In the news
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- Prying Doors Open at The Economist: "The Economist", bemoans Andy Rowlands, the director of corporate, issues and technology practice at Burson-Marsteller, "is one of the most influential, but also most difficult places to secure coverage." The former head of PR for the London-based magazine and now PR consultant, Eileen Wise, suggests that persistence pays off. "It is beneficial for senior PR people to build up a relationship with some of the business and economic writers," she said.
- The Waxman-Markey Crisis: As the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill nears a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, environmental groups are "teetering at the edge of existential crisis," writes Josh Harkinson. "Almost all environmental groups agree that Waxman-Markey is far from ideal," but some are supporting it, while others "believe the bill is so deeply flawed it might actually make matters worse." Critics say the bill "lines the pockets of polluters with little to show for it. The most it would cut carbon emissions by 2020 is 17 percent below 1990 levels, nowhere near the 25 to 40 percent reduction sought by scientists and international climate negotiators."
- An Army of One Viewpoint: U.S. Army officials have barred a reporter with the military newspaper Stars and Stripes "from embedding with a unit of the 1st Cavalry Division that is attempting to secure the violent city of Mosul" in Iraq. In the refusal letter to Stars and Stripes reporter Heath Druzin, an Army public affairs officer wrote that "Mr. Druzin refused to highlight" good news about "Iraqi Army leaders, soldiers, national police and Iraqi police display[ing] commitment to partnership."
- More Messaging for the Earth: At the launch of a public relations and marketing campaign in support of the United Nations' upcoming climate change conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated, "We need a global movement that mobilizes real change." The UN's COP15 conference will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from December 7 to 18. The promotional campaign, which is led by the public relations firm Ketchum, is called "Hopenhagen." Other marketing and PR firms involved include Ogilvy & Mather, Colle & McVoy, Euro RSCG and Saatchi & Saatchi. "Hopenhagen" ads "are starting to run this week in Cannes, JFK Airport in New York, Los Angeles International Airport and London Heathrow," reports O'Dwyer's.
- Kremlin Comrades Crave Kinder Coverage: In May, the Russian government "created a high-level commission to overhaul its image on the world stage as the first anniversary of Russia's war with Georgia approaches." The commission is chaired by President Dmitry Medvedev's chief of staff, Sergei Naryshikin, "underscoring how serious the Kremlin considers the problem, which it often blames on shadowy external enemies and ill-wishers," reports the Wall Street Journal.
- Rebranding Abstinence Only: "Well aware that their cause is in trouble and unpopular, purity proponents are revamping their image to appear more mainstream," reports Jessica Valenti. "Think tanks like the Independent Women's Forum and Concerned Women for America, abstinence-only organizations, religious leaders and legislators" are reacting to the Obama administration's "cutting most abstinence-only education funding from the 2010 budget." At the National Abstinence Education Association's (NAEA's) "annual lobby day in March, high on the list of priorities was developing a strategy for continuing to receive federal dollars."
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Recent blogs on PR Watch
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- John Stauber reports that, after making painful funding and staffing cuts, the fortunes of the Center for Media and Democracy are picking up. See John Stauber The New CMD: From Grim News to Great News, June 23;
- Anne Landman notes a recent survey which found that young people who feel action should be taken against the tobacco industry are more likely to want to quit smoking. See "The Nicotine Addict's Dilemma" May 15.
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Editor's pick of the week
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With the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill wending its way through the U.S. Congress, one of the targets for the coal lobby is to ensure the legislation's provisions have little impact on coal-fired power stations. In the coal issues portal you can see a comprehensive listing of Existing U.S. Coal Plants as well as and lists of proposed coal plants that have been cancelled in the last few years. There is also a set of articles on the coal industry and power stations around the world.
