Recent comments

  • Reply to: Ten Minutes from Normal Relations   19 years 2 weeks ago
    My favorite quote from Ms. Hughes: "[While living overseas] I learned firsthand that America's policies can be interpreted differently in different places." -- esp
  • Reply to: The New York Times Catches on to VNRs   19 years 2 weeks ago
    The New York Times story you refer to also contained the following sentence: "The major networks, which help distribute the releases, collect fees from the government agencies that produce segments and the affiliates that show them." Can this really be true? Are major networks receiving payments from the government for running propaganda? I read the article through to the end, but found no further mention of these payments. Perhaps PRwatch could pick up where the Times left off. Thanks for all your work!
  • Reply to: Desperately Seeking Disclosure: What Happens When Public Funds Go To Private PR Firms?   19 years 2 weeks ago
    I think one effective strategy we should use to limit the power of the public relations industry and more generally, the powerful, is to create media that are so independent and transparent that they can not be used by PR people. This website is a great example, another is http://coanews.org -We need to support these organizations much more - more volunteering, and above all more donations. -Also send out a not to friends telling them they should sign up to their email lists, or make them your/their homepage etc... these organization exist but they do not have the budget to get the word our like their corporate counterparts - this is what they need grassroots support for.
  • Reply to: Desperately Seeking Disclosure: What Happens When Public Funds Go To Private PR Firms?   19 years 2 weeks ago
    I'm brand new to this site, having discovered it thanks to Al Franken and Air America. Maybe I'm mistaken, but it appears that I am the only one so far to have commented on this excellent article. I want to increase traffic to the site, so I have linked to it from one of my very busy web sites, http://JesusNoRepublican.Org/ . I am also the creator of http://www.LiberalsLikeChrist.Org =========================================================== . P.S. There appears to be a technical difficulty with the reply form I am typing in, (at least on my computer, which is a very typical PC with Windows XP) as there are about 10 characters at the end of each line which do not appear in the edit box as they are typed. They DO appear, however, in the preview window.
  • Reply to: The War of the Words   19 years 3 weeks ago

    "Take for example the term 'the American people' used by your President endlessly."

    Guess what, it's not only the president -- it's every politician in our country.

    "Do they presume Americans as so silly that they can't understand an idea or concept using concise speech or is there some other hidden answer that a dumb Aussie like me can't fathom?"

    I think you've fathomed it better than most Americans. And sadly, most Americans seem to fall for it -- at least enough to be sold on the terrible policies wrapped in the verbiage.

    Also, notice I said "most Americans," not "the American people." You only say the latter when you want to flatter them, like the politicians.

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