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[eccr] Fwd: The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Wed Apr 16 07:24:16 GMT 2003
>THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, April 16, 2003
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>The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to
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>THIS WEEK'S NEWS
>
>1. Live from the Middle East
>2. Saddam TV Off, Pentagon TV On, In Iraq
>3. Tutwiler, New Top Iraq Flack, May Take Beers' Old Job
>4. Who Needs Movies? We've Got the FOX War Channel.
>5. Americans Watching Their War on Cable, Not Networks
>6. Big Media Covers Bush Administration While Lobbying It
>7. TV Wraps Itself in the Flag and Sells the War
>8. Sony, Others, Want to Market "Shock and Awe"
>9. The Fear Factor
>10. Lack Of Dead Bodies On TV "PR Coup"
>11. Historic Moment or Staged Publicity Shot?
>12. US Flag Banned in Iraq
>13. The Rest of the World
>14. Pentagon PR Star Torie Clarke Embeds the Press
>15. SUV Owners Group a Front for Industry
>16. Corporations Ask Shareholders To Support Bush Tax Cut
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>1. LIVE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
>http://www.worldlinktv.org/mosaic/stream.php3
> Curious to know how the news is reported in Arab countries? Now you
> can see for yourself. Working with WorldlinkTV, the Internet
> Archive is archiving and providing non-commercial access to
> "Mosaic," a TV program that iMosaic selects, translates, and
> repackages news programs from the Middle East for a western
> audience.
>More web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2003.html#1050444601
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1050444601
>
>2. SADDAM TV OFF, PENTAGON TV ON, IN IRAQ
>http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2571900
> Reuters notes that in Iraq the Pentagon propaganda channel called
> "Nahwa Al-Hurrieh or 'Toward Freedom,' was officially launched on
> Thursday. A specially modified plane called 'Commando Solo' is
> flying over Iraq broadcasting both television and radio for several
> hours a day. ... The programs seen in Baghdad on Tuesday had been
> produced in London." The World Socialist Web Site comments that
> "having served unofficially as a propaganda arm of the White House
> and Pentagon before and during the war on Iraq, the major US media
> networks, with the exception of CNN, have agreed to make their
> function official. In the name of providing Iraq's people with a
> taste of a free press, ABC, CBS, Fox and the Public Broadcasting
> Service (PBS) have decided to provide content for a
> Pentagon-controlled television service in Iraq. "
>SOURCE: Reuters, April 15, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2003.html#1050379201
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1050379201
>
>3. TUTWILER, NEW TOP IRAQ FLACK, MAY TAKE BEERS' OLD JOB
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/15/international/worldspecial/15TUTW.html?ex=1051412118&ei=1&en=0b70ad3e6808df15
> "Margaret Tutwiler, the United States ambassador to Morocco, left
> Rabat for Baghdad today to assume a temporary position overseeing
> all public relations and information operations in postwar Iraq.
> Ms. Tutwiler, who was the State Department spokeswoman during the
> Persian Gulf war in 1991, ... also said she was still in
> discussions with Bush administration officials about a separate
> offer to return to Washington as the under secretary of state for
> public diplomacy and public affairs. If Ms. Tutwiler took the State
> Department job, she would be charged with improving the image of
> the United States abroad, particularly in Muslim countries ... .
> Charlotte Beers, 67, announced last month that she was resigning
> from the job for health reasons."
>SOURCE: New York Times, April 15, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1050379200
>
>4. WHO NEEDS MOVIES? WE'VE GOT THE FOX WAR CHANNEL.
