Archive for July 2003

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[eccr] Re: The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, July 2, 2003

Wed Jul 02 06:09:14 GMT 2003


At 05:00 2/07/2003 +0000, you wrote:
>THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, July 2, 2003
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>The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to
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>THIS WEEK'S NEWS
>
>1. Advertising 'Essential 2' Chemical Industry Image
>2. "Consumer Freedom's" Corporate Funding Exposed
>3. The Big Lie Tactic Keeps on Working
>4. War Is The Toughest Story In Journalism
>5. Military Recruitment Ads Focus On Parents
>6. Supreme Court Won't Rule On Corporation's Right To Lie
>7. Toxic Sludge Is NOT Good For You
>8. The "Left-Wing" Media?
>9. Major Media 'Kiss Ass' For Deregulation
>10. Post-war Iraq: Quagmire or Master Plan?
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>1. ADVERTISING 'ESSENTIAL 2' CHEMICAL INDUSTRY IMAGE
>http://pubs.acs.org/cen/today/july1.html
>   The American Chemistry Council is considering an advertising
>   campaign by ad giant Ogilvy & Mather "that would convey to the
>   American public how essential the chemical industry is to modern
>   life." The chemical industry trade association saw the campaign
>   proposal, which could cost several hundred thousand dollars, at its
>   recent exclusive membership meeting, reports Michael McCoy in
>   Chemical & Engineer News. Ogilvy's initial market research "shows
>   that the campaign could really 'move the needle' on the public's
>   dim view of the industry. ... The campaign's central theme is the
>   word essential, which is linked in print to other key words with a
>   subscripted 2, as in essential2knowledge, essential2makebelieve,
>   essential2economicgrowth. ... A typical ad, titled
>   'essential2security,' shows a man holding a shooting target over
>   his chest. Accompanying text informs us that the chemical industry
>   is 'Fibers that make aircraft invisible to radar. Cloth that stops
>   bullets. High-strength carbon fibers that build satellites. Nylon
>   for parachutes and ropes,'" McCoy writes.
>SOURCE: Chemical & Engineering News, July 1, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1057032002
>
>2. "CONSUMER FREEDOM'S" CORPORATE FUNDING EXPOSED
>http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Center_for_Consumer_Freedom
>   Through a whistleblower, the Center for Media & Democracy has
>   obtained a list of financial contributors to the "Center for
>   Consumer Freedom," a front group for the tobacco, restaurant and
>   liquor industries that represents itself as an advocate for
>   consumers' rights. Highlights of the list, which we have added to
>   the group's profile on our Disinfopedia, include $200,000 apiece
>   from Coca-Cola, Excel/Cargill, Monsanto, Tyson Foods and Wendy's
>   International; $164,000 from Outback Steakhouse, and $100,000 from
>   Pilgrim's Pride Corporation.
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1057032001
>
>3. THE BIG LIE TACTIC KEEPS ON WORKING
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-2856210,00.html
>   A favorite PR trick of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels is
>   known as the Big Lie tactic -- repeating a falsehood over and over
>   until most people believe it . Unfortunately, as we relate in our
>   new book Weapons of Mass Deception, the Big Lie tactic worked well
>   for the Bush administration in selling the war on Iraq. The
>   Associated Press reports that "7 in 10 people in a poll say the
>   Bush administration implied that Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein
>   were involved in the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States.
>   And a majority, 52 percent, say they believe the United States has
>   found clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam was working closely with
>   the al-Qaida terrorist organization. The number that believes this
>   country has found weapons of mass destruction is 23 percent, down
>   from 34 percent in May, according to a poll conducted by the
>   Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of
>   Maryland. Prewar assertions by the Bush administration about
>   al-Qaida's ties to the Iraqi government have not been proven, and
>   weapons of mass destruction have not been found since the invasion
>   of Iraq."
>SOURCE: Associated Press, July 1, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/July_2003.html#1057032000
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1057032000
>
>4. WAR IS THE TOUGHEST STORY IN JOURNALISM
>http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,7558,987506,00.html
>   "War, unlike any other news event, asks profound questions of
>   journalists," writes Roy Greenslade in the Guardian. "How do we
>   separate truth from propaganda? How do we overcome the dilemma of
>   political and military leaders controlling access to vital
>   information? What value do we place on what we see on the frontline
>   as against what we are told back at headquarters? ... These
>   questions hovered over last week's Media Guardian forum on war
>   coverage as reporters and desk-bound decision-makers explained how
>   and why they acted as they did. By coincidence the forum took place
>   while the prime minister's director of communications, Alastair
>   Campbell, was appearing in front of a Commons committee to explain
>   the provenance of his "dodgy dossier" which had persuaded many
>   people, including MPs, that invasion was essential to prevent
>   Saddam Hussein from using his supposed weapons of mass destruction.
>   ... Perhaps the most perceptive and witty comment of all came from
>   James Meek, who in spite of observing battles in the desert, said:
>   'I felt I missed the war because I hadn't seen it on TV.'"
>SOURCE: Guardian (UK), June 30, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2003.html#1056945601
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1056945601
>
>5. MILITARY RECRUITMENT ADS FOCUS ON PARENTS
>http://washingtontimes.com/business/20030629-103831-9213r.htm
>   The U.S. Department of Defense has launched a new $1.7 million ad
>   campaign designed to convince parents and other adults to encourage
>   young people to join the military. The Washington Times reports
>   that campaign features five successful veterans, highlighting
>   "qualities such as commitment and perseverance" that the vets have
