Headlines

Spinsanity: New Website "Counters Rhetoric With Reason"

by Sheldon Rampton — May 14, 2001 - 11:00pm

Spinsanity's mission is to "use rigorous, non-partisan analysis to expose the use and intent of the simulated reason and public relations techniques that dominate political discourse, and to document how they are disseminated through the media.

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http://www.spinsanity.org

PR Firms Exposed in Diet Drug Debacle

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

The diet drug craze of the mid-1990s was fueled by cover-ups, misinformation and a multi-million-dollar PR machine, according to Dispensing with the Truth, a new book by Mediaweek's Washington bureau chief, Alicia Mundy. Burson-Marsteller, Edelman Medical Communications, Ogilvy Adams & Reinhart and Ketchum were among firms identified as part of a nearly $100 million public relations spin campaign "that would put presidential consultants to shame," writes Mundy.

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O'Dwyer's PR Daily, May 14, 2001

God Sees the Freepers

by Sheldon Rampton — May 9, 2001 - 11:00pm

This essay looks at a conservative website called www.freerepublic.com, which uses grassroots internet organizing to "pervert public polls" and "call and email congressional representatives en masse, thus creating the illusion of massive public pressure that twists the actions of elected officials. ...

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BushWatch, May 10, 2001

Serbia Seeks U.S. Ties

by Laura Miller — May 3, 2001 - 11:00pm

Serbia is looking to "establish friendly and constructive relations" with the U.S., and is using consultant Jim Denton, Alexandria, Va., to do so. He is receiving $120K from the "Serbian diaspora community," according to the one-year contract filed with the Justice Dept.

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O'Dwyer's PR Daily, May 4, 2001

Public Relations--A Growth Industry

by Anonymous — April 22, 2001 - 11:00pm

The top 50 PR firms worldwide more than tripled their revenue from 1994 to 2000, according to the Council for Public Relations Firms. 2000 saw a 30 percent jump from the previous year, breaking the 3.8 billion dollar mark. Money makes the world go 'round--with a little spin from the burgeoning PR industry.

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The Holmes Report, April 23, 2001

Fired Fox-TV Journalists Win Goldman Environmental Prize

by Sheldon Rampton — April 22, 2001 - 11:00pm

The prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize has been awarded to Jane Akre and Steve Wilson, TV journalists who researched the potential health risks of rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone), the genetically modified hormone injected into U.S. dairy cows to stimulate milk production. The hormone is one of the first genetically modified products approved by the FDA. It is banned in Europe, Japan and most other industrialized nations. The story by Akre and Wilson proved too hot for their local Fox TV network affiliate for which it was produced and ultimately led to their firing.

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Goldman Environmental Prize press release, April 23, 2001

Sunny Spin Ignores Dot-Com Disaster

by Sheldon Rampton — April 19, 2001 - 10:00pm

Back in the heady days of the dot-com bubble, writes Martin Kady II, "enthusiastic folks in the public relations world could really work up a lather about their tech clients. In promoting the new new thing, these publicity machines would exercise all manner of hyperbole -- and the public and business press would fall for it hook, line and sinker. " Nowadays, most of the PR pitches he receives attempt to put a brave face on disaster or invite him to write about profitable companies that are exceptions to the rule.

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Washington Business Journal, April 20, 2001

Price Fixer to the World Seeks New Image

by Anonymous — April 17, 2001 - 11:00pm

Archer Daniels Midland Company, seeking a more wholesome image, replaced its longtime slogan "Supermarket to the World" with the touchingly eco-friendly tag "The Nature of What's to Come." ADM has reason to be concerned about its public profile; the feds have convicted the agri-business giant of multiple counts of price-fixing, multiple states have taken it to court for pollution-related issues, and political reformers say ADM has reaped massive government pork from heavy soft money donations.

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O'Dwyer's Newsletter, April 18, 2001

The 'Mad' Disease Has Many Forms

by John Stauber — April 8, 2001 - 11:00pm

PR Watch staffers Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber wrote Mad Cow USA in 1997. This report by the chemical industry's official publication does a very good job of updating developments since then. "Has the U.S. government taken sufficient measures to keep it from infecting humans?" asks reporter Bette Hileman. "For years after BSE first appeared in Britain, authorities believed the disease would not spread beyond the U.K. They also believed it would not jump species to infect humans. ... They were wrong.

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Chemical & Engineering News, April 9,

Welcome to the Spin Machine: BSMG Gets Busted

by Sheldon Rampton — April 4, 2001 - 11:00pm

This article includes correspondence between editor Michael Manville and the PR firm of BSMG Worldwide, which tried to get Manville to publish "one or more bylined articles written by experts in the field" of biotechnology. After initial denials, the BSMG representative eventually admitted that its client was actually the industry-funded Council for Biotechnology Information.

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Freezerbox.com, April 5, 2001
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