[ecrea] The Weekly Spin, September 27, 2006

>THE WEEKLY SPIN, September 27, 2006
>
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>The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to
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>THIS WEEK'S NEWS
>
>== BLOG POSTINGS ==
>1. Moving Foreign Investment Forward: A Strange PR Pick for Iraqi Kurdistan
>2. Advertising on Trial: An Interview with Dr. Inger Stole
>
>== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
>1. Who's Saying What about The Best War Ever?
>2. Iraq "98 Percent Off-Limits" For Press Corps
>3. McDonald's Chews Fat with "Independent" Obesity Researchers
>4. Incompetent Liars? Here's $6.2 Million
>5. Nuclear Industry Offers Nevada Hush Money
>6. Korea's Happy Fun Free Trade Love Corner
>7. ABC Affliliate Sees No, Hears No Dissent on "Path to 9/11"
>8. Merck Unconvincingly Clears Execs of Vioxx Wrongdoing
>9. "America's Army" Boosts Army Recruiting
>10. If We Stop Using Highly Toxic Chemicals, the Terrorists Will Have Won
>11. Will the Tiger Switch Think Tanks?
>12. Her Way or the Ugly Highway
>13. White House Increased Climate Change Spin, After Katrina
>14. FCC Killed the Radio Study (But Will Now Investigate)
>15. Pounds and Pounds More Government PR in Britain
>16. Wanted: Activists to Help Get the Word Out about "The Best War Ever"
>
>== UPCOMING EVENTS ==
>1. SAN FRANCISCO - The Best War Ever
>2. WASHINGTON, DC - The Best War Ever
>3. BERKELEY, CA - The Best War Ever
>4. Local Democracy Convention - Madison, WI
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>== BLOG POSTINGS ==
>
>1. MOVING FOREIGN INVESTMENT FORWARD: A STRANGE PR PICK FOR IRAQI KURDISTAN
>by Diane Farsetta
>
>   Some weeks are slow on Move America Forward's email list. Others are
>   bustling. September 15 to 21, 2006, was an example of the latter.
>   Six emails were sent, including two from "The Other Iraq," at the
>   address "(KDC /at/ RMRWest.Net)."  The emails are noteworthy because they
>   illustrate synergy between two clients of the Republican-associated
>   Sacramento public relations firm Russo Marsh & Rogers (RM&R): Move
>   America Forward, a conservative cheerleader for the Bush
>   administration's "war on terror," and the Kurdistan Development
>   Corporation, an "investment holding and tradings company" formed in
>   partnership with the Kurdistan Regional Government of northern Iraq
>   (and presumably the KDC of the above email address).
>        The first of the "other Iraq" emails began, "We wanted to send
>   you this short note to let you know that a delegation from Iraqi
>   Kurdistan is back in the United States - continuing our campaign to
>   tell the American public about 'The Other Iraq.'"
>For the rest of this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5224
>
>2. ADVERTISING ON TRIAL: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. INGER STOLE
>by Mandy Gutmann
>
>   From the interviewer: "Imagine trying to compare the amount of sugar
>   in two boxes of cereal, without having the nutrition facts. The only
>   information available is that of the advertiser guaranteeing
>   there???s less sugar than in similar brands. The advertiser could be
>   lying, but no authority exists to judge. This was the dilemma that
>   consumers found themselves in during the early 1900s. The demand for
>   grade labeling and product information escalated into a constant
>   battle between consumers and advertisers. In Advertising on Trial:
>   Consumer Activism and Corporate Public Relations in the 1930s,
>   author Inger Stole examines how the consumer movement fought to
>   transform advertising. I had the opportunity to interview Stole
>   about her recently published book and the business of advertising.
>   The quotes attributed to her below are from our conversation."
>For the rest of this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5211
>
>== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
>
>1. WHO'S SAYING WHAT ABOUT THE BEST WAR EVER?
