Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Piers Morgan has been fired as editor of the Daily Mirror, and the British tabloid devoted its entire front page to an apology for publishing what turned out to be fake photos of British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Adam Clymer, formerly the New York Times Washington correspondent, is now the political director for the National Annenberg Election
Survey. He writes in an editorial column that "Americans like to say they are not influenced by campaign commercials, but then many people plainly
believe the attack ads that President Bush and John Kerry
are hurling at each other. Even people who say they learn nothing from the
advertisements believe the claims made in them, the
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
California's secretary of state said "they broke the law," called their conduct "absolutely reprehensible," and banned their machines in four counties, but maybe the news isn't all bad for e-voting company Diebold Election Systems. "It could affect the stock for a week or two," said corporate branding executive Clayton Tolley, but "generally, it's a passing fad that will fade within six months." Diebold spokesperson Mike Jacobsen pointed out "we're a business-to-business firm...
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
San Francisco Chronicle reporter David Lazarus is questioning whether Marc Bien, who he interviewed as telecommunications giant SBC's vice-president of corporate communications (as Bien's business cards indicate) broke ethical guidelines when he neglected to tell Lazarus that he's actually an employee of major PR firm Fleishman-Hillard.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The British medical journal The Lancet published a review of "six published and six unpublished trials" studying antidepressant use by children that concluded that, in most cases, "the risks exceeded the benefits." More disturbingly, the review found evidence that pharmaceutical companies "had been aware of problems but did not reveal them." In a memo leaked last month from GlaxoSmithKline, the company w
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
A survey of youth marketers, PR and advertising professionals found that, while respondents say children are "unable to make intelligent choices as consumers" until nearly 12 years old, it's OK to market to seven year olds. Just over 60 percent of those surveyed say advertising targets children at too young an age, but others feel "educational purposes" and brand loyalty justify targeting three year olds.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Through concerted marketing and public relations campaigns... 'greenwashers' attract eco-conscious consumers and push the notion that they don't need environmental regulations because they are already environmentally responsible.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The Public Relations Society of America has issued a statement saying that video news releases (VNRs) should no longer use signoffs like the one that got Karen Ryan into hot water: "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting." According to the PRSA statement, "This has caused some confusion among people who question whether someone who is not actually a reporter should be identified in a manner that could suggest that he or she is a journalist.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Roger Stone, the dirty-tricks hobgoblin of Republican politics, has exploited his Bush connections to become an influence-peddling force in the $13 billion Indian gaming industry," reports Wayne Barrett. "Stone's booming business in such a federally regulated enterprise makes his recent pro bono orchestration of Al Sharpton's double-edged presidential campaign an even stranger covert caper.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
University of Texas professor Sheldon Landsberger has admitted that a pro-nuclear column he submitted under his own name to the Austin American-Statesman was actually written by the Potomac Communications Group, a Washington PR firm that works for the nuclear power industry. "For at least 25 years," reports William Adler, an employee of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee named Theodore M. Besmann (who moonlights for Potomac Communications) "has had published nuclear love songs in newspapers across the country, under his own or others' names."
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