Archive for September 2004

(From 2002 until 2005, this mailing list was called the ECCR mailing list)
[Previous message][Next message][Back to index]

[eccr] The Weekly Spin, Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Wed Sep 15 06:29:43 GMT 2004


At 07:00 15/09/2004, you wrote:
>THE WEEKLY SPIN, Wednesday, September 15, 2004
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>sponsored by the Center for Media and Democracy (www.prwatch.org)
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>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.
>
>SHARE US WITH A FRIEND (OR FIFTY FRIENDS)
>Who do you know who might want to receive Spin of the Week?
>Help us grow our subscriber list!  Just forward this message to
>people you know, encouraging them to sign up at this link:
>
>http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/subscribe_sotd.html
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>THIS WEEK'S NEWS
>
>1. Vote Weekly Spin: Your Input Needed!
>2. NY Times Says Wal-Mart Needs Better Story, Not More Spin
>3. Former Clinton Press Secretary Joins Kerry-Edwards Campaign
>4. The Additive Effect of Ad Agencies
>5. I'm Responsible, if I Do Say So Myself
>6. Foyled Again, by Big Tobacco
>7. Who's Driving the SUV Owners of America?
>8. Dusty Deception
>9. E-Voting: Follow the Money
>10. Marketplace of Campaign Ideas
>11. Freedom of the Press, to Obey
>12. Former Foreign Friends
>13. Greening ExxonMobil
>14. Nutri-washing Junk Food
>15. Super Sue Me
>16. Lobby, Lobby, Lobby, I'm a Liberal
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>1. VOTE WEEKLY SPIN: YOUR INPUT NEEDED!
>http://www.prwatch.org/survey/public/survey.php?name=weekly
>   We need your help - to make our website and our Weekly Spin
>   mailings more interesting and useful to you! Please take a few
>   minutes to fill out a brief survey for the Center for Media and
>   Democracy, at the above link. We need your responses by Wednesday,
>   September 29. As a small thank-you for your time, everyone who
>   fills out the survey before the deadline will be entered in a
>   raffle to win one of ten free copies of the Center's latest book,
>   Banana Republicans: How the Right Wing Is Turning America Into a
>   One-Party State. If you have any questions, feel free to contact
>   Diane at 608-260-9713 or diane AT prwatch.org. Thank you!
>SOURCE: Center for Media and Democracy, September 15, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095220800
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095220800
>
>2. NY TIMES SAYS WAL-MART NEEDS BETTER STORY, NOT MORE SPIN
>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/14/opinion/14tue4.html
>   Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott recently said, "We have not gotten our
>   story out to the extent that we need to." The head of the global
>   super store told a retailing conference that Wal-Mart's bad
>   reputation came from newspapers and television. But a New York
>   Times editorial responded that "if Wal-Mart wants to improve its
>   image, it should focus less on shaping its message and more on
>   changing the way it does business. ... These damaging news stories
>   are not a product of bad spin, but bad facts. If Wal-Mart wants to
>   do a better job in telling its story, it needs to work on having a
>   better story to tell." PR Week reports that Wal-Mart is expanding
>   its media relations team. "There's an acknowledgement throughout
>   the company of the importance of using the media to tell our
>   story," a company spokesperson said. "We're now putting more
>   resources behind doing that." Trade publication O'Dwyer's PR Daily
>   call Wal-Mart's media department, asking for comment on the Times
>   editorial. But the company said it had not decided whether or not
>   to respond. PR giant Fleishman-Hillard is helping Wal-Mart with its
>   image makeover.
>SOURCE: New York Times, September 14, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095134403
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095134403
>
>3. FORMER CLINTON PRESS SECRETARY JOINS KERRY-EDWARDS CAMPAIGN
>http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-14-kerry-mccurry_x.htm
>   Former White House press secretary Mike McCurry joins the
>   Kerry-Edwards campaign as a senior media advisor this week. The
>   Associated Press writes that "the hiring is an acknowledgment that
>   Kerry and his team have failed to communicate a concise, persuasive
>   argument." McCurry served as press secretary from 1995 to 1998,
>   helping former President Bill Clinton through the Monica Lewinsky
>   scandal. Currently he is chairman of Grassroots Enterprises, which
>   specializes in online PR, and a principal at Public Strategies
>   Washington, a lobbying firm that counts as clients Bristol-Myers
>   Squibb, Edison Electric, Lockheed Martin, and the United States
>   Chamber of Commerce. (Ironically, PR Week reports, "The US Chamber
>   of Commerce is helping to launch a 527 group assailing vice
>   presidential candidate John Edwards for his former career as a
>   trial lawyer. The effort will be led by Burson-Marsteller COO Ken
>   Rietz.") Also joining the Kerry campaign are two other Clinton
>   alumni - former press secretary Joe Lockhart, a partner at the
>   Glover Park Group, and former legislative strategist Joel Johnson,
>   who's co-founder and managing director of The Harbour Group, a PR
>   and crisis communications firm, PR Week reports.