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/14/business/media/14MOVI.html?ex=1051409947&ei=1&en=d18939005a9933e6
> "Nearly every military-related film to reach theaters this year has
> been a box-office disappointment, leaving some in Hollywood to
> question how much the 24-hour news coverage of the Iraq invasion
> has dimmed the public appetite for images of combat," and "some
> critics suggest that moviegoers are staying away because they have
> plenty of real-time war action already on cable and network news
> programs. 'When television came on with 24-hour news channels, it
> changed what we needed,' said Jeanine Basinger, chairman of film
> studies at Wesleyan University and author of The World War II
> Combat Film: Anatomy of a Genre. 'During World War II you needed
> movies to help people see and understand events they were hearing
> about.' Now, she said, 'we are kind of inured; we have seen a lot
> of blood and combat.' "
>SOURCE: New York Times, April 14, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1050292802
>
>5. AMERICANS WATCHING THEIR WAR ON CABLE, NOT NETWORKS
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/14/business/media/14TUBE.html?ex=1051412235&ei=1&en=14957fa258387744
> "With the most televised war in history winding down, executives at
> TV news organizations are noticing one startling detail in how
> Americans are watching the coverage: viewers are increasingly
> tuning out the broadcast networks' evening newscasts. ... The
> overall decline in the evening news programs' ratings, coming at
> the same time as the three cable news networks achieved gains of
> more than 300 percent, could be a watershed moment in how Americans
> get their news on television. ... Andrew Heyward, the president of
> CBS News, said the Bush administration's new policy of placing
> reporters with the military units engaged in the fighting, was the
> most significant factor driving the decline. It introduced a new
> element of live, often visceral, coverage that had a profound
> impact on viewers, he said."
>SOURCE: New York Times, April 14, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1050292801
>
>6. BIG MEDIA COVERS BUSH ADMINISTRATION WHILE LOBBYING IT
>http://media.guardian.co.uk/iraqandthemedia/story/0,12823,935104,00.html
> While the giant US media networks are covering the US's invasion of
> Iraq, they are also heavily lobbying to get rid of restriction on
> the number of TV and radio stations they can own in one market.The
> Guardian reports media critics are alarmed by what they see as a
> "serious conflict of interest" concerning how the broadcast
> industry covers the Bush administration. "It is likely that
> decisions about how to cover the war on Iraq - especially on
> television - may be tempered by a concern not alienate the White
> House," said Jeffrey Chester, Center for Digital Democracy
> executive director, in a recent article. "These media giants stand
> to make untold billions if the FCC safeguards are eliminated or
> weakened." The Guardian writes, "Mr Chester accused the US media of
> adopting a 'narrow-minded commercial mindset' , reflected by their
> failure to 'effectively analyse and criticise the Iraq war policy'
> ahead of an impending ruling by the FCC on the media ownership
> regime."
>SOURCE: Guardian (UK), April 14, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2003.html#1050292800
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1050292800
>
>7. TV WRAPS ITSELF IN THE FLAG AND SELLS THE WAR
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/13/arts/television/13RICH.html?ex=1051438686&ei=1&en=ee15161d4eb70390
> Columnist Frank Rich writes, "There's almost nothing in the war, it
> seems, that cannot be exploited as a network promo. ... When
> Victoria Clarke at the Pentagon says Saddam is responsible for
> 'decades and decades and decades of torture and oppression the
> likes of which I think the world has not ever seen before,' no one
> on Fox or MSNBC is going to gainsay her by bringing up Hitler and
> Stalin. To so much as suggest that the world may have seen thugs
> even more evil than Saddam is to engage in moral relativism --
> which, in the prevailing Foxspeak of the moment, is itself
> tantamount to treason. In retrospect we can see that patriotism as
> a TV news marketing ploy was inevitable ... . ...the prewar joke,
> that this war would be the ultimate reality show, has come true."
