[ecrea] Center for Media and Democracy: THE WEEKLY SPIN, July 30, 2008

THE WEEKLY SPIN, JULY 30, 2008

== SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS ==
1. Having a Blast with the U.S. Army
2. 4,000 U.S. Deaths and a Handful of Images 3. Taking out the Trash 4. A Tank Full of Nonsense 5. Depends Who You Work For: Half Empty or Half Full?
6. Can Junk Mail Go Green?
7. Ethanol Lobby's "Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy" Seeks to Gorge on Tax Subsidies 8. Weekly Radio Spin: Helping Consumers Help the Airlines 9. Another Round of the Best of the Worst 10. Pushing Prescriptions 11. Will Global Warming Revive Good Journalism?
12. If You Can't Beat 'Em, Hire 'Em
13. Public Criticism for Public Strategies 14. Pity the Poor Airlines 15. Whose Conventions Are They Anyway?

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== SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS ==
1. HAVING A BLAST WITH THE U.S. ARMY
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7602
  For the U.S. Army it's "an innovative way to reach a new audience"
  and "an opportunity to shape their tastes." The "Virtual Army
  Experience," a multi-million dollar videogame and traveling exhibit,
  has been making stops at amusement parks, air shows and county fairs
  over the past year and a half. One lieutenant colonel said of the
  exhibit, "There's no sales going on here. ... It's another way to
  tell our story." That's in addition to collecting the "age, address,
  phone number and email" of the young people who play the game. At
  the end of the videogame -- in which players protect "international
  aid workers" from "genocidal indigenous forces" -- an Iraq veteran
  talks to the players. The president of the marketing company that
  helped design the Virtual Army Experience said the post-game
  discussion is key, because that's when players "tend to be more
  receptive to the message the Army is trying to send them." When the
  Army brought the game to Milwaukee's annual music festival recently,
  many people complained. The Army compromised by modifying the game,
  "its images of dark-skinned 'terrorists' replaced with 'inanimate
  targets,'" according to the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice.
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), July 28, 2008

2. 4,000 U.S. DEATHS AND A HANDFUL OF IMAGES
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7598
  Zoriah Miller, a freelance photojournalist who published images of
  marines killed in a June 26 suicide attack in Iraq, has been
  forbidden to work in Marine Corps-controlled areas of the country
  and may be barred from all United States military facilities
  throughout the world. His case "has underscored what some
  journalists say is a growing effort by the American military to
  control graphic images from the war," write Michael Kamber and Tim
  Arango. "News organizations say that such restrictions are one
  factor in declining coverage of the war, along with the danger, the
  high cost to financially ailing media outlets and diminished
  interest among Americans in following the war. By a recent count,
  only half a dozen Western photographers were covering a war in which
  150,000 American troops are engaged." Miller, who took the photos
  while embedded with a Marine unit, explains that "the extreme
  dangers of working in Iraq" make embedding necessary because "it is
  impossible to for a independent journalist to move freely from place
  to place without an incredible amount of security and financial
  resources. ... Without the option to embed, journalists would have
  to pay literally thousands of dollars a day for security and
  transportation. To lose the ability to embed is the equivalent of
  losing your ability to report from Iraq. This is the reason it is
  important to fight for the rights of embedded journalists to
  document freely."
SOURCE: New York Times, July 26, 2008

3. TAKING OUT THE TRASH
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7597
  On parliament's last day before its summer break, the British
  government publicly released thirty ministerial statements,
  including one listing the salaries of "special advisers," one
  detailing the siting criteria for new nuclear power stations and
  another detailing the guests entertained at Prime Minister Gordon
  Brown's official residence, Chequers. The document dump was dubbed
  by some as "take out the trash day," after an episode of the
  fictional television series on the White House, the West Wing. Mike
  Granatt, a former head of the British government's Government
  Information and Communications Service and now a partner in the PR
  firm Luther Pendragon, explained to PR Week, "You shove everything
  out on one day and you hope the volume of it means there's only a
  certain amount of room in the papers and on TV and radio, so that
  squeezes it. And, secondly, you take the hit at once."
SOURCE: Guardian (UK), July 22, 2008

