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[eccr] Fwd: The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Wed Jun 11 06:52:20 GMT 2003
>THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, June 11, 2003
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>sponsored by PR WATCH (www.prwatch.org)
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>The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to
>further information about current public relations campaigns.
>It is emailed free each Wednesday to subscribers.
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>THIS WEEK'S NEWS
>
>1. Mad Cow USA: U.S. Weans Calves on Cattle Blood
>2. Martha Does Spin
>3. Patriotic Magazine Launched By US Army
>4. PR Flacks Protected Under Attorney-Client Privilege
>5. Saudi Arabia Markets Itself As 'Modern Nation'
>6. U.S. PR Office In Baghdad Barely Functioning
>7. U.S. Drug Industry Steps Up Lobbying in Canada
>8. Twisted Intelligence on Iraq
>9. G.I. and Cleric Vie for Hearts and Minds in Baghdad
>10. Merge, Left
>11. U.S. Blocks U.N. Weapons Inspectors
>12. Democracy Up, America Down
>13. McDonald's Thinks It's 'Green'
>14. Rendon Group Works For Joint Chiefs of Staff
>15. Company Paid Doctors to Promote Drug
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>1. MAD COW USA: U.S. WEANS CALVES ON CATTLE BLOOD
>http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-06-09-beef-cover_x.htm
> USA Today examines the threat of mad cow disease in the U.S. asking
> "did you know ... that calves, instead of drinking their mothers'
> milk, are fed formula made from cows' blood? ... Says John Stauber,
> [co-]author of Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?: 'What
> we need to do is obvious but economically painful for the livestock
> industry. That's to implement exactly the same regulations that
> exist in Britain and Europe and ban all feeding of slaughterhouse
> waste to livestock. Every time there's media attention to this
> issue, every time consumers and producers start asking questions,
> we get this lip service out of USDA and FDA that 'Yes, we need to
> do the right thing; it's just going to take time.' But they're just
> not ready to bite the bullet -- it's too economically painful for
> the livestock feed industry."
>SOURCE: USA Today, June 10, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2003.html#1055217602
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1055217602
>
>2. MARTHA DOES SPIN
>http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8268345&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=7546&rfi=6
> Image consultants are praising Martha Stewart's bid to get public
> opinion on her side and to influence potential jurors, reports the
> Associated Press. The campaign includes a national newspaper
> advertisement and a new website, marthatalks.com, that went up the
> day Stewart was indicted in federal court for securities fraud and
> lying to authorities. Eric Dezenhall, who runs a Washington,
> D.C.-based public relations firm that specializes in damage
> control, said the website and controlled message are critical. "She
> doesn't have a whole variety of options to make people who dislike
> her like her," Dezenhall told AP. "What she can do is put a press
> on the Justice Department by having her supporters hammer the
> narrative that this is a witchhunt." Stewart has hired Citigate
> Sard Verbinnen, a New York-based firm that specializes in corporate
> crisis communications and mergers and acquisitions, for her public
> relations effort.
>SOURCE: Associated Press, June 10, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2003.html#1055217601
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1055217601
>
>3. PATRIOTIC MAGAZINE LAUNCHED BY US ARMY
>http://www.spacewar.com/2003/030610113023.xn8eaxtl.html
> "The US army has launched a glossy patriotic magazine to rally its
> 3rd Infantry Division, whose troops face hostile action in the
> badlands of western Iraq a full two months after Saddam Hussein's
> ouster," Agence France-Press reports. "Called the 'Liberator', the
> 16-page in-house publication carries rousing reports from the field
> to win over homesick troops who might be doubting the rationale for
> the US presence more than six months after they first arrived in
> Kuwait to train for the invasion." Specialist Jacob Boyer said in
> the 5,000-copy launch edition, "Forget about weapons. Forget about
> national defense. I've found my reason for being here. It's the
> people." Perhaps not surprisingly, the publication lacks any Iraqi
> voices or any criticism of US forces.
>SOURCE: Agence France-Presse, June 10, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1055217600
>
>4. PR FLACKS PROTECTED UNDER ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE
>http://www.holmesreport.com/holmestemp/story.cfm?edit_id=3318&typeid=1
> "Litigation public relations discussions involving lawyers and
> public relations professionals are protected under attorney-client
> privilege, according to a ruling last week by U.S. District Judge
> Lewis Kaplan," PR trade publication the Holmes Report writes. "The
> ruling was hailed by public relations professionals as conferring
> new credibility on their role and acknowledging a reality of
> today's legal work. Judge Lewis Kaplan said the privilege --
> granted to accountants and some other professionals in earlier
> cases -- can also extend to conversations between the target and
> the public relations firm, but only to the extent that the
> conversations are 'for the purpose of obtaining legal services.'"
