[ecrea] Fwd: The Weekly Spin, September 6, 2006

>X-Sieve: CMU Sieve 2.2
>Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 12:15:30 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Weekly Spin <(weekly-spin /at/ prwatch.org)>
>Reply-To: (weekly-spin /at/ prwatch.org)
>To: (cmd+weekly_spin-46979 /at/ lists.democracyinaction.org)
>Subject: The Weekly Spin, September 6, 2006
>Envelope-to: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
>X-Spam-Checker-Version: maxi.ulb.ac.be SA 2.63 (2004-01-11)
>X-Spam-Status: Yes, hits=7.9, level=*******
>
>
>THE WEEKLY SPIN, September 6, 2006
>
>Sponsored by the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy:
>http://www.prwatch.org
>
>To support our work now online visit:
>https://www.groundspring.org/donate/index.cfm?ID=2344-0|1118-0
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to
>further information about media, political spin and propaganda. 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 "The Weekly Spin"? 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
>
>== BLOG POSTINGS ==
>1. New Update: Exposing Earmarks
>
>== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
>1. Sept 7 in Milwaukee: Future of Media FCC Hearing
>2. Coca-Cola's Demon Drinks
>3. Inclusive Fake News Practices
>4. Online References on Iraq Planning and Lying
>5. Hijacking 9/11
>6. Drug Company SLAPP's Over Lindane For Lice
>7. Oil and PR Open Doors for Kazakh Leader
>8. FDA Goes, Hat in Hand, To the Drug Industry
>9. Kenneth Tomlinson Caught Horsing Around
>10. Just What Iraq Needs: More Spin
>11. GM Tries To Drive Young Journalists
>12. Wanted: Wisconsin Media Activists for FCC Hearing
>
>== UPCOMING EVENTS ==
>1. Milwaukee, WI - FCC town meeting
>2. Hold the Media Accountable: Fighting Bob Fest Kick-Off Benefit
>3. Fighting Bob Fest
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>== BLOG POSTINGS ==
>
>1. NEW UPDATE: EXPOSING EARMARKS
>by Elliott Fullmer
>
>   The secret is out!
>        After the blogging community helped produce denials from 98
>   senators, spokespersons for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Sen.
>   Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) finally admitted that they had placed
>   anonymous holds preventing the Coburn-Obama-Carper-McCain earmark
>   reform bill from reaching the floor.
>For the rest of this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5142
>
>== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
>
>1. SEPT 7 IN MILWAUKEE: FUTURE OF MEDIA FCC HEARING
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5112
>   Do you want more quality journalism? Are you concerned about the
>   consolidation of media ownership? Is your community fairly
>   represented in the media? Tell the U.S. Federal Communications
>   Commission directly, at tomorrow's "Town Meeting on the Future of
>   Media" in Milwaukee! The Center for Media and Democracy is
>   co-sponsoring the September 7 event, at which members of the public
>   will share media concerns with FCC Commissioners Copps and
>   Adelstein. See our website or Free Press' website for more
>   information. At a similar hearing in Los Angeles this week, FCC
>   Commissioners heard from people concerned "that the consolidation of
>   station ownership had led to a pronounced decline in in-depth news
>   reporting, diversity of viewpoints and quality children's
>   programming," and from Hispanic community members concerned about
>   media labor practices and racist radio programming, reports the LA
>   Times.
>SOURCE: Center for Media and Democracy, September 6, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5153
>
>2. COCA-COLA'S DEMON DRINKS
>http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2006/09/03/1157222010877.html
>   Coca-Cola's new advertising campaign - titled "Drink, Choose, Live"
>   - is aimed at reassuring parents that it has products other than
>   soft drinks. The company states, "If you're not in the mood for
>   water, it's OK to also reach for something else you enjoy, like
>   juice or a soft drink. Of course water is always the best choice;
>   it's just not the only one." Earlier in the week, the company's
>   Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness organized a breakfast
>   session for those attending the International Congress on Obesity in
>   Sydney. One of those speaking at the session was John Foreyt, the
>   director of the Behavioural Medicine Research Centre at the Baylor
>   College of Medicine in Houston. High-sugar drinks, he complained,
>   have been "demonised ??? it's a single-culprit theory."
