International

Cayman Islands Searching for Friends in High Places

by Bob Burton — March 10, 2009 - 4:18am

Fleishman-Hillard (F-H) is busy trying to open doors for Cayman Islands government ministers keen to lobby members of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. With the U.S.

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Cayman Net News Online (Cayman Islands), March 3, 2009

Tobaco Company Offers Perks to British Parliamentary Aides

by Anne Landman — February 23, 2009 - 1:18pm

Nick Harris, the corporate affairs manager of Gallaher Group, the world's third largest tobacco company and the British subsidiary of

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The Guardian (UK), February 23, 2009

No Credit for Bankers

by Bob Burton — February 17, 2009 - 3:52am

The former chairman of the banking and insurance group HBOS, Lord Stevenson, and chief executive Andy Hornby, along with the Royal Bank of Scotland's Sir Tom McKillop and Sir Fred Goodwin, appeared before a British parliamentary committee and profusely apologized for their role in the financial meltdown of the banks they had directed. If the four thought their apologies would garner sympathy, they misread the public mood.

Main Source: 
PR Week (UK), February 11, 2009

Consultants Rush in to Help Russia

by Diane Farsetta — February 11, 2009 - 5:18pm

The public relations firm Ketchum, which "works with the highest levels of Russia's Government and the state-owned energy monopoly Gazprom," has hired the Alston & Bird lobby firm to work on the account. The lobby firm "of former Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Tom Daschle will deal with trade, energy, economic and politico-military issues at a $35K-a-month rate," at least through the end of May 2009, reports O'Dwyer's. Russia paid Ketchum $2.9 million from August 2008 to January 2009. The PR firm helped Russia finesse its invasion of Georgia in August 2008 and its cutting off natural gas supplies to Ukraine. The firm secured a CNN interview for Vladimir Putin, "coordinated President Dmitry Medvedev's Council on Foreign Relations event (in November 2008), organized a meeting for Washington reporters with Kremlin spokesperson Alexey Pavlov and arranged a Wall Street Journal meeting with Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev." Previously, Ketchum placed Russia-themed paid supplements in the Washington Post and helped Putin become Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2007.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), February 9, 2009

South Korea Seeks the Calming Influence of Spin Doctors

by Bob Burton — February 9, 2009 - 9:42pm

The Korean Ministry of Labour has appointed Fleishman-Hillard (F-H) to "develop a strategic communications campaign to address pressing labour-related issues within the domestic market," reports Media magazine. David Blecken reports that F-H will run a one-year campaign which will "aim to maintain social harmony by building a greater level of understanding between the government, business community, unions, employees and other related interest groups." The South Korean Embassy in Washington D.C.

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Media, February 9, 2009

Thin Veil of "Patriotism" May Extinguish Chinese Cigarette Billboards

by Anne Landman — January 23, 2009 - 2:11pm

Patriotic billboards around Shanghai, China carry the Chinese expression for "Love our China." The message, however, uses a variation for the word China, "Chungwa," which happens to be identical to the name of a

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Shanghai Daily, January 19, 2009

China: The One Bright Spot in the News Business?

by Diane Farsetta — January 16, 2009 - 5:33pm

The Chinese government has pledged 45 billion yuan (nearly $6.6 billion) for media that target foreign audiences, "in an aggressive global drive to improve the country's image internationally." The Xinhua News Agency wants to use the funding to "expand its overseas bureaus from about 100 to 186," nearly enough to have a bureau in every country.

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South China Morning Post (sub req'd), January 13, 2009

Influential Energy Agency Blows off Wind Power

by Diane Farsetta — January 14, 2009 - 1:05pm

The International Energy Agency (IEA), which "advises most major governments across the world on energy policy," has systematically underestimated the potential of renewable energy sources like wind and solar, "because of its ties to the oil, gas and nuclear sectors," charges Energy Watch, a group of scientists and politicians. Swiss parliamentarian Rudolf Rechsteiner, a member of Energy Watch, said that IEA was "delaying the change to a renewable world.

Main Source: 
Guardian (UK), January 9, 2009

Deadly Deception: The Tobacco Industry's Secondhand Smoke Cover Up

by Anne Landman — January 7, 2009 - 3:46pm
  • Topics: International, Public Relations, Tobacco

    • Many of the of the tobacco industry's underhanded strategies and tactics have been exposed, thanks to landmark legal cases and the hard work of public health advocates. But we are still uncovering the shocking lengths to which the industry has gone to protect itself from public health measures like smoking bans. Now we can thank the city of Pueblo, Colorado, for an opportunity to look a little bit deeper into how the industry managed the deadly deceptions around secondhand smoke.

    A new study, now the ninth of its type and the most comprehensive one yet, has shown a major reduction in hospital admissions for heart attacks after a smoke-free law was put into effect.

    On July 1, 2003, the relatively isolated city of Pueblo, Colorado enacted an ordinance that prohibited smoking in workplaces and indoor public areas, including bars and restaurants. For the study, researchers reviewed hospital admissions for heart attacks among area residents for one year prior to, and three years after the ban, and compared the data to two other nearby areas that didn't have bans (the part of Pueblo County outside city limits, and El Paso County, which includes Colorado Springs). Researchers found that during the three years after the ban, hospital admissions for heart attacks dropped 41 percent inside the city of Pueblo, but found no significant change in admissions for heart attacks in the other two control areas.

    Eight studies done prior to this one in other locales used similar techniques and yielded similar results, but covered shorter periods of time -- usually about one year after the smoking ban went into effect. The results of this longer, more comprehensive study support the view that not only does secondhand smoke have a significant short-term impact on heart function, but that lives, and money, are probably being saved by new laws proliferating around the world in recent years that minimize public exposure to secondhand smoke.

    One-sided View of Gaza Attacks Predominates in US Media

    by Sheldon Rampton — December 28, 2008 - 5:24pm

    "In the usual process," writes Greg Mitchell, "the U.S. government -- and media here -- are playing down questions about whether Israel overreacted in its massive air strikes on Gaza, while the foreign press, and even Haaretz in Israel, carries more balanced accounts. The early reports on Sunday already reveal the bombing of a TV station and mosque and preparations for an invasion." Mitchell cites eyewitness accounts that describe morgues full of civilians, along with editorial stating that Israel's bombing of Gaza "within the span of a few hours ...

    Main Source: 
    Editor and Publisher, December 27, 2008
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