4. A TANK FULL OF NONSENSE
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7596
  The normally staid FactCheck.org has posted an unusually blunt
  critique of the latest campaign ad for John McCain, which attempts
  to blame Barack Obama for rising prices at the gas pump and claims
  that offshore drilling will "rescue our family budgets." Using
  McCain's own words and voting record, FactCheck's Viveca Novak
  disproves every point in the ad, pointing out that by the federal
  government's own estimate, "if the moratorium on offshore drilling
  were lifted today, it would be 2030 before we'd see a noticeable
  effect on supply and prices." Moreover, she writes, "The notion that
  Obama is singlehandedly, or to any significant degree, or more than
  most other senators, to blame for the high cost of gas is absurd in
  too many ways to count here. ... Obama has been in the Senate only
  since 2005. McCain himself said earlier this month that the problem
  has been decades in the making."
SOURCE: FactCheck.org, July 22, 2008

5. DEPENDS WHO YOU WORK FOR: HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL?
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7595
  While the closing of 600 Starbucks stores is bad news for the
  12,000 baristas who will lose their jobs, it's an economic plus for
  others. The coffee giant is ramping up PR efforts to shape its
  message about its contraction. Edelman has been the company's firm
  of record for several years, and their offices in Portland, San
  Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, New York and
  Seattle (Starbucks' home town) are all engaged to work with local
  media for Starbucks. Besides Edelman, "Starbucks is relying on a PR
  roster that currently includes The Frause Group (Seattle), The
  Limtiaco Company (Honolulu), Eiseman PR (Chicago) Airfoil PR
  (Detroit), Cone (Boston), Brotman Winter Fried Communications (Falls
  Church, Va.), and rbb PR (Coral Gables, Fla.)." Grey Worldwide
  handles Starbucks' PR in Canada, which is fielding questions about
  any plans for closing stores there. All in all, it's an intensive PR
  effort. Bridget Baker, communications program manager at Starbucks
  said, "We couldn't be doing this without them all by our side."
SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), July 23, 2008

6. CAN JUNK MAIL GO GREEN?
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7593
  Most everyone admits that minimizing junk mail would save a lot of
  trees, but because of the profits it generates, it isn't about to go
  away. So a group of direct marketers have teamed up with
  corporations like Microsoft, Washington Mutual and OptimaHealth to
  form a new coalition called the Green Marketing Coalition (GMC) to
  encourage greener practices in the direct mail industry. GMC
  suggests direct marketers use chlorine-free recycled paper, proof
  their marketing materials using Adobe PDF files instead of hard
  copies, and maintain good "list hygiene," or cull from mailing lists
  the names of people who are deceased or otherwise unlikely to
  respond. The U.S. Postal Service, which is endorsing the effort, has
  trademarked the term "environMAIList," and plans to use it to refer
  to marketers who adopt GMC's suggested green practices. But progress
  for the campaign could be tough to gauge; neither the Postal Service
  nor the Green Marketing Coalition have  specified any quantifiable
  milestones or target dates by which they can measure the
  effectiveness of their effort.
SOURCE: New York Times, July 23, 2008

7. ETHANOL LOBBY'S "ALLIANCE FOR ABUNDANT FOOD AND ENERGY" SEEKS TO GORGE ON TAX SUBSIDIES http://www.prwatch.org/node/7590
  Monsanto, Dupont, Archer Daniels Midland and the PR giant
  Burson-Marsteller are some of the corporations behind the Alliance
  for Abundant Food and Energy.  No doubt feel-good ads from this
  front group will soon fill the airwaves, especially in Washington
  DC.  The Washington Post reports, "A group of the world's biggest
  agribusiness companies announced it will use lobbyists on Capitol
  Hill and national ads to build the case for fuels such as ethanol
  and biodiesel, even as grain prices climb worldwide. The biofuels
  industry has blossomed under federal mandates requiring the United
  States to increase alternative fuel usage by 2009. The mandates are
  under attack from groups who blame the new industry for rising food
  prices that have sparked riots and hoarding in several countries. 
  ...  The alliance has a budget of several million dollars for the
  campaign, but it did not disclose the exact amount."
SOURCE: Washington Post, July 25, 2008

