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LA Times "Innovates" with Front Page Fake News

The Los Angeles Times is breaking new ground in the fake news business. The Associated Press reports that the paper "took the unusual step Thursday of running a front-page advertisement that resembles a news story.

A Sacred Vow, But Not to Journalistic Standards

The National Organization for Marriage, "a national organization that opposes same-sex marriage is targeting New Jersey in a $1.5 million advertising campaign." The group is also running ads in Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. The television spots warn that supporters of same-sex marriage "want to change the way I live. ... That means wedding photographers and marriage counselors could be labeled bigots and sued if they oppose working with same-sex couples," they claim.

Coke Busted for Promoting Myths

The Australian government's consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has forced Coca-Cola to take out advertisements in national newspapers to correct its misleading advertisements. In October 2008, Coca-Cola ran full-page ads featuring a prominent Australian actress, Kerry Armstrong.

The Bleak State of the News Media

"Newspaper ad revenues have fallen 23% in the last two years. ... By our calculations, nearly one out of every five journalists working for newspapers in 2001 is now gone, and 2009 may be the worst year yet," reads the summary of the "State of the News Media 2009" report. In local television, "revenues fell by 7% in an election year -- something unheard of -- and ratings are now falling or are flat across the schedule." News "audience migration to the Internet is now accelerating," but "online ad revenue to news websites now appears to be flattening; in newspapers it is declining. ...

Beat Them and They'll Still Join You

As he campaigns to become Indonesia's next president, Prabowo Subianto is often asked about his past. Prabowo was a commander in Indonesia's notorious military special forces unit, Kopassus, under the dictator Suharto.

Cessna Urges Executives to Fly with Pride

"Pity the poor executive who blinks. ... True visionaries will continue to fly," a new ad campaign by Cessna Aircraft defiantly states. The company saw a "sudden drop in demand for private airplanes of all sizes," which it believes is due not only to the recession, but also to the "unexpected public backlash that erupted after the chief executives of Ford Motor Co., Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp.

Liberal Lobby Targets Republican Senators on Stimulus Bill

The Financial Times notes that "with precisely zero votes from Republican lawmakers for his $819 billion stimulus package, Barack Obama’s bipartisan aspirations may already be in tatters ...

Thin Veil of "Patriotism" May Extinguish Chinese Cigarette Billboards

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

$50 Million to Polish Cars?

Kelmenson, Davis & Associates (KDA), a marketing advisory firm with ties to the automobile industry, is trying to raise $50 million a year to spend on fixing the image of Detroit's Big Three auto companies "via public relations and a cable TV documentary," plus "an informational magazine and website called 'American Drive,'" reports Jean Halliday.

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