Not-So-Revolutionary PR

In an interview with LobbyWatch, British journalist George Monbiot reviews the network of the key players from Living Marxism. One of its offshoots is Spiked Online, which has hosted numerous debates sponsored by the PR firm Hill & Knowlton and more recently Clarke Mulder Purdie. Key individuals are also involved in other groups such as the Science Media Centre (SMC), the Institute of Ideas and Sense About Science. What they have in common, Monbiot argues, is masking their pro-corporate libertarianism with rhetorical support for science. In a submission to the Board of the SMC, Andy Rowell from SpinWatch notes that, despite climate change sceptics attacking the science behind global warming analyses, SMC has been comparatively silent. "Of the 120 odd press releases the SMC has issued ... only about four have been on climate," he wrote.