>SOURCE: The Holmes Report, June 9, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1055131203
>
>5. SAUDI ARABIA MARKETS ITSELF AS 'MODERN NATION'
>http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0609saudis_pay_qorvis.htm
> "Saudi Arabia breaks ads in the top 25 U.S. markets this month to
> give Americans a 'better perspective' of the Kingdom, and highlight
> its 'steadfast commitment' to fighting terrorism. The ads also
> depict Saudi Arabia as a 'modern nation' with 'normal people' who
> are struggling against the scourge of terror," O'Dwyer's PR Daily
> reports. The Kingdom paid its PR firm Qorvis Communications $1.4
> million during its latest six-month reporting period, according to
> the company's Justice Dept. filing. Qorvis billed $1.2 million of
> that amount for PR, $150,000 for government relations and $50,000
> for research. "The firm's extensive media relations effort included
> arranging the two-day trip to Saudi Arabia for Katie Couric of
> 'Today' in which she chatted with Crown Prince Abdullah and Prince
> Saudi Al-Faisal," O'Dwyer's writes. Qorvis also arranged "off the
> record briefings" for top Saudi spokesman Adel Al-Jubeir attended
> by major TV and print news outlets.
>SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily, June 9, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1055131202
>
>6. U.S. PR OFFICE IN BAGHDAD BARELY FUNCTIONING
>http://www.prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=182090&site=3
> "Journalists and government officials complained last week that the
> Bush administration has virtually abandoned its public affairs
> operation in Baghdad," PR Week reports. "Moroccan ambassador
> Margaret Tutwiler was sent to oversee the operation in April after
> major hostilities ended. But according to administration sources,
> she returned to Morocco within a month. Department of Justice (DoJ)
> press secretary Mark Corallo arrived in May to handle day-to-day
> press duties, but stayed just a week after being told by Tutwiler
> there was no role for him." PR Week reports the U.S. government's
> public affairs office in Baghdad is barely functional, operating
> without reliable phones, enough computers, or much accurate
> information.
>SOURCE: PR Week, June 9, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1055131201
>
>7. U.S. DRUG INDUSTRY STEPS UP LOBBYING IN CANADA
>http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/story.asp?id=15815BBE-4A30-4C29-BEF1-059A6FDB0B6F
> "America's big drug companies are intensifying their lobbying
> efforts to 'change the Canadian health-care system' and eliminate
> subsidized prescription drug prices enjoyed by Canadians," CanWest
> News Service reports. "A prescription drug industry spokesman in
> Washington confirmed to CanWest News Service that information
> contained in confidential industry documents is accurate and that
> $1 million US is being added to the already heavily funded drug
> lobby against the Canadian system." The Pharmaceutical Research and
> Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) is the leading drug industry trade
> group behind the increased lobbying and PR campaign. PhRMA is also
> spending $450,000 to target the booming Canadian Internet pharmacy
> industry, which provides Americans with prescription drugs at lower
> prices than in the United States.
>SOURCE: CanWest News Service, June 9, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1055131200
>
>8. TWISTED INTELLIGENCE ON IRAQ
>http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/159/nation/US_said_to_twist_its_data_on_IraqP.shtml
> The Bush administration distorted intelligence and presented
> conjecture as evidence to justify a US invasion of Iraq, said Greg
> Thielmann, who served as director of the strategic, proliferation,
> and military issues office in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of
> Intelligence and Research during the months before the war. "What
> disturbs me deeply is what I think are the disingenuous statements
> made from the very top about what the intelligence did say," said
> Thielmann. "The area of distortion was greatest in the nuclear
> field."
>SOURCE: Associated Press, June 8, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1055044801
>
>9. G.I. AND CLERIC VIE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS IN BAGHDAD
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/08/international/worldspecial/08CLER.html?pagewanted=print
> "While policy makers and analysts in Washington discuss curbing the
> spread of militant Islam in the abstract, a political struggle
> between the American military and hard-line Iraqi religious leaders
> is steadily intensifying in Iraq," reports David Rohde. U.S. Lt.
> Col. David Haight recently arrested Sheik Jassim al-Saadi, a young
> Islamic cleric accused of incitement against the U.S. military
> presence in Iraq. "Across the country, young American military
> officers are competing with young, politically savvy Shiite and
> Sunni clerics for popular support," Rohde writes. "Military
> officials and residents say some clerics spread false rumors that
> American soldiers distribute candy wrapped in pornographic
> pictures, kidnap Iraqi women and girls for prostitution and can see
> through women's clothing with their night-vision goggles."
>SOURCE: New York Times, June 8, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1055044800
>
>10. MERGE, LEFT
>http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/7987
> "The rules of political engagement have changed, and progressives
> had best observe the planful discipline that has brought right-wing
> conservatives to such powerful heights," writes Joe Bevilacqua.
> "The ladder of these heights was built, rung by rung, through the
> efforts of non-profit organizations. ... In a slow and calculated
> manner over the last 30 years, the Right has built a solid
> organization that is only now reaping the fruits of its labors in
> the form of unprecedented governmental, corporate and media
> control. The Left has sat quietly, letting it happen."
