapid response operations, or 'war rooms.' All of these techniques were first devised and perfected by presidential campaigns; these days, you can't run a public affairs campaign without them."

A former farm lobbyist will become California's top pesticide regulator, despite complaints from environmentalists. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Mary-Ann Warmerdam, who worked for the California Farm Bureau Federation from 1981 to 2001, to head the state's Department of Pesticide. Warmerdam currently is a lobbyist for Pacific Gas & Electric. The Los Angeles Times reports that in August nine environmental groups wrote Schwarzenegger questioning the appointment to top pesticide regulator of someone who worked two decades for "an organization that has a long tradition in California of fighting efforts to protect public health and the environment from pesticide use."

"Something has methodologically gone awry when polls are swinging about this wildly," writes David Price, about presidential campaign polling. "We Americans simply don't answer our phones like we used to." Because of caller ID and cell phones, "those profiled as being most prone to answering phone surveys tend to be: (more) White, (more) older, and (more) male." The Wall Street Journal reports that how likely (as opposed to registered) voters are identified may also skew results. "Those models tend to [tilt to] a little older, a little more white, a little more affluent and a little more Republican voters," said GOP pollster Bill McInturff.

Congressional investigators with the Government Accountability Office concluded that the U.S. Forest Service did not violate any laws by hiring the PR firm OneWorld Communications. The unusual $90,000 contract for the "Forests with a Future" campaign promoted new policies increasing logging in California's Sierra Nevada forests. Environmentalists called the campaign misleading; others questioned whether the contract "violated laws against spending on publicity without Congressional consent." The GAO ruled, "While the Forest Service policy is controversial, the materials explaining the policy do not constitute prohibited publicity or propaganda."

The environment is "the sleeper issue of Australia's October 9 election," and Prime Minister John Howard, "once regarded as the nemesis of conservationists - [is] vigorously courting the green vote." Howard pledged Aus$2 billion for "the country's ailing river systems, prompting Labor leader Mark Latham to respond with a billion-dollar package of his own." At the same time, Howard's Deputy Prime Minister attacked the Green Party, saying they're "like a watermelon, green on the outside and red [socialist] on the inside." Greenpeace Australia's campaign director expressed cynicism but said, "If we can use the situation to force [the major parties] into some meaningful commitments, we'll do so."

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's PR firm, Creative Response Concepts, "used right-wing blogs and news sites to turn a CBS report casting doubt on President George W. Bush's National Guard service into a potential black eye for both the network and the Democrats." CRC client Cybercast News Service "called typographical experts, got them on the record that these papers were fishy, and posted a story"; "immediately" contacted Matt Drudge; and worked with the Media Research Center "to push the story into the mainstream press." The Los Angeles Times reports that the first forgery charge "did not come from an expert in typography," but from "an Atlanta lawyer with strong ties to conservative Republican causes."

"The U.S. government is soliciting proposals for an 'aggressive' and comprehensive PR and advertising push in Iraq to convey military and diplomatic goals to Iraqis and gain their support." The contract will be with the Multi National Corps-Iraq; British PR firm Bell Pottinger did similar work for MNC-I's predecessor, the Coalition Provisional Authority. The campaign will include "outreach to various segments of Iraqi society" and setting up a "Rebuttal Cell," to "immediately and effectively" challenge "reports that unfairly target the Coalition or Coalition interests." The PR plan contrasts with news of a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate that "spells out a dark assessment of prospects for Iraq."

George Bush "has succeeded in making more Americans see the war in Iraq as part of the broader war on terrorism," reports the Wall Street Journal. Republican pollster Bill McInturff agrees: "The Bush campaign has worked hard, really hard, for months, to make terrorism and security the issue of the election, and as usual, they've done it with enormous discipline." The plan, says McInturff, is "moving people off of stuff that's disadvantageous to Bush." Kerry could undercut Bush's backing by offering a different approach to Iraq, but, says McInturff, "so far the Kerry answer to that is not compelling."

Firms on Washington DC's lobbying row, K Street, are "aggressively courting GOP lawmakers who have announced their retirements, suggesting that the business community is confident the GOP will retain the Speaker's gavel in January." The trend "is stoking talk on Capitol Hill that the 'K Street Project'" - an effort launched by Grover Norquist and Tom DeLay to have firms hire more Republicans - "is alive and well." (Earlier reports suggested, "Democrats are coming back into vogue on K Street.") Republican Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn, who is interviewing with 15 firms, said, "K Street is still only 30% Republican, so there's a lot more work to do to make it even."