>http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/new_books/0925best_war_ever.htm
>   Jon Gingerich wrote a lengthy and insightful review of Sheldon
>   Rampton and John Stauber's recently released book, "The Best War
>   Ever" for odwyerpr.com, the on-line companion to O'Dwyer's PR Report
>   Monthly Magazine. Gingerich's piece begins: "Much like beauty,
>   victory is in the eye of the beholder. This case is made clear in
>   'The Best War Ever,' a scathing analysis of the Bush
>   Administration's misinformation campaign leading up to and during
>   the war in Iraq." He goes on to highlight the thorough research
>   presented in the book on topics like the role of the Iraqi National
>   Congress and its disgraced leader Ahmed Chalabi in the build-up to
>   war, Bush administration spending on PR and propaganda to sell the
>   war and occupation to both Iraqis and Americans, and the role of the
>   media in not bringing the deceptions and distortions to light.
>   Reviews and a selection of interviews in other publications can be
>   seen here. There are also comments on the Amazon.com page for the
>   book -- we hope that when you read "The Best War Ever" you will add
>   a comment of your own!
>SOURCE: odwyerpr.com, September 25, 2006 (sub req'd)
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5225
>
>2. IRAQ "98 PERCENT OFF-LIMITS" FOR PRESS CORPS
>http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003122985
>   "Everyone is kind of groping around in the dark," says New York
>   Times senior correspondent Dexter Filkins on his return from
>   reporting in Iraq. Despite employing 70 Iraqi staffers, the civil
>   war there (Filkins doesn't hedge--"Yeah, sure" it's a civil war) has
>   meant the Times cannot safely access stories. Its own five
>   correspondents primarily spend their time pasting together reports
>   by the Iraqi staff, protected by a small army of 45 security guards,
>   armored cars, and belt-fed rooftop machine guns. "Nobody trusts
>   anybody anymore. There's no law, and the worst people with guns are
>   in charge." The Iraqi reporters know that if their association with
>   the Times is revealed they may pay with their lives, Filkins told
>   the Committee to Protect Journalists at a September 14, 2006, talk
>   in Manhattan where he is preparing to serve a U.S. fellowship. His
>   advice to other reporters thinking about covering Iraq: "Don't go."
>   Filkins said that the U.S. military is similarly hamstrung in
>   getting quality information: soldiers rarely leave their bases and
>   don't interact much with average Iraqis. Ninety-eight percent of
>   Iraq, including Baghdad, is too dangerous for reporters to cover, he
>   said.
>SOURCE: Editor and Publisher, September 16, 2006 (sub req'd)
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5227
>
>3. MCDONALD'S CHEWS FAT WITH "INDEPENDENT" OBESITY RESEARCHERS
>http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060913/us_nm/leisure_mcdonalds_scripps_dc
>   When previously spotted pitching in to help the cause of
>   "independent" research involving its products, McDonald's Corp.
>   asked a Connecticut nun to quickly issue an unfinished report about
>   farm workers in order to help the fast food giant fight off a fair
>   wage campaign by migrant tomato pickers. Now McDonald's has donated
>   $2 million to the Scripps Research Institute of La Jolla,
>   California, which (like Sister Ruth Rosenbaum) says it does
>   independent research, this time on the critical medical issue of
>   child obesity. The Institute's press release headline announces,
>   "The Scripps Research Institute, McDonald's Align to Fight Childhood
>   Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes." The release describes McDonald's as
>   "serving a variety of wholesome foods made from quality ingredients
>   to millions of customers every day." It also states, "The
>   relationship unites Scripps ... world-renowned scientists...with
>   McDonald's 50-year legacy of supporting programs that promote
>   children's health and wellness." Bloggers at CarbWire, a diet
>   industry website, call the move a "publicity stunt." Under the
>   Institute's own philanthropy guidelines, McDonald's gift makes it a
>   member of Scripps' "Council of 100" and enables the company to
>   "enjoy private sessions specifically designed for them
>   with....[r]esearch scientists."
>SOURCE: Reuters, September 13, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5223
>
>4. INCOMPETENT LIARS? HERE'S $6.2 MILLION
>http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0926lincoln_iraq.htm
>   Lincoln Group, the PR firm that covertly placed U.S.
>   military-written stories in Iraqi newspapers and has been called
>   "amateurish" by former associates, has won a new two-year, $6.2
>   million Pentagon contract. Additional requests from Washington DC
>   could increase the value of the contract up to $20 million total.