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1054956407
>
>11. U.S. BLOCKS U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTORS
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2967598.stm
> Although the U.S. is allowing the International Atomic Energy
> Agency to visit Iraq briefly, it has rejected calls for the return
> of United Nations inspectors to Iraq to join in the hunt for
> alleged weapons of mass destruction, and chief UN weapons inspector
> Hans Blix has sharpened his public criticism. In a BBC interview,
> Blix said he had been disappointed with the tips his office
> received prior to the war from British and US intelligence. of the
> information he received prior to the war from British and U.S.
> intelligence sources. "Only in three of those cases did we find
> anything at all, and in none of these cases were there any weapons
> of mass destruction, and that shook me a bit, I must say," Blix
> said. "I thought - my God, if this is the best intelligence they
> have and we find nothing, what about the rest?" His comments came
> as U.S. officials fought to minimize the political damage from
> their own leaked intelligence analysis of September 2002, which
> reported "no reliable evidence" on Iraqi weapons.
>SOURCE: BBC (UK), June 6, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2003.html#1054872000
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1054872000
>
>12. DEMOCRACY UP, AMERICA DOWN
>http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=185
> Throughout the world, including Muslim countries, people place a
> high value on freedom of expression, freedom of the press,
> multi-party systems and equal treatment under the law, reports a
> 44-nation survey of world opinion conducted by the Pew Research
> Center for the People and the Press. Support for the United States,
> however, is another matter. "The speed of the war in Iraq and the
> prevailing belief that the Iraqi people are better off as a result
> have modestly improved the image of America," states the survey
> summary. "But in most countries, opinions of the U.S. are markedly
> lower than they were a year ago. The war has widened the rift
> between Americans and Western Europeans, further inflamed the
> Muslim world, softened support for the war on terrorism, and
> significantly weakened global public support for the pillars of the
> post-World War II era -- the U.N. and the North Atlantic alliance."
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1054731074
>
>13. MCDONALD'S THINKS IT'S 'GREEN'
> Inter Press Service reports that "The recent appointment of fast
> food giant McDonald's to the advisory board of an environmental
> group has drawn accusations of 'green washing' from
> environmentalists and led one board member to resign in protest.
> Paul Hawken, a well-known activist and environmentalist respected
> for his strong opposition to corporate globalisation, resigned two
> weeks ago from the Green Business Network... . 'McDonald's doesn't
> have the expertise, the credibility or the values to be on the
> steering committee of a green business,' Hawken, a board member
> since the NGO started its operation in 2000, told IPS in an
> interview." Meanwhile, as if to prove his point, the fast food
> chain is suing a prominent Italian food writer for criticizing its
> offerings. McDonald's wants Edoardo Raspelli to fork over millions
> of dollars for telling an interviewer, among other things, that
> 'gastronomically speaking, I find their meals repellent.'
>SOURCE: Inter Press Service, The Guardian, June 4, 2003
>Web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2003.html#1054699201
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1054699201
>
>14. RENDON GROUP WORKS FOR JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF
>http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0603rendon.htm
> The Rendon Group, a secretive PR firm whose government clients have
> included the Pentagon, the CIA, and USAID, has gone to work for the
> Joint Chiefs of Staff, trade publication O'Dwyer's PR Daily
> reports. The Washington D.C.-based firm is providing "strategic
> communications counsel, media analysis and consultation support
> services" to the Joint Chiefs, combatant commanders and top
> military advisors. O'Dwyer's reports that the Joint Chiefs
> exercised an option on the Rendon Groups initial four-month
> $397,000 contract with the Pentagon, awarded without bid following
> the 9/11 attacks. The Rendon Group has been credited with creating
> the Iraqi National Congress in the aftermath of the 1991 Persian
> Gulf War. The New Yorker's Seymour Hersch reported last year that
> Rendon received more than $100 million from the CIA for clandestine
> operations in Iraq between 1991-1996.
>SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily, June 3, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2003.html#1054612801
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1054612801
>
>15. COMPANY PAID DOCTORS TO PROMOTE DRUG
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/30/business/30DRUG.html?ex=1055727962&ei=1&en=efb1bfd6b1b233e6
> "Documents released yesterday in the case of a drug company
> whistle-blower shed light on how extensively doctors were involved
> in promoting unapproved uses of a Warner-Lambert drug, Neurontin.
> Warner-Lambert paid dozens of doctors tens of thousands of dollars
> each to speak to other physicians about how Neurontin, an epilepsy
> drug, could be prescribed for more than a dozen other medical uses
> that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The
> top speaker for Neurontin, Dr. B. J. Wilder, a former professor of
> neurology at the University of Florida, received more than $300,000
> for speeches given from 1994 to 1997, according to a court filing.
> Six other doctors, including some from top medical schools,
> received more than $100,000 each."
>SOURCE: New York Times, May 30, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1054267202
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Carpentier Nico (Phd)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University Brussels
Studies on Media, Information & Telecommunication (SMIT)
Centre for Media Sociology (CeMeSO)
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