>SOURCE: USA Today, September 14, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095134402
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095134402
>
>4. THE ADDITIVE EFFECT OF AD AGENCIES
>http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109511119153916631,00.html?mod=mm%5Fhs%5Fadvertising
>   "WPP Group's agreement to buy Grey Global Group solidifies ad
>   industry power in the hands of four big firms," reports the Wall
>   Street Journal. "The takeover also will give WPP access to Grey's
>   long relationships with such clients as Procter & Gamble, one of
>   the world's biggest advertising spenders. ... During the past
>   decade, ad holding companies rushed to gobble up agencies to serve
>   more clients. ... As a result of the buying binges, the big four ad
>   holding companies are WPP [of Britain]; Omnicom and Interpublic
>   Group, both of New York; and France's Publicis Groupe" - all of
>   which, except for Publicis, have their own PR firms.
>SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095134401
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095134401
>
>5. I'M RESPONSIBLE, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF
>http://www.greenconsumerguide.com/index.php?news=2156
>   The environmental group Friends of the Earth will hold "a mock
>   awards ceremony aimed at exposing the green spin and corporate
>   social responsibility failings of UK companies." CSR is big
>   business; a recent APCO Worldwide survey of more than 400 people in
>   10 countries found that "corporate social responsibility
>   initiatives are influential on consumer purchase habits." CSR
>   efforts caused more than 70% of respondents to buy a company's
>   products or services, while negative reports led 60% to boycott
>   companies. APCO suggests companies "shape the opinion environment
>   through their own communications, as opposed to fearing the impact
>   of information from external [independent] organizations."
>SOURCE: Green Consumer Guide, September 14, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095134400
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095134400
>
>6. FOYLED AGAIN, BY BIG TOBACCO
>http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109503368828415904,00.html?mod=us_business_whats_news
>   In 1990, British lawyer Andrew Foyle wrote a memorandum to British
>   American Tobacco regarding the company's "document retention
>   policy." U.S. government lawyers contend the Foyle memo provides
>   information on tobacco companies' actions "to destroy, suppress or
>   otherwise shield from discovery ... internal research documents
>   concerning smoking and health." The U.S. is seeking release of the
>   memo for use in its $280 billion lawsuit against big tobacco; BAT
>   is claiming attorney-client privilege. A federal district court has
>   ordered BAT to release the memo at least three times, but the
>   company's challenges will delay the memo's potential release until
>   after the U.S. lawsuit.
>SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095048001
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095048001
>
>7. WHO'S DRIVING THE SUV OWNERS OF AMERICA?
>http://prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=222004&site=3
>   "It's hard to believe that there isn't an attempt to deceive here,"
>   writes PR commentator Paul Holmes, considering the industry group
>   SUV Owners of America's self-description, on its website, as "a
>   nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to supporting the rights
>   and serving the interests of SUV owners," providing a "voice and
>   advocate for SUV owners." But Holmes notes that "its board of
>   directors consists largely of industry reps and public affairs
>   execs with ties to the industry." Moreover, "the group's funding is
>   opaque: It's certainly not explained on SUVOA's website or in its
>   press releases. And that's my problem with front groups."
>SOURCE: PR Week (sub. req'd.), September 13, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1095048000
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1095048000
>
>8. DUSTY DECEPTION
>http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=560842
>   "Up to 400,000 New Yorkers breathed in the most toxic polluting
>   cloud ever recorded after the twin towers were brought down three
>   years ago, but no proper effort has been made to find out how their
>   health has been affected. [A] US government study provides the
>   latest evidence of a systematic cover-up of the health toll from
>   pollution after the 9/11 disaster, which doctors fear will cause
>   more deaths than the attacks themselves," the Independent writes.
>   The Government Accountability Office report "September 11: Health
>   Effects in the Aftermath of the World Trade Center Attack"
>   concludes that programs monitoring the long-term health effects of
>   the attacks may not be "in operation long enough to adequately
>   capture information about new conditions, chronic conditions, and
>   diseases whose onset may occur decades after exposure to a harmful
>   agent, such as many cancers."