The New York Times profiles Jim Steets, Entergy Nuclear Northeast's external communications manager, who, we learn, has "an easy smile"; waxes "rhapsodic about the benefits and proficiencies of Indian Point," a nuclear power plant near New York City; and is "boyish-looking" and "well, a nice guy." In a shorter piece (albeit one further up in the paper), the Times reports that a Government Accountability Office auditor called nuclear power plant safety assessments "rushed" and "largely a paper review." The auditor also said the Nuclear Energy Institute's decision to hire Wackenhut for surprise mock attacks "raises questions," since Wackenhut also guards half the nation's nuclear plants.

Former White House press secretary Mike McCurry joins the Kerry-Edwards campaign as a senior media advisor this week. The Associated Press writes that "the hiring is an acknowledgment that Kerry and his team have failed to communicate a concise, persuasive argument." McCurry served as press secretary from 1995 to 1998, helping former President Bill Clinton through the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Currently he is chairman of Grassroots Enterprises, which specializes in online PR, and a principal at Public Strategies Washington, a lobbying firm that counts as clients Bristol-Myers Squibb, Edison Electric, Lockheed Martin, and the United States Chamber of Commerce. (Ironically, PR Week reports, "The US Chamber of Commerce is helping to launch a 527 group assailing vice presidential candidate John Edwards for his former career as a trial lawyer. The effort will be led by Burson-Marsteller COO Ken Rietz.") Also joining the Kerry campaign are two other Clinton alumni - former press secretary Joe Lockhart, a partner at the Glover Park Group, and former legislative strategist Joel Johnson, who's co-founder and managing director of The Harbour Group, a PR and crisis communications firm, PR Week reports.

Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott recently said, "We have not gotten our story out to the extent that we need to." The head of the global super store told a retailing conference that Wal-Mart's bad reputation came from newspapers and television. But a New York Times editorial responded that "if Wal-Mart wants to improve its image, it should focus less on shaping its message and more on changing the way it does business. ... These damaging news stories are not a product of bad spin, but bad facts. If Wal-Mart wants to do a better job in telling its story, it needs to work on having a better story to tell." PR Week reports that Wal-Mart is expanding its media relations team. "There's an acknowledgement throughout the company of the importance of using the media to tell our story," a company spokesperson said. "We're now putting more resources behind doing that." Trade publication O'Dwyer's PR Daily call Wal-Mart's media department, asking for comment on the Times editorial. But the company said it had not decided whether or not to respond. PR giant Fleishman-Hillard is helping Wal-Mart with its image makeover.

"WPP Group's agreement to buy Grey Global Group solidifies ad industry power in the hands of four big firms," reports the Wall Street Journal. "The takeover also will give WPP access to Grey's long relationships with such clients as Procter & Gamble, one of the world's biggest advertising spenders. ... During the past decade, ad holding companies rushed to gobble up agencies to serve more clients. ... As a result of the buying binges, the big four ad holding companies are WPP [of Britain]; Omnicom and Interpublic Group, both of New York; and France's Publicis Groupe" - all of which, except for Publicis, have their own PR firms.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth will hold "a mock awards ceremony aimed at exposing the green spin and corporate social responsibility failings of UK companies." CSR is big business; a recent APCO Worldwide survey of more than 400 people in 10 countries found that "corporate social responsibility initiatives are influential on consumer purchase habits." CSR efforts caused more than 70% of respondents to buy a company's products or services, while negative reports led 60% to boycott companies. APCO suggests companies "shape the opinion environment through their own communications, as opposed to fearing the impact of information from external [independent] organizations."

In 1990, British lawyer Andrew Foyle wrote a memorandum to British American Tobacco regarding the company's "document retention policy." U.S. government lawyers contend the Foyle memo provides information on tobacco companies' actions "to destroy, suppress or otherwise shield from discovery ... internal research documents concerning smoking and health." The U.S. is seeking release of the memo for use in its $280 billion lawsuit against big tobacco; BAT is claiming attorney-client privilege. A federal district court has ordered BAT to release the memo at least three times, but the company's challenges will delay the memo's potential release until after the U.S. lawsuit.

