Front Groups

Exxon's Secret Sponsorship of Climate Skeptics

by Laura Miller — June 21, 2004 - 4:59pm

Despite the best PR efforts of industry, global warming is a growing concern to an increasing number of people in the world. That's because corporate propaganda addresses only the perception of climate change, distorting science and corrupting regulatory processes, and not the reality. The new website ExxonSecrets.org explores the links between Exxonmobil, think tanks, corporate friendly scientists, and government officials.

Main Source:

http://www.exxonsecrets.org/

Unspinning the Web of Corporate Influence

by Laura Miller — June 14, 2004 - 10:00pm

When it comes to stealthy PR campaigns, the biotech industry has spared no expense. For the past six years, the UK-based public interest group GM Watch has been tracking and documenting biotech's dirty tricks, learning that the PR web reaches further than just GM food.

Main Source:

http://www.lobbywatch.org/p1temp.asp?pid=30&page=1

"Stop Michael Moore" Campaign a GOP Front

by John Stauber — June 12, 2004 - 10:00pm

"So desperate are Bush Republicans to kill Michael Moore's latest
film, Fahrenheit 9/11, they have hired a public relations firm to
set up a web site attacking Moore," the Alternative Press Review writes. "The site,
MoveAmericaForward.com, claims to be 'non-partisan,' but a glance
at the 'About' page of the site reveals the director and staff of
Move America Forward are all diehard Republicans, anti-tax
activists, and former legislative staffers.

Main Source:

Alternative Press Review, June 13, 2004

Utterly Out of Favor

by Diane Farsetta — May 19, 2004 - 10:00pm

"In dawn raids today, American troops surrounded Ahmed Chalabi's headquarters and home in Baghdad, put a gun to his head, arrested two of his aides, and seized documents," Andrew Cockburn writes. "Only five months ago, Chalabi was a guest of honor sitting right behind Laura Bush at the State of the Union.

Main Source:

CounterPunch, May 20, 2004

No More Money for Chalabi

by Sheldon Rampton — May 17, 2004 - 10:00pm

"The United States government has decided to halt monthly $335,000 payments to the Iraqi National Congress, the group headed by Ahmad Chalabi," reports Richard A. Oppel, Jr. The INC, which has received at least $27 million in U.S. financing during the past four years, played a crucial role in the Bush administration's campaign to sell the war in Iraq.

Main Source:

New York Times, May 18, 2004

Counter-Attack of the Killer Clowns

by Diane Farsetta — May 9, 2004 - 10:00pm

As the anti-fast food documentary "Super Size Me" hits theaters, McDonald's is fighting back. "We're responding aggressively because the film is a gross misrepresentation," said a company spokesperson. Helping defend McDonald's are "global nutritionist" Cathy Kapica and the corporate-funded American Council on Science and Health.

Main Source:

PR Week, May 10, 2004

How Chalabi Conned the Neocons

by Sheldon Rampton — May 3, 2004 - 10:00pm

"Ahmed Chalabi is a treacherous, spineless turncoat. He had one set of friends before he was in power, and now he's got another," says L. Marc Zell, a former law partner of Douglas Feith, now the undersecretary of defense for policy, and a former friend and supporter of Chalabi and his aspirations to lead Iraq.

Main Source:

Salon.com, May 4, 2004

US-Funded INC Faces GAO Probe For Propagandizing

by Laura Miller — April 26, 2004 - 10:00pm

The controversial Iraqi National Congress will be the subject of a probe by Congress' General Accounting Office for using U.S. taxpayer money to convince U.S. citizens to support an Iraq invasion, according to Knight Ridder reporters Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay.

Main Source:

Democracy Now! April 27, 2004

'Cooler Heads' Deny Global Warming

by Laura Miller — April 4, 2004 - 10:00pm

As campaigning Republicans face attacks from environmentalist on climate change, industry friendly Consumer Alert has relaunched the Cooler Heads Coalition and its website globalwarming.org.

Main Source:

PR Newswire, April 5, 2004

INC Fed Media False Stories

by Laura Miller — March 15, 2004 - 11:00pm

"The former Iraqi exile group that gave the Bush administration exaggerated and fabricated intelligence on Iraq also fed much of the same information to newspapers, news agencies and magazines in the United States, Britain and Australia," Knight Ridder reports.
"A June 26, 2002, letter from the Iraqi National Congress to the Senate Appropriations Committee listed 108 articles based on information provided by the Iraqi National Congress's Information Collection Program, a U.S.-funded effort to col

Main Source:

San Jose Mercury News, March 16, 2004