Front Groups

Changing of the Guard at Freedom's Watch

by Sheldon Rampton — April 4, 2008 - 10:25am

Freedom's Watch, the right-wing advocacy group, recently hired Carl Forti, the former political director for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, signalling that the group "is getting ready to gear up for Election 2008," reports Bill Berkowitz.

Main Source: 
Media Transparency, April 3, 2008

Glover Park Group Fights for (and Against) Climate Protection

by John Stauber — March 31, 2008 - 5:30pm

"Former vice president Al Gore (through his Alliance for Climate Protection) will launch a three-year, $300 million campaign aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a move that ranks as one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history. ...

Main Source: 
Washington Post, March 31, 2008

Vets for Freedom Pushes School Too Far

by Diane Farsetta — March 27, 2008 - 2:47pm

It was originally planned as "a low-key classroom discussion about patriotism and service to country" at Forest Lake High School in Minnesota. But when the Republican Party-associated pro-Iraq war group Vets for Freedom "decided to call a press conference at the school and alerted media," things got heated.

Main Source: 
Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota), March 26, 2008

Imaging Study Leaves Tobacco Funding Out of the Picture

by Anne Landman — March 26, 2008 - 4:12pm

The lead author of the largest lung cancer screening study ever performed has come under fire for accepting cigarette company funding for the study. Dr.

Main Source: 
New York Times, March 26, 2008

Lobbying Wine in a PR Bottle?

by Diane Farsetta — March 26, 2008 - 12:48pm

According to the Tennessee Ethics Commission's staff, a public relations firm that set up a front group that's encouraging people to contact legislators needs to register as a lobbyist. At issue is a proposal to allow Tennesseans to order wine over the Internet. The Tennessee Wine and Spirits Wholesalers, which opposes the bill, hired the prominent Nashville firm Seigenthaler Public Relations.

Main Source: 
Knoxville News Sentinel (Tennessee), March 25, 2008

Introducing the coalSwarm

by Judith Siers-Poisson — March 21, 2008 - 5:19pm
  • Topics: Activism, Front Groups, Global Warming, Corporations, Democracy, Environment, Lobbying, Politics, Public Relations, Science, Social Justice, U.S. Government

    • In the spring of 2007, when author Ted Nace set out to profile the emerging No New Coal Plants movement for Orion magazine, he had no idea that the assignment would turn into more than just a single article.

    Teaching College Kids to Lie

    by Sheldon Rampton — March 16, 2008 - 6:37pm

    Additional details have surfaced about the story we mentioned last month regarding a corporate-sponsored hoax at Hunter College. The college receives donations from the Coach Corporation, a manufacturer of handbags, shoes and other women's accessories.

    Main Source: 
    Inside Higher Ed, March 3, 2008

    Monsanto-Funded Front Group Fights Milk Labeling

    by Anne Landman — March 10, 2008 - 5:33pm

    A new "grassroots" farmers' group with close ties to Monsanto has been formed to outlaw labels that would notify consumers they are buying milk from cows not treated with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH). Monsanto genetically engineers rBGH, called Posilac, which is injected into cows, forcing them to produce more milk.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, March 9, 2008
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