"It's hard to believe that there isn't an attempt to deceive here," writes PR commentator Paul Holmes, considering the industry group SUV Owners of America's self-description, on its website, as "a nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to supporting the rights and serving the interests of SUV owners," providing a "voice and advocate for SUV owners." But Holmes notes that "its board of directors consists largely of industry reps and public affairs execs with ties to the industry." Moreover, "the group's funding is opaque: It's certainly not explained on SUVOA's website or in its press releases. And that's my problem with front groups."

"Up to 400,000 New Yorkers breathed in the most toxic polluting cloud ever recorded after the twin towers were brought down three years ago, but no proper effort has been made to find out how their health has been affected. [A] US government study provides the latest evidence of a systematic cover-up of the health toll from pollution after the 9/11 disaster, which doctors fear will cause more deaths than the attacks themselves," the Independent writes. The Government Accountability Office report "September 11: Health Effects in the Aftermath of the World Trade Center Attack" concludes that programs monitoring the long-term health effects of the attacks may not be "in operation long enough to adequately capture information about new conditions, chronic conditions, and diseases whose onset may occur decades after exposure to a harmful agent, such as many cancers."

"In Nye County, Nevada, last week, one of the new, highly touted electronic-voting devices ... malfunctioned. When the polls closed in the state primary election, it refused to display the results, threatening to disenfranchise everyone who'd used it," reports USA Today. The head of the industry group Information Technology Association of America, writing for ITAA's Election Technology Council, counters, "Critics have yet to document a single real-world security breach," and calls the Nevada election "well-run" and "incident-free." The New York Times warns that many state and local election officials "have financial ties to voting machine companies," an issue we covered in our last PR Watch journal.

"If you're some group with an agenda, an ax to grind or an issue to promote, now's the time," said the Campaign Media Analysis Group's president. "Political advertising by smaller groups, and individuals in some cases, is popping up across the country," reports Associated Press, "on top of the millions of dollars that larger, partisan groups have spent" on ads. Conservative groups West Virginians for Life, the American Defense Council and MoveOnForAmerica.org, and liberal groups Save Our Environment, Mothers Opposing Bush and Texans for Truth are running TV and/or radio ads.

After seven AIDS activists disrupted a Pennsylvania campaign appearance by President Bush, "Secret Service agents ... supervised the arrests and detention of the activists and blocked the news media from access to the hecklers. ... Journalists were told that if they sought to approach the demonstrators, they would not be allowed to return to the event site - even though their colleagues were free to come and go. ... One journalist who was blocked from returning to the speech [was told by an agent] that this was punishment for approaching the demonstrators."

"Seven out of 10 Americans are worried about the worsening of their country's image around the world," according to a new poll by the University of Maryland and Globescan, "although almost three-quarters said world opinion would have no impact on their vote" for president. A German Marshall Fund transatlantic poll found that "76 percent of Europeans disapprove of current U.S. foreign policy, and 58 percent of them want Europe to take a more independent approach to foreign affairs," which is "bad news for the 60 percent of Americans who say they would like the U.S. to strengthen its partnership with the European Union."

"Weber Shandwick is handling the 'greening' of ExxonMobil Corp. by promoting an alliance forged between the energy giant and Earth 911, a government/private sector entity with the motto of 'making every day Earth Day,'" O'Dwyer's PR Daily writes. "The partnership aims to educate consumers about the importance of recycling used motor oil. ExxonMobil will provide funding for Earth 911 in return for the right to slap the group's logo on its Exxon- and Mobil-branded products. Earth 911's public service announcements will feature the Mobil 1 logo and the location of used motor oil collection sites. Earth 911's corporate partners include Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, Aluminum Assn. of America and Vertex Energy, a company that recycles petroleum products. The ExxonMobil/Earth 911 partnership comes 15 years after the Exxon Valdez dumped 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound."

