Corporations

New York City Doesn't Like Microsoft's Decals

by Laura Miller — October 24, 2002 - 10:00pm

Microsoft is the latest company to upset city officials by using sidewalks and other public property for a "guerilla" marketing campaign. According to the Associated Press, "In New York, municipal workers removed hundreds of Microsoft decals on Thursday and planned to remove hundreds more on Friday. ... 'We intend to hold your firm directly responsible for this illegal, irresponsible and dangerous defacing of public property,' Cesar Fernandez, the department's assistant counsel, said in a letter to Microsoft.

Main Source: 
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 25, 2002

Industry Friendly Appointments to Lead Panel

by Laura Miller — October 7, 2002 - 10:00pm

Congressional Democrats accuse the Bush Administration of stacking the Center for Disease Control's Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention with "individuals who are affiliated or openly sympathetic with the views of the lead industry." Their report "Turning Lead Into Gold: How the Bush Administration is Poisoning the Lead Advisory Committee at the CDC" details recent changes to the panel, noting the removal or rejection of several academic experts on lead poisoning.

Main Source: 
Press Release from Rep. Ed Markey, October 8, 2002

The "Sgt. Schultz" Defense

by Sheldon Rampton — October 4, 2002 - 10:00pm

Enron CEO Ken Lay and Global Crossing CEO Gary Winnick are both claiming that they knew nothing about the billion-dollar shortfalls, deceptive accounting and other problems at their companies. Experts say ignorance is a "potentially effective legal strategy," even though "you should expect chairmen to be aware of major factors affecting the business." After all, isn't that why they pay them the big bucks?

Main Source: 
San Francisco Chronicle, October 5, 2002

The Long Boom of Bad Reporting

by Sheldon Rampton — September 29, 2002 - 10:00pm

"Pick up The Wall Street Journal today, and the business pages are full of stories about the men and women who built the stock market bubble," writes business journalist Philip Longman. "But there's another sector of the economy, deeply implicated in the collapse, whose conflicts of interest, ethical lapses and naive enthusiasms have so far received little press attention: business journalism itself." Longman examines the conflicts of interest and delusions that led journalists to hype the stock market bubble.

Main Source: 
AlterNet, September 30, 2002

How Corporations Got a License to Lie

by Sheldon Rampton — September 15, 2002 - 10:00pm

If you're wondering how corporate America was able to bamboozle so many people into throwing their life savings away on worthless investments, part of the answer lies in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which was lobbied into law by the National Investor Relations Institute.

Halliburton Hires Crisis PR Firm

by Sheldon Rampton — September 8, 2002 - 10:00pm

Halliburton Corp., Vice President Dick Cheney's troubled former company, has hired spin doctor Michael Sitrick, whose firm was most recently hired by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to manage its pedophile-priests scandal. "Halliburton, being sued by shareholders for alleged fraud, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and might face a financial meltdown if it can't negotiate a global settlement over asbestos litigation," notes the Washington Post.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, September 9, 2002

Pity the Poor CEO

by Sheldon Rampton — September 8, 2002 - 10:00pm

Life is tough these days for corporate executives, sighs US News & World Report. "After being lionized by investors and the media and showered with money and perks for the past decade, corporate officers and directors are now feeling the heat," writes Matthew Benjamin. "To many executives, the job may not be worth the hassle," and many are worried about the legal liabilities that now come with the job.

Main Source: 
US News and World Report, September 9, 2002

Sustainable Development: Rest In Peace!

by Laura Miller — September 3, 2002 - 10:00pm

"Sustainable Development is dead. Its demise came, ironically, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development," CorpWatch's Kenny Bruno writes in his report from the UN meeting in Johannesburg. "It's not that the phrase wasn't invoked. It was, ad nauseum. But it was hardly discussed. Instead, sustainable development was deemed to be whatever compromise governments happen to reach on trade, subsidies, investment and aid, and whatever projects corporations see fit to finance. 'Sustainable Development' is now officially meaningless."

Main Source: 
CorpWatch.org, September 4, 2002

"It Was The Best of Times ... Oh No It Wasn't"

by Laura Miller — August 19, 2002 - 10:00pm

"'If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where all these profits came from, and why all these acquisitions went sour, what our net income is, and why WorldCom stock prices are in the toilet, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me. . ." So begins the opening paragraph of the winning submission in the "Best Fictional Earnings Release Contest," sponsored by Gregory FCA, an investor and public relations firm, based in Ardmore, PA.

Main Source: 
Gregory FCA Press Release, August 20, 2002

The Rah-Rah Boys

by Sheldon Rampton — August 17, 2002 - 10:00pm

Dot-com CEOs, day traders and other leading icons of the roaring 1990s are passing from the scene along with the economic bubble that created them, but Baffler editor Tom Frank notes that "one group remains untouched: the public intellectuals of the bull market. The writers of Dow-worshipping books and commentators who handed down daring pronunciamentos from the silicon heights are still cruising from one posh gig to the next.

Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, August 18, 2002
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