Corporations

Oil PR/Lobby Campaign Seeks to Un-Demonize Libya

Submitted by John Stauber on

The Wall Street Journal reports that, " Libya's Col. Moammar Gadhafi, is attempting a rehabilitation. Top U.S. and Libyan officials have held several unpublicized meetings in England and Switzerland in recent years to discuss improving ties. Public-relations campaigns and lobbying efforts on Libya's behalf are under way, funded in part by oil money and driven by a desire to cash in on future deals or resume business interrupted by sanctions. ... The four American oil companies that were forced by U.S. sanctions to suspend operations in Libya ... are eager to return to Libya.

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Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal
Topics: 
Terrorism
Corporations
Lobbying

Leaked Memo Reveals B-M's Plans for Lord Melchett

Submitted by John Stauber on

The British press is lambasting and lampooning both the Burson-Marsteller PR firm and their latest PR hire, Lord Melchett. Here is a satirical 'memo' written as if it leaked from inside B-M: "Lord Melchett will be heading up our new 'corporate conscience' desk, which will work to uncover the hidden humanity inside organisations such as Monsanto... I can't help but think that if this initiative had been around back when Nikolae Ceausescu was our client, he might still be in a position to pay his invoice. ...

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Main Source: 
The Guardian
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment
Public Relations

Eco Campaigners Go Corporate

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Burson-Marsteller's hiring of Lord Melchett, the former director of Greenpeace UK, prompted the Independent to examine the growing trend of British environmentalists "who have decided to work for the blue chip giants they once sought to humble ...

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Main Source: 
The Independent (England), January 14, 2002
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment
Public Relations

Enron Scandal Has Andersen Recruiting PR, Lobbyists

Submitted by Laura Miller on

PR trade publication The Holmes Report writes: "Accounting giant Andersen--the former Arthur Andersen--is reportedly looking to recruit crisis management and other communications experts as it faces mounting criticism for its role in the collapse of Enron." Anderson has already hired the Virginia-based firm Hartz Consulting and retains Ketchum as its PR agency of record. But the company is expected to enlist more PR consultants as it faces Congressional investigations, a federal criminal inquiry and lawsuits from shareholders.

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Main Source: 
The Holmes Report, January 14, 2002; PR Week, January 14, 2002
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Corporations
Lobbying

B-M's Lord Melchett Booted Off Greenpeace Board

Submitted by John Stauber on

Burson-Marsteller's newest PR hire, Lord Peter Melchett, has been forced to resign from the board of Greenpeace International. Melchett blind-sided his fellow Greenpeace board members and eco-activists this week by taking a consulting job with one of the PR world's most notorious anti-environmental propaganda firms, Burson-Marsteller. Apparently Melchett has convinced himself that accepting a paying position with B-M will somehow help him change corporate behavior.

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Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment
Public Relations

Did Burson-Marsteller Genetically Alter Lord Melchett?

Submitted by John Stauber on

Catherine Bennet examines a "deal with the devil," asking "Has Lord Peter Melchett been genetically modified? ... And what other explanation can there possibly be for the decision of Lord Melchett, quondam destroyer of GM crops, to join Burson-Marsteller...? Anyone who believes Lord Melchett's insistence that there is nothing contradictory about his appointment ...fails to appreciate Burson-Marsteller's fabulous coup in signing him up. ...

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Main Source: 
The Guardian
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment
Public Relations

An Ex-Greenpeacer Examines the Melchett Affair

Submitted by John Stauber on

A longtime Greenpeace activist sent the following comments to PR Watch: "The Lord Melchetts of the activist (and now corporate) world are only one symptom of a broader contagion. Is there even a real environmental movement anymore? How accountable are NGOs to their own base? ... Look how little is being accomplished in addressing Global Warming in the U.S. at a time when it's obviously a national security issue and a global security issue. I think this is in part because the environmental groups don't believe in mass movement building like they used to.

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Main Source: 
Email Sent to PR Watch
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment
Public Relations

Greenpeace's Melchett Now with Burson-Marsteller

Submitted by John Stauber on

The Guardian Unlimited reports that "Lord Melchett, the former head of Greenpeace UK ... (has) taken a job at a PR company which has represented Monsanto and the European biotech industry. ...(T)he former Labour minister and farmer, who is on the board of Greenpeace International, is to become a consultant for Burson-Marsteller....

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Main Source: 
Guardian Unlimited and Greenpeace UK memo
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment
Public Relations

More on Carlyle Group

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Major media have been remarkably quiet about the Carlyle Group, "one of the most powerful, well-connected, and secretive companies in the world," which brought together high-powered former politicians including George Bush seniors with Saudi financial moguls and even members of the Bin Laden family. "The Bush administration isn't afraid to mix business and politics, and no other firm embodies that penchant better than the Carlyle Group," reports Red Herring magazine. "Walking that fine line is what Carlyle does best.

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Main Source: 
Red Herring, January 8, 2002
Topics: 
Corporations
Lobbying
U.S. Government

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Mark Crispin Miller examines the growing power of the world's 10 largest media multinationals: AOL Time Warner, Disney, General Electric, News Corporation, Viacom, Vivendi, Sony, Bertelsmann, AT&T and Liberty Media. "The media cartel that keeps us fully entertained and permanently half-informed is always growing here and shriveling there, with certain of its members bulking up while others slowly fall apart or get digested whole," he observes.

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Main Source: 
The Nation, January 1, 2002
Topics: 
Corporations
Media

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