"Years ago, the environmental movement coined the term "greenwashing" to describe how corporations use public relations to make themselves appear environmentally friendly. Now, nutrition advocates need their own moniker for a similar trend among major food companies - call it 'nutri-washing,'" writes Michele Simon, a public health lawyer and director of the Center for Informed Food Choices. "Some nutrition advocates have applauded such efforts as an attempt by industry to make improvements, however minor. But to praise companies for such 'reforms' too easily rewards them with the positive public-relations spin they seek. Also, these voluntary actions deliberately attempt to deflect any mandatory government regulations - for, as we are starting to learn, voluntary acts can easily be rescinded. ... Moreover, these PR efforts don't tell the whole story. Behind the scenes, industry is lobbying hard to undermine public-health advocacy, especially that aimed at improving the nutrition environment of public schools."

British environmental activists David Morris and Helen Steel, found guilty of defaming McDonald's in 1997, are challenging English libel law before the European Court of Human Rights. They call the law "patently unfair" for not addressing "the stark inequality between ordinary individuals and a massive corporation." McDonald's global sales rose from $19 to $30 billion during the McLibel trial. "During the same period," said the activists' lawyer, "Ms. Steel's maximum income was 65 Pounds ($116 US) a week ... and Mr. Morris, a single parent, was unwaged and entirely dependent on income support." The British government's lawyer warned of "one-sided campaigns of vilification."

Further illustrating "the revolving door that exists between those who run campaigns and those who lobby," the Kerry campaign's recent hires -- Joel Johnson, Joe Lockhart, Howard Wolfson and Michael Whouley -- are all lobbyists, as well as Democratic strategists. Johnson directs the Harbour Group, a frequent Alexander Strategy Group partner whose clients include the oil and pharmaceutical industries. Johnson also represented the Asbestos Study Group industry coalition. Whouley's Dewey Square Group, "one of the country's foremost experts in so-called grass-roots and grass-tops lobbying," often works with the DCI Group. Lockhart and Wolfson are partners at the Glover Park Group. Doug Ireland notes that "on CNN's Inside Politics, Jesse Jackson delivered a blistering attack on the Kerry campaign for running away from the Democratic base and the issues it cares about."

"Just last week, Stanley Greenberg was the polling mastermind guiding the way three liberal groups spent tens of millions of dollars attacking President Bush and registering voters. But he quit that position to be an unpaid adviser to the Kerry campaign as it presses to sharpen its message in the final 56 days before the election. Mr. Greenberg is just the latest in a procession of top strategists who have moved between the campaigns and advocacy groups called 527's - the very organizations that are not supposed to coordinate their activities under campaign finance rules."

"We have been wrongfully labeled as an auto industry front group," Ron DeFore, communications director for SUV Owners of America, told PR Week. The group is running a campaign opposing proposed regulations in California to limit truck and SUV emissions. Defore is also a principal at Stratacom, a PR firm that counts the auto industry as one of its biggest clients. Defore also told PR Week that Stratacomm had created the non-profit status of the SUV group two years ago after buying the name and other assets from its founder. "There was a tremendous need in the public-policy arena, as well as the media, for some balance to be brought to the coverage on SUVs," Defore said. California represents 10% of the US auto market.

"Reporters who cover political conventions are accustomed to tiny workspaces, often shoddy technical setups, and few, if any, luxuries," PR Week writes. "Last week, New York City and the GOP - with the help of GCI Group- went to great lengths to break the mold. Journalists covering the Republican National Convention ... were treated to world-class accouterments, including facials, tailoring services, and gourmet food - drawing a marked contrast from the rather cramped conditions at the Democratic National Convention held last month in Boston. Most of the pampering took place across the street from [Madison Square] Garden in The Barneys Lounge, sponsored by upscale clothier Barneys ... The services were arranged by the 2004 New York City Host Committee and supervised (and aggressively publicized) by GCI." The PR firm told PR Week, "We're basically saying to the reporters, 'We know you're working hard. Let us make your lives easier while you're in New York.'"

"Over the first three nights, the Republican Convention speakers carefully crafted a tri-partite frame for George W. Bush's Thursday acceptance speech: Night 1: The Global War on Terror defines our lives and our generation. Night 2: With enough discipline, all Americans can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and become prosperous. Those girly men have only themselves to blame. Night 3: Kerry is weak, unpatriotic, antimilitary, against national security, without resolve, soft-hearted, confused, and totally unfit to be commander-in-chief," linguistics professor George Lakoff writes. Examining the domestic agenda section of Bush's speech, Lakoff observes, "The 'opportunity society' rhetoric is crafted to sound like it will remedy the same ills that the Democrats are talking about. But it is virtually the opposite in real content." The rest of Bush's speech was on the War on Terror, "though he never once used the phrase. The frame inspiring terror had been well established on previous nights, leaving Bush to talk about spreading freedom. Significantly, he did not once use the phrase 'war on terror,' but did use the word 'liberty' 11 times and 'free' or 'freedom' 23 times," Lakoff writes.