>   The work includes establishing "a unit of 12-18 communicators to
>   support military PR efforts in Iraq and throughout the Middle East
>   from media training to pitching stories and providing content for
>   government-backed news sites." The Rendon Group previously handled
>   similar work for the U.S.-led military force in Iraq. The request
>   for proposals for the new contract "cited the emboldened insurgency
>   bent on civil war as a key obstacle to the U.S. force's military and
>   communications mission in Iraq." U.S. Senator Robert Menendez has
>   introduced an amendment to halt the PR blitz, according to
>   O'Dwyer's.
>SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), September 26, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5222
>
>5. NUCLEAR INDUSTRY OFFERS NEVADA HUSH MONEY
>http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Sep-25-Mon-2006/news/9821980.html
>   "We all knew it would come to this, didn't we?" a Las Vegas
>   Review-Journal editorial asks, of a new offer by the Nuclear Energy
>   Institute (NEI) to pay Nevada to accept nuclear waste at the
>   controversial Yucca Mountain storage facility. NEI's offer is $25
>   million per year, which would double "once the first waste shipment
>   arrives." After calling Yucca Mountain a "boondoggle," with "audit
>   after audit" revealing "glaring flaws in the scientific models
>   created to demonstrate the project's long-term viability," the
>   newspaper slams NEI's offer as too low. "The standard for paying off
>   a state's population was set by the Alaska Permanent Fund, which
>   collects fees and taxes from oil and mineral exploration and
>   production and offers qualifying residents an annual dividend," it
>   states. This year, Alaska residents received more than $1,100 each;
>   NEI's offer translates to a measly $10 per Nevada resident. In other
>   news, a new poll paid for by NEI and conducted by a former NEI
>   employee found that "nearly seven of 10 Americans favor nuclear
>   energy and 68 percent support building a new reactor at the existing
>   nuclear power plant closest to where they live."
>SOURCE: Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 25, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5221
>
>6. KOREA'S HAPPY FUN FREE TRADE LOVE CORNER
>http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/09/22/200609220018.asp
>   On September 1, the South Korean government established the
>   "Korea-U.S. FTA [Free Trade Agreement] Love Corner" in the lobby of
>   Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to "dispel public
>   misunderstandings of the proposed free trade agreement between Korea
>   and the United States." While "the response so far has been
>   lukewarm," according to the Korea Herald, a ministry PR person
>   explained, "The name of the corner implies that everyone is
>   welcome." The ministry is waging an uphill love-in, though;
>   according to the Korea Times, public opposition to the free trade
>   agreement is increasing. One-half of Korean men surveyed in July
>   2006 opposed it and 75 percent were critical of "Seoul's negotiation
>   performance." In early September, the South Korean government signed
>   a $660,000 contract with the U.S. firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg,
>   to analyze U.S. law and increase support for the agreement in
>   Congress and among the U.S. business community, reported O'Dwyer's
>   PR Daily.
>SOURCE: The Korea Herald, September 22, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5220
>
>7. ABC AFFLILIATE SEES NO, HEARS NO DISSENT ON "PATH TO 9/11"
>http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/09/12/local/doc4505fd563754a144553912.txt
>   If you were to ask the owner of Lincoln, Nebraska ABC affiliate
>   KLKN-TV (which Journal-Star reporter Jeff Korbelik did) whether the
>   station had received negative feedback about its airing of the
>   controversial "Path to 9/11", the answer was not only "no," but also
>   that the docudrama was "compelling TV." Citadel Communications
>   president Ray Cole, who also sits on ABC's governing board,
>   neglected to say that KLKN had cut off email responses because, in
>   the words of the station's automated response: "No storage space
>   available in mailbox for (news8 /at/ klkntv.com)." So viewers wrote to the
>   Journal-Star with their criticisms of the station's decision to run
>   the drama - or, like Maribeth Milner, sent PR Watch a copy of her
>   returned email, dated September 9, 2006. Viewer TedK wrote: "I also
>   sent an email ... on Friday. It bounced back. ... Seems to me they
>   got a lot of complaints. I guess Ray Cole feels he must lie to back
>   the ABC corporate position." Two writers to the newspaper said they
>   sent critical emails before KLKN's mailbox overflowed and even got
>   responses from a station representative. No apology or correction
>   was provided by ABC's Cole, suggesting that he had given the
>   Journal-Star not a fact-based interview but what ABC might call a
>   "docudramaview."