>SOURCE: Sydney Morning Herald, September 4, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5152
>
>3. INCLUSIVE FAKE NEWS PRACTICES
>http://www.prweek.com/us/features/article/589308/Sponsorships-steady-despite-tough-times/
>   PR Week has good news for marketers and PR professionals seeking to
>   reach Black audiences: there are "about 1,100 [radio] stations in
>   the U.S. programmed toward African Americans. ... And even in the
>   age of new media, these hip-hop, urban contemporary, R&B, jazz, and
>   gospel stations are often the first source of news for this
>   audience." Medialink Worldwide's Michele Wallace said there's no
>   need to produce different audio news releases (ANRs) or public
>   service announcements for each city, but to include "market-specific
>   information in your support materials." PR Week counsels against
>   relying on ANRs, since "most African-American radio stations prefer
>   their own hosts to handle interviews."
>SOURCE: PR Week (sub req'd), August 24, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5150
>
>4. ONLINE REFERENCES ON IRAQ PLANNING AND LYING
>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB198/index.htm
>   Newly-available documents detailing the early work of the "Future of
>   Iraq Project," the U.S. State Department's massive planning effort
>   for post-regime change Iraq, have been posted online by the National
>   Security Archive, a non-profit research institute. The new documents
>   "provide a behind-the-scenes look at the formation of 17 working
>   groups consisting of 'free' Iraqis and experts, 14 of which met
>   throughout 2002 and early 2003 to plan for a post-Saddam Hussein
>   Iraq," according to the National Security Archive. "The first
>   planning meeting with Iraqis took place at the Middle East Institute
>   in Washington D.C. from April 9-10, 2002." In other Iraq news,
>   Mother Jones magazine has launched "Lie by Lie," a timeline seeking
>   to answer the question, "What did our leaders know and when did they
>   know it?" The online reference currently covers from August 1990 to
>   March 2003.
>SOURCE: The National Security Archive, September 1, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5149
>
>5. HIJACKING 9/11
>http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/09/04/hijacking-911
>   The FireDogLake weblog has featured an article by Sheldon Rampton
>   describing the ABC television network's plan to broadcast a
>   right-wing "docudrama" that attempts to place a lion???s share of
>   the blame for the 9/11 terrorist attacks on alleged failures of the
>   Clinton administration. Under fire, ABC has erased the show???s
>   official blog, after it attracted multiple comments from the public
>   criticizing the film's inaccuracies. However, a Google cache of the
>   blog still exists, and ThinkProgress.org has save a copy of some of
>   the content that the Google cache missed.
>SOURCE: FireDogLake, September 4, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5148
>
>6. DRUG COMPANY SLAPP'S OVER LINDANE FOR LICE
>http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=9574
>   The specialty drug manufacturer Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals has
>   filed a legal suit against the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor,
>   Michigan. The drug company is upset at the Center's opposition to
>   the continued use of lindane as a fallback treatment for head lice.
>   The suit, filed in the federal court in Chicago, accuses the Ecology
>   Center and two pediatricians of "disseminating false, misleading,
>   and libelous statements about the safety profile and effectiveness
>   of Lindane." In early August, the Environmental Protection Agency
>   announced the withdrawal of all agricultural products in the U.S.
>   containing the pesticide. "It makes no sense that lindane can't be
>   used on pets or plants or persons serving in the military, but it
>   can still be used on children," Mike Garfield, director of the
>   Ecology Center, wrote in a statement. "It's a clear and simple
>   harassment lawsuit intended to silence us."
>SOURCE: Metro Times (Michigan), August 23, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5147
>
>7. OIL AND PR OPEN DOORS FOR KAZAKH LEADER
>http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0829kazakhstan_beacon.htm
>   "SML Strategic Media, the Washington, D.C. PR and editorial shop,
>   placed a four-page advertorial in the September / October Foreign
>   Affairs, the high-brow political journal, extolling progress made in
>   Kazakhstan under the leadership of Nursultan Nazarbayev." But
>   Gregoire de Bourgues, who coordinated the "advertorial," was stabbed
>   to death in Kazakhstan while doing research for it. According to
>   O'Dwyer's, "An official at Kazakhstan's Journalists in Danger
>   organization suspects that de Bourgues may have uncovered
>   information about the recent murders of two prominent opposition
>   leaders." Kazakh president Nazarbayev will "visit the White House
>   later this year, and spend some time at the Bush family compound in
>   Maine." The Washington Post reports that Nazarbayev "has banned
>   opposition parties, intimidated the press and profited from his
>   post. ... But he also sits atop massive oil reserves that have
>   helped open doors in Washington."
>SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), August 29, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5145
>
>8. FDA GOES, HAT IN HAND, TO THE DRUG INDUSTRY
>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115707824013151485.html
>   "Regulators usually don't negotiate their budgets with the
>   industries they oversee," writes Anna Wilde Mathews, but the U.S.
>   Food and Drug Administration does. In the early 1990s, drug
>   companies started paying the FDA millions of dollars in user fees,
>   to speed the drug approval process. The fees "now fund more than
>   half the agency's critical drug-review process." Industry groups and
>   the FDA renegotiate the fees and how they're used every five years,
>   giving drug makers "considerable input into which programs receive
>   funding." The FDA is currently negotiating the next agreement, with
>   the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and
>   Biotechnology Industry Organization. The industry groups are pushing
>   for faster decisions on "labels and other conditions on approval" of
>   new drugs, and faster review of ads voluntarily submitted to the
>   agency. The FDA wants more funding to monitor drugs' safety
>   following their approval.
>SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), September 1, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5144
>
>9. KENNETH TOMLINSON CAUGHT HORSING AROUND
>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/washington/30broadcast.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
>   The State Department Inspector General has released a report finding
>   that Kenneth Tomlinson, the head of the agency overseeing most
>   government broadcasts to foreign countries has used his office to
>   run a ???horse racing operation??? and that he improperly put a
>   friend on the payroll. Tomlinson was ousted from the Corporation for
>   Public Broadcasting last year when another inquiry found evidence
>   that he had violated rules meant to insulate public television and
>   radio from undo political influence. Congress is currently
>   considering Tomlinson???s renomination to a new term as chair of the
>   Broadcasting Board of Governors, the State Department office that
>   oversees foreign broadcasts, including the Voice of America and
>   Radio Free Europe.
>SOURCE: New York Times, August 29, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5143
>
>10. JUST WHAT IRAQ NEEDS: MORE SPIN
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/30/AR2006083003011.html
>   The U.S.-led military force in Iraq is asking for bids on a
>   two-year, $20 million PR contract. The goal is "to effectively
>   communicate Iraqi government and coalition's goals, and build
>   support among our strategic audiences." The work includes monitoring
>   "Iraqi, pan-Arabic, international and U.S. national and regional
>   markets media in both Arabic and English," including U.S. TV, wire
>   services and newspapers like the New York Times, Washington Post and
>   Los Angeles Times. News of "security, reconstruction activities,
>   'high profile' coalition force activities and events in which Iraqi
>   security forces are 'in the lead'" will receive special attention.
>   An anonymous PR practitioner told the Post that military commanders
>   want news "to be received by audiences as it is transmitted ... they
>   don't like how it turns out." O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports that the
>   contract is currently held by the Rendon Group, and "appears to
>   mirror efforts initially handled by the Lincoln Group."
>SOURCE: Washington Post, August 31, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5141
>
>11. GM TRIES TO DRIVE YOUNG JOURNALISTS
>http://weblogs.jomc.unc.edu/talkingbiznews/?p=1320
>   "It seems what young student journalists would be 'learning' from
>   this experience is how to take a free trip and meals from one of the
>   company's larger corporations," wrote University of North Carolina
>   business journalism professor Chris Roush. He had just received an
>   email from one of General Motors' PR people, asking for help in
>   promoting GM's "First College Journalists Event," in Las Vegas on
>   September 9 and 10. "GM will pay for travel, hotel and meals for
>   students that attend," GM's Diedra Wylie wrote. "While in Las Vegas
>   the college journalists will have the opportunity to meet with
>   professional journalists and GM executives." The event might be an
>   extension of GM's previous efforts to buy favorable news coverage.
>   Three of the 36 video news releases tracked in the Center for Media
>   and Democracy's "Fake TV News" report were from GM, making it the
>   most frequent fake news client of the report.
>SOURCE: "Talking Biz News," University of North Carolina blog, August 30, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5140
>
>12. WANTED: WISCONSIN MEDIA ACTIVISTS FOR FCC HEARING
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5111
>   Do you want more quality journalism? Are you concerned about the
>   consolidation of media ownership? Do you think important issues
>   don't get enough air time? Is your community fairly represented in
>   the media? If you live in Wisconsin, in a few days you can tell the
>   Federal Communications Commission directly! The Center for Media and
>   Democracy is organizing a September 5 workshop on FCC issues in
>   Madison, and is co-sponsoring a September 7 "Town Meeting on the
>   Future of Media" in Milwaukee. At the town meeting, members of the
>   public will share their media concerns with FCC Commissioners Copps
>   and Adelstein. CMD is also organizing buses from Madison to the
>   Milwaukee town meeting; see our website or Free Press' website for
>   more information.
