Headlines

Lobbying Group Set Up To Back Bush's Faith-Based Initiatives Program

by Laura Miller — June 17, 2001 - 11:00pm

Conservative financiers Capital City Partners have created a lobbying organization to back President Bush's faith-based initiatives program, according to PR Week. Americans for Community and Faith-Centered Enterprises (ACFE) plans to spend "millions of dollars" to push for "faith-based" policies and encourage more private sector support for such initiatives. ACFE will be based in Washington DC. A companion research and education group, the Foundation for Community and Faith-Centered Enterprises will be based in Phoenix, AZ.

Main Source: 
PR Week, June 18, 2001

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal Does PR for Its City

by Laura Miller — June 17, 2001 - 11:00pm

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal is developing a campaign to bring more retailers to Milwaukee. PR Week reports that as a result of declining ad revenue, the daily newspaper has created a business development director position to promote the city and to convince new retailers and potential advertisers to move there. Initially the paper will work with local public and private economic development and real estate organizations to determine what resources it can provide them such as demographic and purchasing-power data.

Main Source: 
PR Week, June 18, 2001

Guest Choice & "The Food Police" Make Strange Bedfellows

by John Stauber — June 17, 2001 - 11:00pm

Lobbyist Rick Berman runs the DC-based Guest Choice Network, a mean and nasty PR operation serving the tobacco, booze and food industries. (See PR Watch Volume 8 #1 for the inside scoop on Berman & Co.) His favorite target is often Michael Jacobson's "food police" at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

Main Source: 
6/17/01 CSPI letter to NYT, and Guest Choice Network

Energy Companies Use PR in Soothing Angry Customers

by Laura Miller — June 17, 2001 - 11:00pm

U.S. oil and gas companies are using PR to explain why the price of gasoline is rising amid record profits, writes Julie Earle in The Financial Times. "Through websites and campaigns, energy companies are spreading the word

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, June 18, 2001

ExxonMobil Emerges as Major Funder of "Greenhouse Skeptics"

by Sheldon Rampton — June 17, 2001 - 4:34pm

ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil group, has become a major funder of the most visible "greenhouse skeptics", most of whom who have traditionally been funded by the coal industry -- including S. Fred Singer, Patrick Michaels, Robert Balling and Sherwood Idso. Now the Guardian of London reports that ExxonMobil is planning a public relations offensive to win back consumers and investors, amid fears the company is losing the war of words over climate change.

Main Source: 
http://www.heatisonline.org/contentserver/objecthandlers/index.cfm?id=3645&metho...

Oil Companies Spy on Environmentalists

by Sheldon Rampton — June 16, 2001 - 11:00pm

Since 1995, a private intelligence firm with close links to the British government's MI6 spy agency has been working for Shell and BP oil, collecting information on green activists. The firm's agent, who posed as a left-wing sympathiser and film maker, was asked to betray plans of Greenpeace's activities against oil giants. He also tried to dupe Anita Roddick's Body Shop group to pass on information about its opposition to Shell's oil drilling in Nigeria.

Main Source: 
Sunday Times (London), June 17, 2001

PRSA Announces 2001 Silver Anvil Award Winners

by Laura Miller — June 14, 2001 - 11:00pm

In its annual display of PR for PR, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) passed out Silver Anvil Awards to 46 winners during a ceremony held at Equitable Tower in New York City. According to a PRSA news release, the Silver Anvil (symbolizing the forging of public opinion) is annually awarded to public relations practitioners who, in the judgement of their peers, have successfully addressed a contemporary issue with exemplary professional skill, creativity and resourcefulness.

Main Source: 
PRSA, June 15, 2001

Hypocrisy at Capital Research Center

by Sheldon Rampton — June 14, 2001 - 3:25am

The Capital Research Center (CRC) is a conservative think tank whose stated mission is to do "opposition research" exposing the funding sources behind consumer, health and environmental groups. It maintains a searchable online database of funders for groups ranging from the Sierra Club to the American Cancer Society, which can be a useful research tool provided you take its pro-tobacco, pro-industry bias with a grain of salt.

Main Source: 
http://www.capitalresearch.org

Who's Flacking for Whom?

by Sheldon Rampton — June 13, 2001 - 11:00pm

Curious to know which PR firms are working for Coca-Cola? Answer: Dublin & Assocs.; Manning Selvage & Lee; Robinson Assocs.; College Hill, U.K.; Icon Group; and Crawley Haskins. How did we find this out? Simple. We just used the handy "client search tool" on the website of O'Dwyer's PR Daily. Go ahead, try it yourself. Just enter a company's name and hit the submit button:

Main Source: 
http://www.odwyerpr.com/

NY Daily News Tries To Win Back Ads With Advertorials

by Laura Miller — June 13, 2001 - 11:00pm

The New York Daily News is trying to win back grocers with three advertorial sections. The Daily News lost up to $100,000 in weekly ad revenue because of its "Dirty Shame" investigation of supermarkets. All but one of the city's major supermarket chains stopped running ads after a series said many stores had failed state inspections. The series, based on state inspection reports, began on May 3. Ken Frydman, News spokesman, said the paper hopes the supplements, which were produced for the ad department by a freelance writer, will "bring supermarkets back into the newspaper."

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, June 14, 2001
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