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Egypt's Election Gets Underway

by Sara Jerving — November 29, 2011 - 11:10am
  • Topics: Democracy, International, Politics

    • Egyptians took to the polls with a massive turnout this week, and few reported problems in the first round of elections since the ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

    This week's initial parliamentary elections will collect votes in the main city centers, like Cairo and Alexandria, as part of what will be a four-month voting process. From these elections, Egypt's first democratically-elected parliament will be created, which will be tasked with crafting a new constitution for the nation and laying the groundwork for a presidential election in 2012. The elections are occurring after a series of violent clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square with the interim military government. Protesters fear the military government is trying to manipulate the process to retain power. Some 40 people have been killed, and 2,000 injured.

    News

    ALEC Ties Bring Down British Defense Secretary, Threaten Prime Minister David Cameron

    by Brendan Fischer — October 18, 2011 - 8:12am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Democracy, Ethics, International, Lobbying, Politics

    • British Defense Secretary Liam Fox has stepped down in the midst of an escalating scandal tied to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The ALEC connections have led opposition party leaders and the British press to question whether British Prime Minister David Cameron has been "allowing a secret rightwing agenda to flourish at the heart of the Conservative party."

    News

    ALEC Tied to British Political Scandal

    by Brendan Fischer — October 12, 2011 - 8:50am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Right Wing, Corporations, Democracy, Economy, International, Lobbying

    • British Conservative Party defense secretary Liam Fox is in the midst of scandal that has grown deeper as ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are revealed. Pressure has been growing on Fox in recent weeks after having been caught in a lie about unethical dealings with his friend and former flatmate, and more ethical problems arising from the operation of a recently-dissolved, ALEC-connected "charity" Fox founded.

    Koch Industries Exposed for Bribery, Secret Iran Sales and More

    by Rebekah Wilce — October 5, 2011 - 6:17am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Environment, International

    • Late Sunday night, after a flurry of PR flack-directed prebuttals that had eyebrows arching and anticipation building, Bloomberg Markets Magazine released an epic exposé about Koch Industries' misdeeds during the last three decades.

    Fifteen Bloomberg journalists from around the world contributed to the story.

    What did they uncover?

    ABC's "Made in America" Puts Blame on Consumers

    by Anne Landman — March 2, 2011 - 4:55pm

    On February 28, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer premiered a TV series called "Made in America" that ostensibly encourages viewers to buy American-made products to help spur U.S. job growth. In the first episode, a reporter tours the home of an average American family, discovering that most of the family's belongings were made in foreign countries. To illustrate how remiss the family has been in buying American, a moving crew takes everything out of the house that is made in a foreign country. The crew rips out the family's stove, carts off their furniture, beds and refrigerator, and takes virtually everything in the home away except a small vase with a flower in it. The family returns, shocked, to see their empty home. The series blames consumers for not purchasing American-made products, while failing to mention how major American corporations choose to manufacture their products overseas. Also unmentioned is the fact that ABC's parent company, Disney, manufactures toys, including Mickey Mouse memorabilia and other goods, in Chinese factories. The show obscures the fact that consumers don't choose where the products offered in their local stores are made, and doesn't discuss the limited American-made products offered at ubiquitous big-box appliance, electronics, furniture, drug and toy stores.

    Main Source: 
    Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, March 2, 2011
    News

    The Day Egypt Disappeared

    by Mary Bottari — February 14, 2011 - 9:00am
  • Topics: Internet, Defend the Press, Democracy, International, Media, Propaganda, Secrecy

    • On February 11, 2011, after 30 years of dictatorship, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak announced he was stepping down. As ancient pharaohs slumbered inside, a crowd of over a million surrounded the rose-colored Cairo Museum setting off fireworks and jumping for joy as they peacefully forced a modern pharaoh to flee. This hopeful moment will be studied for years, and no topic will be more hotly debated than the role of social media in the uprising.

    Op-Ed

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

    by Steve Horn — January 31, 2011 - 7:09pm
  • 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.

    A Banana Republic Once Again?

    by Brendan Fischer — December 27, 2010 - 11:55am
  • Topics: Democracy, Human Rights, International, Lobbying, Public Relations, U.S. Government

    • (Part two of a two-part series)

    In the first part of this series, the Center for Media and Democracy reported how the 2009 coup d'etat that toppled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was successfully maintained not through the use of force, but through the power of lobbying and spin. That tale, whose details were revealed through Wikileaks' publication of diplomatic cables and research into lobbying activities, had some echoes of the role PR played in an earlier "regime change" in the region. Here is the story of how the Chiquita banana company successfully used PR spin to help topple Guatemala's left-leaning government in 1954, and how they may have done it again in Honduras, 2009.

    Honduras' PR Coup

    by Brendan Fischer — December 20, 2010 - 8:03pm
  • Topics: Journalism, Democracy, Human Rights, International, Lobbying, Propaganda, Public Relations, U.S. Government

    • Part one of a two-part article. (Go to part two).

    Wikileaks recently published documents suggesting that PR spin helped determine the final outcome of the June 2009 Honduran coup. At the same time that a July 2009 diplomatic cable from the U.S. Ambassador in Honduras to top government officials confirmed that the Honduran president's removal was illegal, professional lobbyists and political communicators were beginning a PR blitz, eventually managing to manipulate America into believing the coup was a constitutional act.

    Flotilla Ship "Painted" to Cover Bullet Holes

    by Steve Horn — August 10, 2010 - 8:48pm

    In the aftermath of the crimes perpetrated against those riding on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla by the Israeli government, it has been well-documented that the Israeli hasbara machine somehow transformed the victims into victimizers. A bit over two months later, the spin continues unabated.

    Main Source: 
    Ma'an News Agency, August 8, 2010
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