Ethics

Blair's Top Spin Doctor Fights the BBC

by Sheldon Rampton — July 5, 2003 - 11:00pm

Alastair Campbell, the communications director for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is at the center of a major controversy sparked by BBC reports that he and other British government officials "sexed up" their Iraq weapons dossier to justify the government's war plans. Campbell fought back by accusing the BBC of lying and demanding an apology.

Main Source: 
BBC, July 6, 2003

Corporate Criminals Give Big

by Sheldon Rampton — July 1, 2003 - 11:00pm

Thirty-one corporate criminals gave more than $9 million to the Democratic and Republican parties during the 2002 election cycle, according to a report by Corporate Crime Reporter. They gave $7.2 million to Republicans (77 percent) and $2.1 million to Democrats (23 percent). The top five corporations, ranked by amount given to politicians, were Archer Daniels Midland ($1.7 million), Pfizer ($1.1 million), Chevron ($875,400), Northrop Grumman ($741,250), and American Airlines ($655,593).

Main Source: 
Corporate Crime Reporter, July 2, 2003

US Public Catching On To Big Lie?

by Laura Miller — July 1, 2003 - 11:00pm

"For the first time since the beginning of the war in Iraq, a solid majority of Americans believe the Bush administration either 'stretched the truth' about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction or told outright lies, according to a new opinion survey," Agence France-Presse reports. A University of Maryland poll conducted from June 18 to 25 found that 52 percent of respondents said they believed President George W. Bush and his aides were "stretching the truth, but not making false statements" about Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's chemical, biological and nuclear programs.

Main Source: 
Agence France-Press, July 2, 2003

False Fronts

by Sheldon Rampton — June 30, 2003 - 11:00pm

This spring, the Dr. Pepper company recruited bloggers to talk up "Raging Cow," a flavored-milk drink. "The company hoped to work up Internet buzz about the beverage - and it was OK, by the way, if the bloggers didn't mention that Dr Pepper had given them freebies and flown them to Dallas for a pep session," writes James Hebert, who examines several examples of the old PR trick of "getting a supposedly independent third party to tout your product."

Main Source: 
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 1, 2003

Major Media 'Kiss Ass' For Deregulation

by Laura Miller — June 24, 2003 - 11:00pm

American TV networks gave the Bush administration glowing coverage of Iraq war in exchange for the relaxation of media ownership rules, according to Michael Wolff, a media commentator and New York Magazine columnist.
"Ass kissing has gone on to a profound degree. It's pervasive throughout all these news organisations. They need the FCC to behave in certain ways. In order to do this we have got to go along to get along," said Wolff, who delivered the keynote speech at a MediaGuardian forum on war coverage. Wolff also was critical of the system of the Pentagon embedding journalists with troops.

Main Source: 
Guardian (UK), June 25, 2003

Miller's Unusual Embedding

by Sheldon Rampton — June 23, 2003 - 11:00pm

"New York Times reporter Judith Miller played a highly unusual role in an Army unit assigned to search for dangerous Iraqi weapons, according to U.S.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, June 24, 2003

Bush Deceived Us Into War - Why the Denial?

by John Stauber — June 23, 2003 - 11:00pm

Paul Krugman writes that "There is no longer any serious doubt that Bush administration officials deceived us into war. The key question now is why so many influential people are in denial, unwilling to admit the obvious. ...

Main Source: 
New York Times, June 24, 2003

Fibbing It Up at Fox

by Sheldon Rampton — June 22, 2003 - 1:04am

If you're wondering whatever happened to all those alleged weapons discoveries that Fox News reported during the war, Lew Rockwell has compiled a list, along with other examples of dishonesty, error, bias and propaganda at Fox News.

Main Source: 
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/steinreich8.html

Cure for the Common Cold

by Sheldon Rampton — June 20, 2003 - 11:00pm

Clinical trials showed that ViroPharma's anti-cold drug, pleconaril, was little better than a placebo in clinical trials, but that didn't stop hundreds of newspapers from hyping it as a miracle cure. "It fell far short of what any rational person would call a cure," observes Gary Schwitzer. "Yet hundreds of journalists called pleconaril just that - and more - in hundreds of news stories before the drug was ever submitted to the FDA for approval. ... Journalists used an array of superlative terms for the drug -cure, miracle, wonder drug, super drug, a medical first.

Main Source: 
British Medical Journal, June 21, 2003

Linking 9/11 To Iraq

by Laura Miller — June 19, 2003 - 11:00pm

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting says major media is ignoring the story that flawed intelligence " may have been a result of deliberate deception, rather than incompetence." According to FAIR, "former General Wesley Clark told anchor Tim Russert that Bush administration officials had engaged in a campaign to implicate Saddam Hussein in the September 11 attacks-- starting that very day. Clark said that he'd been called on September 11 and urged to link Baghdad to the terror attacks, but declined to do so because of a lack of evidence. ...

Main Source: 
FAIR, June 20, 2003
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