The global drug firm Roche has decided to withdraw from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA), the peak lobbying group for the U.S. drug industry. Following its purchase of the biotechnology company Genentech, Roche decided that it prefers to belong to the Biotechnology Industry Organization. In The Star-Ledger, Susan Toddalso reported that "without Roche, PhRMA also loses critical revenue for carrying out its lobbying activities." Roche, she wrote, also "plans to pull out of another pharma-related affiliation, its sponsorship of a special pharmaceutical management program at Rutgers Business School." In Britain, Roche UK decided "not to renew its membership of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, after it was suspended for six months for 'bringing the industry into disrepute'," reported the Financial Times.

A British public relations executive is cautioning PR professionals not to release bad news in wake of Michael Jackson's death. "No-one can ever trump Labour aide Jo Moore's debacle during the September 11 attacks, but there'll be cynics out there watching very carefully for companies releasing stuff under cover of global mourning," said Dougal Paver, Managing Director of Paver Smith. (Moore, a media adviser to the Transport, Local Government and Regions Secretary, infamously wrote on September 11, 2001 that "It's now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury.") The Australian government, however, couldn't resist. Hours after the news of Jacksons death, late on a Friday afternoon, the Australian Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, Craig Emerson, announced that he was axing the establishment of a website comparing grocery prices between retail chains. Most major supermarkets objected to the proposed website, which would have been run by the consumer group Choice.

"The Economist," bemoans Andy Rowlands, the director of corporate, issues and technology practice at the public relations giant Burson-Marsteller, "is one of the most influential, but also most difficult places to secure coverage." The former head of PR for the London-based magazine (now a PR consultant), Eileen Wise, suggests that persistence pays off. "It is beneficial for senior PR people to build up a relationship with some of the business and economic writers. Once they have built up a good rapport and the journalists understand about their company or clients they will find, in time, that the journalists may start coming to them when they need information or comment on a particular subject or industry," she said. Michael Gonzalez, a senior media consultant at Lewis PR, told PR Week that "it takes time, effort and understanding, but it will all be worth it if you crack The Economist."

In May, the Russian government "created a high-level commission to overhaul its image on the world stage as the first anniversary of Russia's war with Georgia approaches." The commission is chaired by President Dmitry Medvedev's chief of staff, Sergei Naryshikin, "underscoring how serious the Kremlin considers the problem, which it often blames on shadowy external enemies and ill-wishers," reports the Wall Street Journal. "Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will also sit on the panel." A Kremlin official declined to discuss the commission, saying, "This isn't something we're keen to advertise." Over the past few years, Russia has increasingly sought to improve its international image. "In 2005, it set up an international English-language TV channel, Russia Today, to broadcast its views. Since 2006, Moscow has retained U.S. public-relations company, Ketchum, mostly to help it deal with foreign media." The Russian government has also hired the lobbying firm of Alston & Bird, and set up the "Institute of Democracy and Cooperation," a think tank critical of the U.S. and European governments.

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals that life and health insurance companies in the U.S., Canada and Great Britain invest heavily in tobacco companies. Tobacco use is a major cause of fatal lung diseases and cancer, and is known to elevate the risk for heart attack and stroke. The study found that the American insurance company Prudential Financial, Inc. has $264.3 million invested in U.S. cigarette makers, including Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds. The Canadian company Sun Life Financial, Inc., which sells life, health and disability insurance, owns over $1 billion worth of stock in tobacco interests, including $890 million in Philip Morris. Prudential Plc, which sells health and disability coverage, has $1.38 billion invested in two tobacco companies, including British American Tobacco. Wesley Boyd, the study's lead author and a faculty member of Harvard Medical School, says that while it may seem self-defeating for companies to sell insurance while also owning tobacco stocks, insurers have found ways to profit from both. "Insurers exclude smokers from coverage or, more commonly, charge them higher premiums. Insurers profit -- and smokers lose -- twice over." Study co-author David Himmelstien explains, "It's the combined taxidermist-and-veterinarian approach: either way, you get your dog back." Boyd adds that the main objective for insurance companies is not to safeguard customers' well-being, but to generate profits. The authors also point to this study as a reason why health insurance coverage should not be left in the hands of private insurers.

In a major article profiling Roger Bate, one of the leading think tank players, Adam Sarvana writes that Bate is "to the environmental movement what Bugs Bunny is to Elmer Fudd, a clever, slippery and often triumphant adversary. But unlike Bugs, who cuts a wide swath, Bate is unknown even to his favorite targets. Indeed, it’s safe to say that his name is unknown to many of the players in the ongoing conflict over science’s role in public policy." Bate has worked for a range of think tanks including the Institute for Economic Affairs in the UK, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and more recently the American Enterprise Institute in the U.S. Sarvana, who drew background material in part from the Center for Media and Democracy's SourceWatch website, concludes that in the debate over health care reform in the U.S., "Roger Bate has once again found a signature issue and staked out a comfortable, lucrative position that will keep him active for years to come."

The Guardian, a major British news publisher, is hosting The Guardian Climate Change Summit 2009, which it states aims to "explore how business can build and maintain a commitment to tackling climate change through the recession and beyond." The conference, which is sponsored by the energy company E.ON UK and the Food and Drink Federation, includes a session titled "communications & reputation: avoiding greenwash at all costs." Another panel includes Dr. Paul Golby, the chief executive officer of E.ON UK, which faces strong opposition to its proposal to build the Kingsnorth power station. In a 2008 opinion column, published in the Guardian, Golby claimed that the plant would be "built ready to be fitted" with carbon capture and storage equipment. E.ON U.K's parent company, E.ON, plans to build another dozen new coal-fired power stations across Europe.

The Victorian government has spent $222,000 Australian on a television program promoting the attraction of living and working in areas outside the major metropolitan areas. The program, ''Changing Places: Life in Provincial Victoria,'' was broadcast on commercial television at Easter. "It's incredibly important to continue to demonstrate that provincial Victoria is a go-ahead place, that there's a lot of activity, that they are vibrant communities with job opportunities and great opportunities for kids through good education institutions," said Regional and Rural Development Minister Jacinta Allan. Reporter Paul Austin noted that a when Premier John Brumby was in opposition a decade ago, he complained about state government "advertising and self-promotion." Sponsored television programming is referred to by marketers as "branded entertainment."