>SOURCE: New York Times, April 13, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1050206400
>
>8. SONY, OTHERS, WANT TO MARKET "SHOCK AND AWE"
>http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/5615404.htm
> "A day after U.S. allied forces marched into Iraq, Sony applied for
> a trademark on the war's catchphrase, 'shock and awe,' for use as a
> video game title, according to a filing with the U.S. Patent and
> Trademark Office. It was unclear if Sony planned to make use of the
> name. The application, dated March 21, was first discovered by
> British publication Media Guardian. The U.S. Patent and Trademark
> office has more than a dozen applications for uses of the phrase,
> including for fireworks, lingerie, baby toys, shampoo and
> consulting services. Military strategist Harlan Ullman coined
> 'shock and awe' in 1996 to describe pressuring the enemy to give up
> with little fighting."
>SOURCE: St. Paul Pioneer Press, April 12, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1050120000
>
>9. THE FEAR FACTOR
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A5649-2003Apr10?language=printer
> The producer of a CBS mini-series has been fired after comparing
> the climate of fear in the United States to the political
> environment that enabled Adolf Hitler's rise to power. Ed Gernon,
> the producer of "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" told TV Guide that the
> story "basically boils down to an entire nation gripped by fear,
> who ultimately chose to give up their civil rights and plunged the
> whole world into war. I can't think of a better time to examine
> this history than now." Associates say the remarks were exaggerated
> by a New York Post item that cited Gernon's comment as a sign of
> Hollywood's anti-Americanism and paraphrased his remarks as saying
> that Bush should be looked at "through the prism of Germany's
> psychopath." (They said it, he didn't.)
>SOURCE: Washington Post, April 11, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1050033601
>
>10. LACK OF DEAD BODIES ON TV "PR COUP"
>http://www.prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=176783&site=1
> "As the war seemingly comes to an end with US troops in the centre
> of Baghdad, the propaganda war from both sides has become even more
> desperate," writes Charles Whelan, a former New Labour flack, for
> PR Week's UK edition. "The Iraqi minister for information has had a
> job to do made more difficult by the hour. The poor man was forced
> into making statements at his daily press briefing about how the
> brave Iraqi troops had expelled the Americans from Saddam Hussein
> Airport. On our split TV screens, we could simultaneously see US
> troops firmly in charge of the airport, and yet he defiantly
> claimed: 'Baghdad is safe, the infidels are committing suicide'.
> ... The big similarity in the war coverage over the pond is the
> lack of dead bodies. We are told of thousands of dead Iraqi
> soldiers but are never allowed to see them. It's as if there is a
> conspiracy between the TV companies and the governments to hide the
> real horror of war. The lack of dead bodies on TV has been the
> biggest PR coup of the war."
>SOURCE: PR Week (UK), April 11, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1050033600
>
>11. HISTORIC MOMENT OR STAGED PUBLICITY SHOT?
>http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2842.htm
> "One of the 'most memorable images of the war' is created when U.S.
> troops pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Fardus Square. ...
> The entire event is being hailed as an equivalent of the Berlin
> Wall falling... but even a quick glance of the long-shot photo
> shows something more akin to a carefully constructed media event
> tailored for the television cameras." Meanwhile, BBC journalist
> Paul Wood reports that the US flag that was placed over the face of
> Saddam's statue "was the flag that was flying over the Pentagon on
> September 11. For a lot of the American marines, they think this
> war is all about defeating terrorism, they will tell you that over
> and over again. There is also a connection in the minds of the
> American public between the regime of Saddam and what happened on
> September 11, and apparently the flag that was draped over this
> face was flying over the Pentagon when the plane crashed into it."
> O'Dwyer's PR Daily called the photo-op a " PR bonanza" for the
> Pentagon.
>SOURCE: Information Clearing House website, April 10, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2003.html#1049947201
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1049947201
>
>12. US FLAG BANNED IN IRAQ
>http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/international/worldspecial/10CND-FLAG.html?ex=1051026263&ei=1&en=e4f56ac91fa7f7f3
> "Today, the Army, seeking to demonstrate that its troops in Iraq
> are 'liberators' and not 'conquerors' barred any display of the
> American flag on vehicles, buildings, statues, and command posts.
