Internet

Nike Website Offers Sweat-free Online Tour of Vietnam

by Sheldon Rampton — August 5, 2001 - 11:00pm

Nike has created a website offering an online virtual tour of one of its factories in Vietnam, claiming that the tour demonstrates its commitment to continuous improvement in labor practices overseas. A year in the making, the video depicts a clean, well-run factory where workers are well-treated. But according to Jason Mark, a spokesman for San Francisco-based Global Exchange, a labor rights group, "It seems more like a publicity stunt than a genuine effort to make systematic changes across the board.

Main Source: 
The Holmes Report, August 6, 2001

Search Engines and Editorial Integrity

by Sheldon Rampton — July 22, 2001 - 11:00pm

Eight of the major internet search engines insert advertisements in search engine results without clear and conspicuous disclosure that the ads are ads.

Main Source: 
Online Journalism Review, July 23, 2001

Consumers Union: Let's Measure Web Credibility

by Sheldon Rampton — June 20, 2001 - 11:00pm

Consumers Union, long a trusted name in rating consumer products, has launched the "Web Credibility Project," which will try to measure how well websites disclose business relationships with the companies and products they cover or sell, especially when these relationships pose a potential conflict of interest. "Consider ibreathe.com," explains the Wall Street Journal.

Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal Online, June 21, 2001

God Sees the Freepers

by Sheldon Rampton — May 9, 2001 - 11:00pm

This essay looks at a conservative website called www.freerepublic.com, which uses grassroots internet organizing to "pervert public polls" and "call and email congressional representatives en masse, thus creating the illusion of massive public pressure that twists the actions of elected officials. ...

Main Source: 
BushWatch, May 10, 2001

Sunny Spin Ignores Dot-Com Disaster

by Sheldon Rampton — April 19, 2001 - 10:00pm

Back in the heady days of the dot-com bubble, writes Martin Kady II, "enthusiastic folks in the public relations world could really work up a lather about their tech clients. In promoting the new new thing, these publicity machines would exercise all manner of hyperbole -- and the public and business press would fall for it hook, line and sinker. " Nowadays, most of the PR pitches he receives attempt to put a brave face on disaster or invite him to write about profitable companies that are exceptions to the rule.

Main Source: 
Washington Business Journal, April 20, 2001

Online Politics: A Post-Mortem

by Sheldon Rampton — November 28, 2000 - 11:00pm

The elections of 2000 were touted as a coming-out party for politics on the internet. Websites with names like Voter, Speakout, Vote, Grassroots, and Votenet promised to revolutionize politics, gushing hype and dreamy, feel-good mission statements about "using the Internet to promote a more active and informed electorate" and "enabling citizens and their representatives to affect positive, democratic change." After the confetti has settled, howeer, it is painfully clear that online politics was as badly oversold as the rest of the internet.

Main Source: 
New Republic, November 28, 2000

Crisis in PR!

by Sheldon Rampton — April 30, 2000 - 11:00pm

"Very marginal" is the way Steve Lett, president of a now-defunct dot-com company, describes the result of his company's initial experience with public relations. PaperStudio.com outsourced its PR functions to a so-called virtual agency that stitches together a flock of PR freelancers. One year and $125,000 later, PaperStudio had gained a paltry 15 clips for its press kit.

Main Source: 
Red Herring, May 1, 2000

Wide Open to the Web Warriors

by Sheldon Rampton — February 5, 1999 - 12:00am

"Activists are using the internet to fight large companies over ethical issues. Yet many major brand-owners lack a clear counter-strategy," warns this industry trade publication.

Main Source: 
Marketing Magazine, February 5, 1999
Syndicate content