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Projects for citizen editors
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The list of speakers and free-market think tanks co-sponsoring the conference provides a reasonably comprehensive guide to the most active of the remaining global warming skeptics. We are aiming to ensure that there are reasonably detailed profiles on the most prominent of the speakers at the conference and at least a 'stub' page in SourceWatch on each of the speakers and sponsoring think tanks. (A stub page need only comprise a sentence or two and some basic formatting, but the more comprehensive it is the better.)If you would like to help, go to the project page and follow the steps set out in the notes.
If this is your first time editing on SourceWatch, you can register here, and learn more about adding information to the site here, here, here and here. Hold onto your hat, have fun, and thanks for your help!
And if you would like to work on something else, take a look at some of our earlier citizen journalism projects here. Have fun, and thanks for your help!
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Popular articles over the last week
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The most popular pages over the last week have included those on the mercenary and security company, Blackwater, think tanks, propaganda techniques, the Heartland Institute, Corporate Social Responsibility, Existing U.S. Coal Plants and greenwashing.
Pages of particular interest over the last week on U.S politics have included those on Earmarks, Members of Congress who Twitter, the 111th United States Congress, the Economic Stimulus Bill of 2008, the Employee Free Choice Act and the 11th Congress.
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The 2008 Falsies Awards
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The 2008 Falsies Awards: In Memory of the First Casualty: There's nothing quite like a hotly contested election. The candidates have their devoted supporters and angry detractors. Then there are vigorous debates over the issues, while some people question the integrity of the entire process.
We speak, of course, of the Falsies Awards.
This year marks the Center for Media and Democracy's (CMD's) fifth annual Falsies Awards. The Falsies are our attempt to shine an unflattering light on those responsible for polluting the information environment over the past year. We're happy to report that more people -- nearly 1,450 -- voted in this year's Falsies survey than ever before! We're also bestowing special recognition on one of this year's "winners."
Falsies recipients can collect their prizes -- a pair of Groucho Marx glasses, our two cents and a chance to atone for their spinning ways by making a detailed public apology -- by visiting CMD's office in Madison, Wisconsin. This year's Gold and Silver Falsies go to masters of war deception, while the Bronze Falsie recognizes a massive greenwash campaign. The first-ever Lifetime Achievement Falsie goes to a serial corporate front man, while a determined (if at times laughable) attempt at nation re-branding wins dishonorable mention. Then there are the Readers' Choice Falsies and Win Against Spin Awards, nominated by our survey participants.
That's a lot to cover, so without further ado, the winners of the 2008 Falsies Awards are ...
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What they're saying about SourceWatch
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"The folks at the Center for Media and Democracy have done incredible work documenting fake grassroots ("astroturf") groups. Here, they're helping protects the rights of all Americans to exercise their right to vote. They are completely non-partisan. These guys are the real deal." Craig Newmark, Craig's List
"A truly impressive project based on cutting edge web technology." David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World and The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community.
"The troublemakers at the Center for Media and Democracy, for example, point to dozens of examples of "greenwashing," which they defined as the "unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government or even a non-government organization to sell a product, a policy" or rehabilitate an image. In the center's view, many enterprises labeled green don't deserve the name.—Jack Shafer, "Green Is the New Yellow: On the excesses of 'green' journalism", Slate, July 6, 2007.
"As a journalist frequently on the receiving end of various PR campaigns, some of them based on disinformation, others front groups for undisclosed interests, [CMD's SourceWatch] is an invaluable resource."—Michael Pollan author of The Botany of Desire
"Thanks for all your help. There's no way I could have done my piece on big PR and global warming without the CMD [Center for Media and Democracy] and your fabulous websites."—Zoe Cormier, journalist, Canada
"The dearth of information on the [U.S.] government [lobbying] disclosure forms about the other business-backed coalitions comes in stark contrast to the data about them culled from media reports, websites, press releases and Internal Revenue Service documents and posted by SourceWatch, a website that tracks advocacy groups." Jeanne Cummings, 'New disclosure reports lack clarity", Politico, April 29, 2008.
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