>SOURCE: The Journal-Star (Lincoln, Nebraska), September 12, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5219
>
>8. MERCK UNCONVINCINGLY CLEARS EXECS OF VIOXX WRONGDOING
>http://www.prweek.com/us/news/article/593721/Report-doesnt-clarify-Merck-situation/
>   Although the pharmaceutical company Merck spent $21 million on a
>   20-month investigation led by a former U.S. district judge, the
>   report's conclusion that "executives at Merck had not knowingly put
>   Vioxx patients in cardiovascular danger" may not boost the
>   drugmaker's sagging reputation. "Some critics say the report is not
>   credible because of Merck's board's involvement" and point out that
>   Debevoise & Plimpton, the firm whose lawyers carried out the study,
>   has a "pro-corporate" reputation. New York Times reporter Alex
>   Berenson, who has covered the Vioxx deaths and legal fallout, told
>   PR Week that Merck's report "reads like a defense brief; it was paid
>   for by the company. I don't think it will change anyone's attitude
>   one iota. It's clearly intended to impact the litigation." There are
>   14,000 active lawsuits against Merck related to Vioxx. Merck media
>   relations director Ray Kerins said the company is "pleased" with the
>   report, but Merck's PR staff hasn't yet decided "if this thing is
>   going to be used" in company communications.
>SOURCE: PR Week (sub req'd), September 21, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5217
>
>9. "AMERICA'S ARMY" BOOSTS ARMY RECRUITING
>http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0919/p01s04-usmi.html
>   "This summer, Matt and Doug Stanbro, two brothers from Chelsea,
>   Ala., traded in their game controllers for M-16 rifles," reports
>   Patrik Jonsson. "They're two of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of
>   American teenagers inspired by a 'shoot'em-up' video game to join
>   the Army." The "America's Army" game, first released in 1992, "is
>   proving a potent way to communicate military values directly to the
>   messy bedrooms where teens hang out. ... In a recent informal survey
>   of recruits at Fort Benning, Ga., which was conducted by the Army's
>   video-game development team, about 60 percent of recruits said
>   they've played 'America's Army' more than five times a week. Four
>   out of 100 said they'd joined the Army specifically because of the
>   game. Nationwide, the game counts some 7.5 milion registered users."
>   While Army officials say "a range of recruitment tweaks - including
>   easing up on the tattoo policy and up to $40,000 signing bonuses -
>   have played a role" in boosting 2006 recruitment numbers, "few other
>   ideas have been as effective in galvanizing potential recruits as
>   'America's Army.'"
>SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor, September 19, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5216
>
>10. IF WE STOP USING HIGHLY TOXIC CHEMICALS, THE TERRORISTS WILL HAVE WON
>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/washington/21chemical.html
>   "An analysis by the Department of Homeland Security found 272
>   chemical plants nationwide at which an attack or accident could
>   affect at least 50,000 people and an additional 3,400 plants at
>   which more than 1,000 people were at risk," reports the New York
>   Times. Moreover, "the Bush administration, the chemical industry,
>   Democrats, Republicans and environmentalists" agree that "voluntary
>   measures put into place by the industry after the 2001 terrorist
>   attacks are not enough." So why is there a "fierce struggle" in
>   Congress over industry oversight language for the Homeland Security
>   budget bill? Strong lobbying by the chemical industry, which is
>   claiming "that Democrats and environmentalists are trying to hijack
>   what had been an antiterrorism matter and use it to advance their
>   own agenda," which they say includes reducing use of highly toxic
>   chemicals. The Hill profiles lobbyists on chemical security issues,
>   including from such industry mainstays as the American Chemistry
>   Council and American Petroleum Institute.
>SOURCE: New York Times, September 21, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5207
>
>11. WILL THE TIGER SWITCH THINK TANKS?