>   gained from service. "We focus on the more emotional aspects the
>   military has to offer," George Rogers, vice president of the agency
>   that created the ads, told the Times. "It's a branded ingredient to
>   a successful life." The Times reports, "12-page insert featuring
>   five veterans ran in Sports Illustrated and People magazine last
>   week and was scheduled to appear in Time this week. Full-page ads
>   will continue to run there and in Newsweek until August."
>SOURCE: Washington Times, June 30, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1056945600
>
>6. SUPREME COURT WON'T RULE ON CORPORATION'S RIGHT TO LIE
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/26/politics/26CND-NIKE.html
>   The U.S. Supreme Court voted, 6 to 3, to dismiss Nike's appeal of a
>   California Supreme Court decision on commercial speech. The Court
>   said the case raised "novel constitutional questions" but was not
>   ready for the high court's attention. The case, Nike v. Kasky,
>   centered on whether or not Nike violated California's
>   truth-in-advertising laws with its statements about the working
>   conditions in its overseas factories. Nike and its corporate
>   supporters claim the suit was a First Amendment issue. They charge
>   that corporations' abilitites to defend themselves publicly is
>   limited by the California Supreme Court decision. Kasky and public
>   interest activists say the issue is whether corporation have the
>   right to lie. They say the dismissal is a "victory for democracy
>   and the truth. It also marks a notable sidestep after five decades
>   of Court decisions granting more legal power to corporations."
>SOURCE: International Herald Tribune, June 26, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2003.html#1056600002
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1056600002
>
>7. TOXIC SLUDGE IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU
>http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1995Q3/index.html
>   Eight years ago, in 1995, PR Watch broke the stunning story of how
>   the  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promoted the use of
>   toxic sewage sludge as cheap farm fertilizer . The major media
>   failed to report the story. This EPA scandal became a long chapter
>   in our 1995 book Toxic Sludge Is Good for You, documenting the
>   deceptive EPA PR campaign. We're glad to see that the New York
>   Times is discovering the toxic sludge issue, but it's a little late
>   because today most sewage sludge (including New York city's) is
>   spread onto farmland. One serious error in the Times article is the
>   false and misleading statement that "organic farmers prefer
>   biosolids [the EPA's PR term for sludge] over chemical
>   fertilizers." In fact, the only way to avoid crops and animals
>   raised on sewage sludge is to buy certified organic food. Consumers
>   and organic farmers defeated the EPA's efforts to allow food grown
>   in sludge to be called "organic."
>SOURCE: New York Times, June 26, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2003.html#1056600001
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1056600001
>
>8. THE "LEFT-WING" MEDIA?
>http://monthlyreview.org/0603editr.htm
>   "If we learn nothing else from the war on Iraq and its subsequent
>   occupation, it is that the U.S. ruling class has learned to make
>   ideological warfare as important to its operations as military and
>   economic warfare," write Robert W. McChesney and John Bellamy
>   Foster in this excerpt from their upcoming book, The Big Picture:
>   Understanding Media through Political Economy. "A crucial component
>   of this ideological war has been the campaign against 'left-wing
>   media bias,' with the objective of reducing or eliminating the
>   prospect that mainstream U.S. journalism might be at all critical
>   toward elite interests or the system set up to serve those
>   interests."
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/June_2003.html#1056600000
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1056600000
>
>9. MAJOR MEDIA 'KISS ASS' FOR DEREGULATION
>http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,984897,00.html
>   American TV networks gave the Bush administration glowing coverage
>   of Iraq war in exchange for the relaxation of media ownership
>   rules, according to Michael Wolff, a media commentator and New York
>   Magazine columnist. "Ass kissing has gone on to a profound degree.
>   It's pervasive throughout all these news organisations. They need
>   the FCC to behave in certain ways. In order to do this we have got
>   to go along to get along," said Wolff, who delivered the keynote
>   speech at a MediaGuardian forum on war coverage. Wolff also was
>   critical of the system of the Pentagon embedding journalists with
>   troops. "I have difficulty in understanding why somebody didn't
>   say: 'You're not becoming a war reporter, you're becoming a PR
>   guy'," Wolff said.
>SOURCE: Guardian (UK), June 25, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1056513601
>
>10. POST-WAR IRAQ: QUAGMIRE OR MASTER PLAN?
>http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16254
>   How did the U.S. end up in the growing Iraq quagmire? "One theory
>   is that the neocons, like many in power before them, tend to
>   believe their own propaganda .... The degree to which they helped
>   twist the intelligence about Iraq has become increasingly clear
>   over the past few weeks, as angry intelligence professionals have
>   taken their complaints to the press," journalist Jim Lobe writes.
>   "But hints of a second, not unrelated reason may be found in
>   recent, plain-speaking comments on the enormous budget deficits the
>   administration is running up, even as it continues its drive to cut
>   taxes. 'The lunatics are now in charge of the asylum,' declared a
>   Financial Times editorial last month. The sentiment was seconded by
>   Harvard [sic] economist Paul Krugman in his New York Times column.
>   Krugman, like the Financial Times, argues that the administration
>   ideologues are deliberately creating a fiscal crisis in order to
>   achieve their goal of dismantling a social and economic system that
>   ensured domestic tranquility since the New Deal."
>SOURCE: Alternet, June 24, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1056427201
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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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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