> The order, which effectively halts the display of the flag
> virtually anywhere in Iraq, except the United States Embassy, said
> that flying the flag on buildings in Iraq would only reenforce the
> anti-American message that the military was 'here to oppress the
> Iraqis.' "
>SOURCE: New York Times, April 10, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1049947200
>
>13. THE REST OF THE WORLD
>http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2538047
> Round-the-clock coverage of the war in Iraq has eclipsed a host of
> bad-news stories from the rest of the world, including a massacre
> in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Israeli killings and
> detentions in the West Bank, and a crackdown on dissidents in Cuba.
> According to Curt Goering of Amnesty International USA, the virtual
> exclusion of most other international news has provide an
> opportunity for repressive authorities to settle old scores.
> "That's been a fear that we had even before the war started,"
> Goering said. "In Cuba that's certainly happening."
>SOURCE: Reuters, April 9, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2003.html#1049860801
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1049860801
>
>14. PENTAGON PR STAR TORIE CLARKE EMBEDS THE PRESS
>http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=14813
> Bill Berkowitz writes that "a relatively quick war against an
> overwhelmed and outmatched foe -- sanitized of civilian casualties
> -- has been a tonic for a Pentagon hungry for good publicity. ...
> Embedding reporters is the brainchild of Victoria 'Torie' Clarke,
> the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. Clarke
> brings considerable PR experience to the task of winning the spin
> war. She recently worked with Hill and Knowlton, the public
> relations firm heavily involved in Gulf War I, and prior to that
> she was president of Bozell Eskew Advertising, an issue advocacy
> and corporate communications company. ... At the Pentagon, Clarke,
> the first woman to hold her position, 'is doing a great job,'
> according to Kevin McCauley, the editor of O'Dwyer's PR Daily.
> 'She's in there with generals in their fifties and sixties, she has
> everyone on message and the fact that she's a woman tends to put a
> softer spin on things.' "
>SOURCE: WorkingForChange.com April 9, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1049860800
>
>15. SUV OWNERS GROUP A FRONT FOR INDUSTRY
>http://www.prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=176452&site=3
> "The Sport Utility Vehicle Owners of America, a grassroots [read:
> industry front] group started in 1999, is in the midst of a major
> membership push and revamping of its website as it seeks to become
> a source of pro-SUV information that the media can turn to," PR
> Week writes. Stratacomm, a PR firm that counts Detroit's big three
> auto makers as well as transportation and alcohol industry trade
> groups and associations as clients, has so far contacted about 120
> journalists about the organization. PR Week writes: "Stratacomm
> plans to relaunch the association's website this month, and seeks
> to expand membership to 50,000 by the end of this year. The group,
> founded by SUV owner Bill Brouse, now has only a few hundred
> members." The group's board of directors includes Stratacomm's
> Jason Vines, who services as the board president, and
> representatives from the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association
> and the Marine Retailers Association of America.
>SOURCE: PR Week, April 7, 2003
>More web links related to this story are available at:
> http://www.prwatch.org/spin/April_2003.html#1049688005
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1049688005
>
>16. CORPORATIONS ASK SHAREHOLDERS TO SUPPORT BUSH TAX CUT
>http://www.prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=176404&site=3
> "In an unusual mix of investor relations and grassroots political
> outreach, several corporate giants have sent letters to
> shareholders asking them to contact members of Congress to support
> President Bush's proposed dividend tax cut," PR Week writes.
> "[S]everal large dividend-paying companies, including GM,
> Citigroup, Southern Company, ChevronTexaco, and Verizon, have sent
> such letters to shareholders. 'We think this proposal makes good
> economic sense, and is good for our stockholders and General
> Motors,' read a recent letter to GM shareholders from president and
> CEO Rick Wagoner. 'We've shared our enthusiasm for it with members
> of Congress, and we urge you to do the same promptly.'"
>SOURCE: PR Week, April 7, 2003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
> http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1049688004
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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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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