>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115878081072569175.html
>   Following sharp criticism from Britain's Royal Society, Exxon Mobil
>   says it is reviewing which of the groups "that challenge the
>   scientific validity of concerns about global warming" it will
>   continue to fund. Exxon gave at least $6.8 million to nonprofit
>   groups in 2005, including the Competitive Enterprise Institute,
>   which recently ran "television ads that argued that carbon dioxide,
>   widely seen as the main global-warming gas, is helpful." The Royal
>   Society, made up of Britain's leading scientists, took the
>   "unprecedented step" of writing to Exxon to demand the oil giant
>   stop funding groups that have "misrepresented the science of climate
>   change by outright denial of the evidence." The Society also
>   criticized Exxon's "corporate citizenship reports," which claim that
>   "gaps in the scientific basis" make it very difficult to link
>   climate change and human activity. In the Guardian, George Monbiot
>   writes about the history of corporate climate change denial, going
>   back to the PR firm APCO, Philip Morris, PR Watch "usual suspect"
>   Steve Milloy and his front group, the Advancement of Sound Science
>   Coalition.
>SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), September 21, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5206
>
>12. HER WAY OR THE UGLY HIGHWAY
>http://www.bulldogreporter.com/dailydog/issues/1_1/dailydog_pr_biz_update/index.html
>   On September 5, 2006, President Bush nominated Mary Peters as
>   Secretary of the Department of Transportation. PR firms should be
>   thrilled. During her short tenure as head of the Federal Highway
>   Administration she made plans to spend an average of $8 million for
>   the services of private PR firms, including almost $3 million a year
>   to "advertise visually-appealing highways and routes." Despite a
>   chorus of criticism, Peters is holding firm to her belief that the
>   plan, which was written with PR as its base, is critical to
>   "position the brand" and "develop a core identity." If Peters is
>   confirmed as Transportation Secretary she will succeed Norman
>   Mineta, the final member of Bush's Cabinet who was a Clinton
>   appointee.
>SOURCE: Bulldog Reporter's Daily 'Dog, September 21, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5205
>
>13. WHITE HOUSE INCREASED CLIMATE CHANGE SPIN, AFTER KATRINA
>http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/09/19/noaa/
>   Through a Freedom of Information Act request, Salon.com obtained "a
>   large batch of emails" which show that, on climate change issues,
>   the Bush administration was "controlling access to [government]
>   scientists and vetting reporters," reports Paul D. Thacker. The
>   emails are from, to or about employees of the National Oceanic and
>   Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Hurricane Center.
>   "After Hurricane Katrina, NOAA press officers had to get clearance
>   from the Department of Commerce for scientists to discuss global
>   warming and hurricanes with the press," Thacker reports. Commerce
>   "was happy to have a ... politically reliable NOAA hurricane
>   researcher named Chris Landsea speak to the press. At the time,
>   Landsea was stating publicly that global warming had little to no
>   effect on hurricanes." Still, a Commerce communications official
>   sent emails stressing that Landsea must be "on message" and "on his
>   toes. Since [redacted] went off the menu, I'm a little nervous on
>   this, but trust he'll hold the course." Other emails suggest that
>   Commerce kept NOAA scientist Tom Knutson, who "did not toe the line
>   on the administration's view of global warming and hurricanes," from
>   appearing on CNBC.
>SOURCE: Salon.com, September 19, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5201
>
>14. FCC KILLED THE RADIO STUDY (BUT WILL NOW INVESTIGATE)
>http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6373358.html?display=Breaking+News
>   U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Kevin Martin has
>   launched investigations into two reports on media ownership by FCC
>   staff that were never released. One study found that local ownership
>   of TV stations correlates with more news coverage. The other study
>   found that "while there was a 5.9 percent increase in the number of
>   radio stations in the country between March 1996 and March 2003,
>   there was a 35 percent decrease in the number of radio owners,"
>   according to Senator Barbara Boxer, who recently made public copies
>   of both studies. "I, too, am concerned about what happened to these
>   two draft reports," Martin wrote Boxer. Martin launched his own
>   investigation, asked the FCC's Inspector General to conduct a
>   separate inquiry, and promised to include the studies "as part of
>   the open localism and media ownership proceedings" addressing
>   whether the agency should allow further consolidation of media
>   ownership.