8. WEEKLY RADIO SPIN: HELPING CONSUMERS HELP THE AIRLINES
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7589
  Listen to THIS WEEK'S EDITION of the "Weekly Radio Spin," the
  Center for Media and Democracy's audio report on the stories behind
  the news. This week, we look at the poor being used as fronts,
  product placement on the news and battling ad buys. In "Six Degrees
  of Spin and Fakin'," we look at the pro-drilling front group
  "Americans for American Energy." The Weekly Radio Spin is freely
  available for personal and broadcast use. Podcasters can subscribe
  to the XML feed on www.prwatch.org/audio or via iTunes. If you air
  the Weekly Radio Spin on your radio station, please email us at
  (editor /at/ prwatch.org) to let us know. Thanks!
SOURCE: Center for Media and Democracy, July 25, 2008

9. ANOTHER ROUND OF THE BEST OF THE WORST
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7587
  Nominations are now open for the Worst Lobbying Awards for 2008 in
  Europe. Sponsored by Friends of the Earth, Corporate Europe
  Observatory, LobbyControl and Spinwatch, the contest invites people
  to make nominations in two categories: a "Worst EU Lobbying" award
  for "the most deceptive, misleading, or otherwise problematic
  lobbying tactics," and a "Worst Conflict of Interest" award for the
  European official "whose background, side-jobs or other liaisons
  with special interests raise the most serious concerns about their
  ability to act in public interest." Last year's Worst EU Lobbying
  award went to German car makers BMW, Daimler and Porsche for "their
  misleading and scaremongering lobby campaign to water down EU curbs
  on CO2 emissions from passenger cars."
SOURCE: Worst EU Lobbying Awards

10. PUSHING PRESCRIPTIONS
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7586
  "Washington's largest lobby, the pharmaceutical industry, racked
  up another banner year on Capitol Hill in 2007, backed by a record
  $168 million lobbying effort," reports M. Asif Ismail. The spending,
  from companies and trade associations including Pharmaceutical
  Research and Manufacturers of America and the Biotechnology Industry
  Organization, jumped 36 percent over the previous year. Much of the
  increase went to Democrats, after they became the majority party in
  Congress. "In the current election cycle so far, for the first time
  on record, the pharmaceutical and health products industry has given
  slightly more money to Democrats than Republicans," Ismail notes.
  Just two years earlier, "Democrats received only 31 percent of the
  contributions from the industry, while the Republicans received 67
  percent." The industry's lobbying successes have included "thwarting
  congressional efforts to restrict media ads for prescription drugs,"
  "blocking the importation of inexpensive drugs from other
  countries," and "ensuring greater market access for pharmaceutical
  companies in international free trade agreements."
SOURCE: Center for Public Integrity, June 24, 2008

11. WILL GLOBAL WARMING REVIVE GOOD JOURNALISM?
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7585
  "Media coverage of climate change is at a crossroads, as it moves
  beyond the science of global warming into the broader arena of what
  governments, entrepreneurs, and ordinary citizens are doing about
  it," reports Cristine Russell. She points out that the growing
  global warming beat offers "countless" angles for reporters to
  explore "on a story that is only going to get bigger and more
  complicated in the decades (yes, decades) ahead." Journalists, she
  writes, "will play a key role in shaping the information that
  opinion leaders and the public use to judge the urgency of climate
  change, what needs to be done about it, when and at what costs. It
  is a vast, multifaceted story whose complexity does not fit well
  with journalism's tendency to shy away from issues with high levels
  of uncertainty and a time-frame of decades, rather than days or
  months."
SOURCE: Columbia Journalism Review, July/August 2008

12. IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, HIRE 'EM
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7584
  Daniel Troy served as chief counsel for the U.S. Food and Drug
  Administration from 2001 to 2004. Starting September 2, 2008, he
  will be head counsel for the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.
  Before his stint at the FDA, Troy "fought the agency on behalf of
  the right to use medical-journal articles to suggest off-label uses
  for drugs and medical devices." He was also an active litigator who
  worked against consumer interests. "Representing the Washington
  Legal Foundation, an industry-supported business think tank, Mr.
  Troy argued for the protection of commercial speech. ... He was also
  part of the winning team representing Brown & Williamson in a suit
  against the FDA regarding tobacco advertising." At the FDA, he was
  known as a loyal friend of the very industries the regulatory agency
  is charged with monitoring. "Under Mr. Troy, the agency began filing
  amicus briefs opposing lawsuits against drug and medical-device
  makers, saying that having met the FDA's approval and labeling
  standards, manufacturers should be protected from state-based suits
  for damages." His move to GSK is another example of the revolving
  door between government and industry. GSK said of Troy, "His wealth
  of experience in the regulatory legislative area will be of enormous
  benefit to us, and ultimately to patients."
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (sub req'd) July 23, 2008

13. PUBLIC CRITICISM FOR PUBLIC STRATEGIES
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7583
  Human rights and labor activists protested outside the Washington
  DC offices of Public Strategies, Inc., claiming that the public
  relations firm helps the Bridgestone / Firestone Tire Company
  "deflect attention away from the company's long history of
  exploiting workers and the environment on its rubber plantation in
  Liberia." The protest comes shortly after the publication of a
  report from a Liberian-based organization that alleges that
  Firestone works with "former President [Charles] Taylor's
  Anti-Terrorist Unit and other militia forces ... to curb illicit
  tapping. Some members of this group are allegedly harassing and
  torturing community members in the name of curbing illicit tapping"
  of rubber trees. The report also faults Firestone for paying low
  wages and placing unreasonable quotas on its Liberian workers, among
  other problems. The head of the Firestone Agricultural Workers'
  Union of Liberia said there are "ongoing union-management contract
  negotiations" to address "issues relating to work quota, and also
  issues relating to occupational health and safety, issues relating
  to education as well as issues relating to salaries and wages."
SOURCE: The Stop Firestone Coalition, July 23, 2008

14. PITY THE POOR AIRLINES
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7582
  "It's hard to take the airlines seriously when they try to play
  the pity card with consumers," opines Advertising Age. The trade
  publication's biting editorial comes in response to a public
  relations push by the Air Transport Association of America (ATA).
  ATA's "Stop Oil Speculation" campaign and website are "attempting to
  divert consumer anger directed at airlines for nickel-and-diming
  them and instead make oil speculators the bad guys," reports AdAge.
  As part of the ATA campaign, 12 major airlines are emailing their
  frequent fliers, asking them to contact legislators about high oil
  prices. According to ATA's David Castelveter, "nearly 1 million
  messages were sent to Congress the first two days of the campaign."
  He added, "We're not asking our customers to help us. ... We're
  asking them to help themselves." As AdAge's editorial noted, Delta
  Air Lines recently "showed off its deep concern about high fuel
  prices by offering select New York City customers free helicopter
  rides from Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport."
  That's not to mention airlines' "customer abuse and high prices,"
  and the industry's reliance on "government subsidies and government
  bailouts."
SOURCE: Advertising Age, July 21, 2008

15. WHOSE CONVENTIONS ARE THEY ANYWAY?
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7581
  Both the Democratic and Republican conventions are bringing in
  millions of dollars in corporate sponsors, but there is no reporting
  requirement for either the political parties or the companies. There
  are a reported 146 organizational and corporate donors, but less
  than a quarter have chosen to disclose information about their
  donations. Some of the lead donors are telecom companies that just
  weeks ago received retroactive immunity from Congress for
  participation in the Bush spy program. AT&T is such a large scale
  donor that their logo is placed prominently on the attendees'
  welcome bags. Other identified donors include Motorola, Coca-Cola,
  Google, Qwest Communications, Comcast, and nuclear energy giant Xcel
  Energy. Stephen Weissman of the Campaign Finance Institute,
  explained that "to have that speech come off well, to have the
  lighting and the rigging and all of the sound and the Broadway
  producers who do it, to have the production and the setting look
  just right, to have specially built podiums and so forth, that will
  earn gratitude."
SOURCE: Democracy Now!, July 22, 2008

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