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Wisconsin Protests, Wednesday, February 16, 2011

by PR Watch Admin — February 16, 2011 - 1:00am
  • Topics: Activism, Democracy, Labor, Wisconsin Protests

    • 10:10 p.m. - GOOD OLE DAYS

    Mary Bottari reports that another protestor says she yearns for the good old days when republicans were somewhat reasonable.

    10:00 p.m. - WEAC INVITES TEACHERS AND CITIZENS TO CAPITOL

    Wisconsin's largest teacher's union, Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), announced that its 98,000 teachers and citizens across the state are invited to the state capitol tomorrow to visit their state legislators. This means that schools across the state will be closed. Check your local TV listings for news on your local school district. Madison Schools are closed.

    News

    CMD Denounces Latest Andrew Breitbart Smear Campaign against Groups Challenging the Kochs

    by Lisa Graves — February 7, 2011 - 11:18am
  • Topics: Activism, Corporations, Labor

    • Editor's note: Last month the Center for Media and Democracy condemned a video shot by allies of Andrew Breitbart at a rally organized by Common Cause which included suspicious video shot by an ally of James O'Keefe impersonating a Common Cause activist. We noted that the technique of taking videos purporting to be of real protesters who are really plants or operatives saying outrageous things could not be ruled out. Here is that press release:

    Los Angeles -- Online provocateur Andrew Breitbart and his allies are trying to manufacture a new scandal, this one aimed at good government groups that dare to challenge David and Charles Koch and their corporate/political empire. It is a scam, of course, but the Breitbart effort is a reminder of his relationship with the Kochs.

    The centerpiece of Breitbart's attack is a video smear, directed at Common Cause and other good government groups that held an "Uncloak the Kochs" rally in Rancho Mirage, California, on January 30, 2011. The Kochs and about 200 other corporate executives, TV talking heads and elected officials were meeting to plot political strategies at a resort across from the rally.

    Op-Ed

    Egyptian Protests Expose Fraudulent U.S. "Spreading Democracy" Meme

    by Steve Horn — January 31, 2011 - 8:09pm
  • Topics: Activism, Democracy, Human Rights, International

    • The Egyptian people have exposed the great myth that prevails in the sphere of United States' foreign policy, namely that U.S. foreign policy elites are concerned with "spreading democracy."

    That is because, as Hampshire College's Michael Klare has written, since 1945, the United States has maintained a foreign policy that is centered around "blood and oil." The foreign policy establishment often uses "democracy spreading" as a public relations platitude because it sounds much better than saying, "We went to war for oil." But caring about democracy goes out the window when one truly scrutinizes U.S. foreign policy through a critical lens. Sourcewatch calls this phenomenon Big Oil, Big Lies.

    Effort Afoot in Vermont to Abolish Corporate Personhood

    by Anne Landman — January 27, 2011 - 11:24am

    One year after the Supreme Court ruled in the Citizens United case that corporations have the same rights as people, movements are underway around the U.S. to reverse the new protections granted by the country's highest court. Vermont State Senator Virginia Lyons has introduced the country's first anti-corporate personhood resolution which proposes amending the U.S. Constitution to specify that "corporations are not persons under the laws of the United States." The resolution would make it clear that corporations are not the equivalent of human beings and do not have the same constitutional rights afforded people.

    Main Source: 
    AlterNet, January 22, 2011

    RootsAction.org Taps Into the Discontented Left

    by Anne Landman — January 20, 2011 - 4:51pm

    A new, independent, progressive public interest group called RootsAction has formed to fight "a far-right Republican Party that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of corporate America, and a Democratic Party whose leadership is enmeshed with corporate power." RootsAction is an online campaign to address issues like the squandering of billions of taxpayer dollars on foreign wars that are generating hatred of the U.S. overseas, Wall Street schemes that are costing Americans their homes and the continuation of Bush administration policies under President Obama. The group is endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Laura Flanders and Coleen Rowley. RootsAction's goal is to organize Americans who are already politically active to help defeat corporate-financed media that utilizes fear, myth and outright lies to influence public opinion. RootsAction says the 2010 election shows "you can't beat heartless Republicans with spineless Democrats." 

    Main Source: 
    CommonDreams.org, January 18, 2011

    Potter Tells Single-Payer Group to Do "PR"

    by Jack O'Dwyer — January 11, 2011 - 5:21pm
  • Topics: Activism, Health, Public Relations

    • Wendell Potter, author of "Deadly Spin," told a capacity crowd of 200 in New York last night that backers of a single-payer health plan must adopt the techniques and strategies of the opponents of such a plan.

    Potter, speaking to Physicians for a National Health Plan (PNHP) at the Murphy Institute for Education and Labor Studies, said the PNHP must seek allies, get "others" to tell their story, use appeals to basic emotions, and create memorable slogans.

    "Special interests have kicked your butt with the skillful use of language," he said. They have been able to "demonize" single-payer, he added.

    Politicians, he said, are not going to support such a health plan unless their constituents are in favor of it, he said. He faulted the single-payers for lacking a "long term strategic plan," something that he said the healthcare insurance industry excels at.

    AltriaKills.com

    by Anne Landman — January 5, 2011 - 11:53am
  • Topics: Activism, Corporate Social Responsibility, Education

    • A recent Spin of the Day item on PRWatch says that Bank of America bought up hundreds of derogatory Internet domain names related to their business, like BankofAmericaSucks.com and BrianMoynihanBlows.com (referring to BofA's CEO). Purchasing derogatory domain names is a quiet but common corporate strategy to try to minimize or contain bad PR.

    Locals Hire PR Firm in Chicken Plant Flap

    by Anne Landman — January 4, 2011 - 4:55pm

    Citizens of Nash County, North Carolina have hired the Raleigh-based public relations firm Campaign Connections to help stop Sanderson Farms from building a chicken processing plant in their community. Citizens call the slaughtering plant an "industry of yesterday" and say locating the plant in Nash County will make it harder to lure higher-tech businesses to the area, like biotech, pharmaceutical and alternative energy companies. Campaign Connections says citizens sought their help to correct misinformation, like the notion that they oppose bringing jobs to the area. Citizens say they aren't opposed to jobs, or to Sanderson Farms, but feel the company is not a "good match" for their community. As part of a strategy to oppose the plant, some Nash County citizens have bought stock in Sanderson Farms so they can be included in the company's Board of Directors meetings.

    Main Source: 
    Rocky Mount Telegram, January 4, 2011

    Colorado Billboard Combines Racism, Homophobia and Xenophobia

    by Anne Landman — October 12, 2010 - 12:31am

    People driving through Grand Junction, Colorado for the next month will have to look at a racist, xenophobic and homophobic billboard that depicts President Obama as a turban-and-bomb-wearing terrorist, an illegal immigrant wearing a Mexican sombrero, a member of the Mob and a homosexual.

    Main Source: 
    KJCTNews8.Com, Grand Junction, Colorado
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