>SOURCE: Broadcasting & Cable, September 19, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5199
>
>15. POUNDS AND POUNDS MORE GOVERNMENT PR IN BRITAIN
>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/30/nspin30.xml
>   "Spending on [British] Government spin has trebled under Labour,"
>   reports Graeme Wilson, "and taxpayers are now supporting an army of
>   more than 3,200 press officers." Moreover, "the amount being spent
>   on Government advertising, marketing and public relations has risen
>   three-fold since" Tony Blair became prime minister, to ??322 million
>   last year. "Critics have expressed concern that Government spending
>   on advertisements and public relations tends to peak in election
>   years, prompting suspicions that Labour is using public money to
>   sell its key policies to voters." Britain's Central Office of
>   Information defended the spending, the details of which were
>   released by the Conservatives, by saying the Labour government is
>   "radical and reforming" and must "explain its policies, decisions
>   and actions" and "inform members of the public about their rights
>   and liabilities."
>SOURCE: Telegraph (UK), August 30, 2006
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5202
>
>16. WANTED: ACTIVISTS TO HELP GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT "THE BEST WAR EVER"
>http://thebestwarever.com
>   CMD's dynamic duo of Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber have written a
>   new book, "The Best War Ever: Lies, Damned Lies and the Mess in
>   Iraq." It is now in stores and available through Internet
>   booksellers. "The Best War Ever" is a must-read for anyone who wants
>   to effectively counter pro-war arguments and support the growing
>   peace movement.
>        Rampton and Stauber are available for print, radio, and
>   television interviews, and we need your help! You can help us
>   identify local media outlets that should be covering this book and
>   the issues it brings to light. Please send us the name of the media
>   outlet, name of the program if applicable, the contact person, and
>   how to reach them. And please also tell us if you would be willing
>   to help us pitch it to them and the best way for us to contact you.
>   Send your information to editorATprwatch.org (please replace AT with
>   @)
>        With your help, we can make "The Best War Ever" the most
>   talked-about book this Fall. And don't forget to send your friends
>   to www.thebestwarever.com so that they can watch our four-minute
>   video and sign the Voters for Peace pledge.
>SOURCE: The Best War Ever
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5196
>
>== UPCOMING EVENTS ==
>
>1. SAN FRANCISCO - THE BEST WAR EVER
>Date: 09/27/2006 - 13:30 to 09/27/2006 - 15:00
>   Co-author John Stauber speaking at Stacey's books.
>         Location: Stacey's Bookstore, San Francisco, CA
>         URL: www.staceys.com/sanfranciscoevents.html
>For the further information, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5019
>
>2. WASHINGTON, DC - THE BEST WAR EVER
>Date: 09/27/2006 - 17:30 to 09/27/2006 - 19:00
>   Co-author Sheldon Rampton speaks at Borders
>         Location: Borders Bookstore, Washington, DC
>         URL: www.bordersstores.com/stores/store_pg.jsp?storeID=50
>For the further information, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5021
>
>3. BERKELEY, CA - THE BEST WAR EVER
>Date: 09/27/2006 - 20:00 to 09/27/2006 - 22:00
>   Co-author John Stauber speaking at Cody's Books
>         Location: Cody's Books, Berkeley, CA
>         URL: www.codysbooks.com/
>For the further information, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5020
>
>4. LOCAL DEMOCRACY CONVENTION - MADISON, WI
>Date: 09/28/2006 - 17:00 to 10/01/2006 - 15:30
>   Gather with community organizers and pro-democracy activists in
>   beautiful Madison, Wisconsin, to share and learn from important
>   democratic successes. Network with others working on common issues.
>   Strategize together about how to build the democracymovement in this
>   country, from the grassroots, up.
>        The Local Democracy Convention will feature some of the most
>   cutting-edge local democracy organizing going on in the US and
>   around the world. Convention participants will have opportunity to
>   attend plenaries, panels, skills-building workshops, strategy
>   sessions, and a party or two.
>         Location: Madison, WI
>         Organizer: Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic
>   Revolution
>         URL: http://www.localdemocracy.org/
>For the further information, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/5185
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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Carpentier Nico (Phd)
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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
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Office: 5B.401a
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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
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European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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