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ambitious plan to reorganize almost every aspect of state government was influenced significantly by oil and gas giant ChevronTexaco," including "streamlining the permit process for the construction of new oil refineries" and "reorganizing the regulatory process for ... energy facilities," reports Associated Press. ChevronTexaco, "one of about 20 companies that paid the send the governor and his staff to this week's Republican National Convention," has contributed more than $200,000 to Schwarzenegger committees and $500,000 to the California Republican Party since the October recall election. "That is what we are here for," said ChevronTexaco's general manager over state government relations.

"As Republicans inside Madison Square Garden praised the NYPD for keeping order," writes Michelle Goldberg, "grim stories of preemptive, arbitrary arrests, filthy jail conditions and long detentions without access to attorneys circulated among protesters, lawyers and quite a few ordinary New Yorkers who were arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. ... Whenever groups of activists gathered, row upon row of riot cops would surround them with orange plastic netting and often arrest everyone inside, including journalists and bystanders. Police then defied state law by holding many people well over 24 hours without access to attorneys." According to Elspeth Schell, whose daughter was among the detainees, "this is looking more and more like a South American Republic."

"Stephan Savoia glowed about the picture he would take at the end of the Republican National Convention," writes Karen Brown Dunlap. "He planned it hours before the President's speech by suspending a camera high in Madison Square Garden for the right angle. He imagined the beauty of the moment, but he also growled in anger. 'The picture will be exactly what the White House wanted,' he said. It would show President George W. Bush surrounded by a cheering crowd, family, confetti, and balloons after his nomination acceptance speech. He would be standing on a special stage with the Presidential seal underfoot. 'Why do you think they put the Presidential seal on the floor?' Savoia said. "We're sucked into the photo op.'"

"Shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist hijackings, the Pentagon hired the Rendon Group to orchestrate sympathetic media coverage around the globe, including Muslim countries. The firm has worked for the government of Kuwait since the Persian Gulf War. In the 1990s, the CIA hired the Rendon Group to wage a public relations war against Saddam Hussein. ... Rendon helped create and promote the Iraqi National Congress, the exile group headed by Ahmed Chalabi." The PR firm has come under scrutiny again, for receiving more than $14,000 of Massachusetts' anti-terrorism funds to videotape a state police graduation ceremony in August 2002.

"For $2.4 trillion, guess what word other than 'a,' 'and,' and 'the' - occurs most frequently in the acceptance speech George W. Bush delivered tonight," writes William Saletan. "The word is 'will.' It appears 76 times. This was a speech all about what Bush will do, and what will happen, if he becomes president. Except he already is president. He already ran this campaign. He promised great things. They haven't happened. So, he's trying to go back in time. He wants you to see in him the potential you saw four years ago. He can't show you the things he promised, so he asks you to envision them. ... Bush pointed to the wars he had launched and the bills he had signed, but he couldn't point to the benefits those laws and wars were supposed to deliver. The benefits haven't happened yet. They 'will.'"

"As speakers at the GOP convention trumpet Bush administration successes in the war on terrorism, an NBC News analysis of Islamic terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001, shows that attacks are on the rise worldwide - dramatically," report Robert Rivas and Robert Windrem NBC News. "Of the roughly 2,929 terrorism-related deaths around the world since the attacks on New York and Washington, the NBC News analysis shows 58 percent of them - 1,709 - have occurred this year."

"Security guards at the Republican National Convention overreacted when USA Today guest columnist Michael Moore entered Madison Square Garden Monday night and were responsible for a disruption that made it difficult for several members of the press, including Moore, to cover the proceedings, said the U.S. House Daily Press Gallery, which oversees press credentials for the convention. The gallery conducted a review of the Monday incident, which it calls the worst case of police media control since the 1968 Chicago convention."