>SOURCE: Center for Media and Democracy, August 30, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5139
>
>== UPCOMING EVENTS ==
>
>1. MILWAUKEE, WI - FCC TOWN MEETING
>Date: 09/07/2006 - 18:30 to 09/07/2006 - 23:00
>   Do you want more quality journalism? Are you concerned about the
>   consolidation of media ownership? Do you think important issues
>   don't get enough air time? Is your community fairly represented in
>   the media?
>        Here's your chance to tell the Federal Communications
>   Commission!
>        On Thursday September 7, FCC Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein
>   and Michael Copps will be in Milwaukee, for a "Town Meeting on the
>   Future of Media." Members of the public will raise media issues with
>   the Commissioners directly.
>         Location: UW-Milwaukee Helen Bader Concert Hall, Helene Zelazo
>   Center for the Performing Arts, 2419 E. Kenwood Blvd.
>         Organizer: Free Press
>         URL: http://freepress.net/future/=milwaukee
>For the further information, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5112
>
>2. HOLD THE MEDIA ACCOUNTABLE: FIGHTING BOB FEST KICK-OFF BENEFIT
>Date: 09/08/2006 - 19:00 to 09/08/2006 - 22:00
>   Fighting Bob Fest Kick-Off Benefit: Hold the Media Accountable!
>        Featuring: Greg Palast, ???Armed Madhouse??? John Nichols, The
>   Capital Times & The Nation Robert McChesney, Free Press, Univ. of
>   Illinois Matt Rothschild, The Progressive John Stauber, ???The Best
>   War Ever,??? Center for Media and Democracy Diane Farsetta, Center
>   for Media and Democracy Ed Garvey, FightingBob.com
>        Tickets $5 per person at the door; all proceeds go to
>   FightingBob.com
>         Location: Barrymore Theater, 2090 Atwood Avenue, Madison
>         Organizer: FightingBob.com and The Capital Times
>         URL: http://fightingbobfest.org/
>For the further information, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5125
>
>3. FIGHTING BOB FEST
>Date: 09/09/2006 - 06:00 to 09/09/2006 - 06:00
>   John Stauber, Amy Goodman, Jim Hightower, Tammy Baldwin, Greg
>   Palast, Tom Harkin and Doris ???Granny D??? Haddock will speak at
>   the fifth annual Fighting Bob Fest in Baraboo, Wisconsin on
>   Saturday, September 9, 2006. The theme is perfect for the moment:
>   ???Hold Them Accountable???.
>         Location: Sauk County Fairgrounds, Baraboo, Wisconsiin
>         URL: http://fightingbobfest.org/
>For the further information, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5014
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The Weekly Spin is compiled by staff and volunteers at the Center
>for Media and Democracy (CMD), a nonprofit public interest
>organization. To subscribe, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/subscribe_sotd.html
>
>To unsubscribe, visit:
>http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/cmd/unsubscribe.jsp?unsubscribe
>
>Daily updates and news from past weeks can be found in the "Spin of
>the Day" section of CMD's website:
>http://www.prwatch.org/spin
>
>Archives of our quarterly publication, PR Watch, are at:
>http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues
>
>CMD also sponsors SourceWatch, a collaborative research project
>that invites anyone (including you) to contribute and edit
>articles. For more information, visit:
>http://www.sourcewatch.org
>
>PR Watch, Spin of the Day, the Weekly Spin and SourceWatch 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 Avenue, Suite 227
>Madison, WI 53703
>
>To donate now online, visit:
>https://www.groundspring.org/donate/index.cfm?ID=2344-0|1118-0

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Carpentier Nico (Phd)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.24.14
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.28.61
Office: 5B.401a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  


----------------
ECREA-Mailing list
----------------
!!!!!!NEW!!!!!!!!
ECREA Communication Doctoral Summer School information at:
http://www.comsummerschool.org/ &
http://www.ecrea.eu/summer.html
---
This mailing list is a free service from ECREA.
---
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 ecrea
---
ECREA - European Communication Research and Education Association
Postal address: ECREA - P.O. Box 106, B-1210 Brussels 21, Belgium
Email: (ecrea /at/ ulb.ac.be)
URL: http://www.ecrea.eu
----------------