>SOURCE: The Independent, September 12, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094961601
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094961601
>
>9. E-VOTING: FOLLOW THE MONEY
>http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-09-12-electronic-ballots_x.htm
>   "In Nye County, Nevada, last week, one of the new, highly touted
>   electronic-voting devices ... malfunctioned. When the polls closed
>   in the state primary election, it refused to display the results,
>   threatening to disenfranchise everyone who'd used it," reports USA
>   Today. The head of the industry group Information Technology
>   Association of America, writing for ITAA's Election Technology
>   Council, counters, "Critics have yet to document a single
>   real-world security breach," and calls the Nevada election
>   "well-run" and "incident-free." The New York Times warns that many
>   state and local election officials "have financial ties to voting
>   machine companies," an issue we covered in our last PR Watch
>   journal.
>SOURCE: USA Today, September 12, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094961600
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094961600
>
>10. MARKETPLACE OF CAMPAIGN IDEAS
>http://www.boston.com/news/politics/advertising/articles/2004/09/10/more_smaller_groups_airing_political_ads/
>   "If you're some group with an agenda, an ax to grind or an issue to
>   promote, now's the time," said the Campaign Media Analysis Group's
>   president. "Political advertising by smaller groups, and
>   individuals in some cases, is popping up across the country,"
>   reports Associated Press, "on top of the millions of dollars that
>   larger, partisan groups have spent" on ads. Conservative groups
>   West Virginians for Life, the American Defense Council and
>   MoveOnForAmerica.org, and liberal groups Save Our Environment,
>   Mothers Opposing Bush and Texans for Truth are running TV and/or
>   radio ads.
>SOURCE: Associated Press, September 10, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094788801
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094788801
>
>11. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, TO OBEY
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9703-2004Sep9.html
>   After seven AIDS activists disrupted a Pennsylvania campaign
>   appearance by President Bush, "Secret Service agents ... supervised
>   the arrests and detention of the activists and blocked the news
>   media from access to the hecklers. ... Journalists were told that
>   if they sought to approach the demonstrators, they would not be
>   allowed to return to the event site - even though their colleagues
>   were free to come and go. ... One journalist who was blocked from
>   returning to the speech [was told by an agent] that this was
>   punishment for approaching the demonstrators."
>SOURCE: Washington Post, September 10, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094788800
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094788800
>
>12. FORMER FOREIGN FRIENDS
>http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=559672
>   "Seven out of 10 Americans are worried about the worsening of their
>   country's image around the world," according to a new poll by the
>   University of Maryland and Globescan, "although almost
>   three-quarters said world opinion would have no impact on their
>   vote" for president. A German Marshall Fund transatlantic poll
>   found that "76 percent of Europeans disapprove of current U.S.
>   foreign policy, and 58 percent of them want Europe to take a more
>   independent approach to foreign affairs," which is "bad news for
>   the 60 percent of Americans who say they would like the U.S. to
>   strengthen its partnership with the European Union."
>SOURCE: Independent (UK), September 9, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094702400
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094702400
>
>13. GREENING EXXONMOBIL
>http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0908exxon.htm
>   "Weber Shandwick is handling the 'greening' of ExxonMobil Corp. by
>   promoting an alliance forged between the energy giant and Earth
>   911, a government/private sector entity with the motto of 'making
>   every day Earth Day,'" O'Dwyer's PR Daily writes. "The partnership
>   aims to educate consumers about the importance of recycling used
>   motor oil. ExxonMobil will provide funding for Earth 911 in return
>   for the right to slap the group's logo on its Exxon- and
>   Mobil-branded products. Earth 911's public service announcements
>   will feature the Mobil 1 logo and the location of used motor oil
>   collection sites. Earth 911's corporate partners include
>   Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, Aluminum Assn. of America and Vertex
>   Energy, a company that recycles petroleum products. The
>   ExxonMobil/Earth 911 partnership comes 15 years after the Exxon
>   Valdez dumped 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince
>   William Sound."
>SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub. req'd.), September 8, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094616005
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094616005
>
>14. NUTRI-WASHING JUNK FOOD
>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/09/08/EDGLE8JMHR1.DTL
>   "Years ago, the environmental movement coined the term
>   "greenwashing" to describe how corporations use public relations to
>   make themselves appear environmentally friendly. Now, nutrition
>   advocates need their own moniker for a similar trend among major
>   food companies - call it 'nutri-washing,'" writes Michele Simon, a
>   public health lawyer and director of the Center for Informed Food
>   Choices. "Some nutrition advocates have applauded such efforts as
>   an attempt by industry to make improvements, however minor. But to
>   praise companies for such 'reforms' too easily rewards them with
>   the positive public-relations spin they seek. Also, these voluntary
>   actions deliberately attempt to deflect any mandatory government
>   regulations - for, as we are starting to learn, voluntary acts can
>   easily be rescinded. ... Moreover, these PR efforts don't tell the
>   whole story. Behind the scenes, industry is lobbying hard to
>   undermine public-health advocacy, especially that aimed at
>   improving the nutrition environment of public schools."
>SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, September 8, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094616003
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094616003
>
>15. SUPER SUE ME
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1299208,00.html
>   British environmental activists David Morris and Helen Steel, found
>   guilty of defaming McDonald's in 1997, are challenging English
>   libel law before the European Court of Human Rights. They call the
>   law "patently unfair" for not addressing "the stark inequality
>   between ordinary individuals and a massive corporation." McDonald's
>   global sales rose from $19 to $30 billion during the McLibel trial.
>   "During the same period," said the activists' lawyer, "Ms. Steel's
>   maximum income was 65 Pounds ($116 US) a week ... and Mr. Morris, a
>   single parent, was unwaged and entirely dependent on income
>   support." The British government's lawyer warned of "one-sided
>   campaigns of vilification."
>SOURCE: The Guardian (UK), September 8, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094616002
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094616002
>
>16. LOBBY, LOBBY, LOBBY, I'M A LIBERAL
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3731-2004Sep7.html
>   Further illustrating "the revolving door that exists between those
>   who run campaigns and those who lobby," the Kerry campaign's recent
>   hires -- Joel Johnson, Joe Lockhart, Howard Wolfson and Michael
>   Whouley -- are all lobbyists, as well as Democratic strategists.
>   Johnson directs the Harbour Group, a frequent Alexander Strategy
>   Group partner whose clients include the oil and pharmaceutical
>   industries. Johnson also represented the Asbestos Study Group
>   industry coalition. Whouley's Dewey Square Group, "one of the
>   country's foremost experts in so-called grass-roots and grass-tops
>   lobbying," often works with the DCI Group. Lockhart and Wolfson are
>   partners at the Glover Park Group. Doug Ireland notes that "on
>   CNN's Inside Politics, Jesse Jackson delivered a blistering attack
>   on the Kerry campaign for running away from the Democratic base and
>   the issues it cares about."
>SOURCE: Washington Post, September 8, 2004
>More web links related to this story are available at:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/spin/September_2004.html#1094616001
>To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
>    http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1094616001
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The Weekly Spin is compiled by staff and volunteers at the
>Center for Media and Democracy. To subscribe or unsubcribe, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/subscribe_sotd.html
>
>Daily updates and news from past weeks can be found at the
>Spin of the Day" section of the Center website:
>http://www.prwatch.org/spin/index.html
>
>Archives of our quarterly publication, PR Watch, are at:
>http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues
>
>PR Watch, Spin of the Day and the Weekly Spin are projects
>of the Center for Media & Democracy, a nonprofit organization
>that offers investigative reporting on the public relations
>industry. We help the public recognize manipulative and
>misleading PR practices by exposing the activities of
>secretive, little-known propaganda-for-hire firms that
>work to control political debates and public opinion.
>Please send any questions or suggestions about our
>publications to:
>(editor /at/ prwatch.org)
>
>Contributions to the Center for Media and Democracy
>are tax-deductible. Send checks to:
>    CMD
>    520 University Ave. #227
>    Madison, WI 53703
>
>To donate now online, visit:
>https://www.egrants.org/donate/index.cfm?ID=2344-0|1118-0
>_______________________________________________
>Weekly-Spin mailing list
>(Weekly-Spin /at/ prwatch.org)
>http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/weekly-spin

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Carpentier Nico (Phd)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Katholieke Universiteit Brussel - Catholic University of Brussels
Vrijheidslaan 17 - B-1081 Brussel - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-412.42.78
F: ++ 32 (0)2/412.42.00
Office: 4/0/18
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Media Sociology (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.30
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.28.61
Office: C0.05
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
European Consortium for Communication Research
Web: http://www.eccr.info
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ kubrussel.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  


----------------
ECCR-Mailing list
---
To unsubscribe, send an email message to (majordomo /at/ listserv.vub.ac.be)
with in the body of the message (NOT in the subject): unsubscribe eccr
---
ECCR - European Consortium for Communications Research
Secretariat: P.O. Box 106, B-1210 Brussels 21, Belgium
Tel.: +32-2-412 42 78/47
Fax.: +32-2-412 42 00
Email: (freenet002 /at/ pi.be) or (Rico.Lie /at/ pi.be)
URL: http://www.eccr.info
----------------


[Previous message][Next message][Back to index]