Front Groups

Tobacco Scams the Restaurant Industry

by Sheldon Rampton — August 6, 2002 - 10:00pm

For years the tobacco industry has been using restaurant trade associations as front groups in its battle to keep Americans puffing. Now this strategy is documented on a new web site hosted by the University of California-San Franciso. "If Big Tobacco can't buy hospitality groups to serve as fronts, it sets up its own," the site states. Examples include the "California Business and Restaurant Alliance" and the ""Beverly Hills Restaurant Association" (created by a Tobacco Institute PR firm).

Main Source:

http://tobaccoscam.ucsf.edu/

More Junk from the Junkman

by Sheldon Rampton — July 25, 2002 - 10:00pm

PR Watch has exposed the antics of Steven ("the Junkman") Milloy more times than we can stand to remember, as he flacks for the tobacco industry, speaks up for asbestos, and attacks environmentalists as "terrorists" and "fear profiteers." Nowadays he writes a column for

Main Source:

Fox "News" Channel, July 26, 2002

Ethical Help for WorldCom

by Sheldon Rampton — July 24, 2002 - 10:00pm

The APCO PR firm, which is currently representing WorldCom in its ongoing bankruptcy scandal, has hired Tim Croasdaile as a senior vice president. Croasdaile formerly chaired the National Investor Relations Institute's ethics committee.

Main Source:

O'Dwyer's PR Daily, July 25, 2002

PhRMA Supports Seniors Who Support PhRMA

by Laura Miller — July 14, 2002 - 10:00pm

PR giant Weber Shandwick (WS) is helping the United Senior Association (USA), a 1.5 million member organization, with its PR needs. USA is backing the prescription drug bill that was passed by the House on June 28. O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports, "That bill is backed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which has made 'educational grants' to USA. PhRMA supports the House measure because it bans the government from setting prices for prescription drugs. It is against a more expansive drug plan that is being introduced in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Main Source:

O'Dwyer's PR Daily, July 15, 2002

Loophole Lets Lobbyists Hide Clients' Identities

by Sheldon Rampton — July 3, 2002 - 10:00pm

"Thanks to a loophole in the federal lobbying law, some companies and individuals - especially those pursuing controversial or potentially embarrassing causes - are using coalitions to conceal their identities," writes New York Times reporter Alison Mitchell. Examples of these "stealth coalitions" include the "Section 877 Coalition," which lobbied to help wealthy Americans evade taxes by giving up U.S. citizenship.

Main Source:

New York Times, July 4, 2002

NCPPR's Terror Campaign

by Sheldon Rampton — July 1, 2002 - 10:00pm

The latest bulletin from the Clearinghouse for Educational Advocacy and Research (CLEAR) features an elegant crique of the National Committee for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a right-wing front group that campaigns for tobacco and Republicans and against the environment.

Main Source:

http://www.CLEARproject.org

Canada's Propaganda War for Engineered Foods

by Sheldon Rampton — June 24, 2002 - 11:29am

The Canadian government, working closely with the biotech industry, is spending millions getting Canadians to accept genetically modified foods. Lyle Stewart describes the "spider's web of influence" that brings together the biotech and agri-food industries, large grocery distributors, the Hill & Knowlton PR firm, and industry-created front groups such as the Food Biotechnology Communications Network, and co-opted NGOs including the Consumers' Association of Canada.

Main Source:

This magazine, May/June 2002

Mall Developer's Ohio Front Group Exposed in the Press

by John Stauber — May 29, 2002 - 10:00pm

"A mall (development) war ... has heated up after one developer secretly launched a hard-hitting public relations strike against a competitor, warning that the rival's plan could lead to traffic gridlock and adult businesses. ... After The Cincinnati Enquirer obtained a plan that outlined part of the campaign, David Kass, Continental Retail Development's president, admitted Wednesday to unleashing it against (competitor) Steiner. But he said it was a legal effort similar to development campaigns elsewhere in the country. ... 'We're coming clean,' Mr.

Main Source:

Cincinatti Inquirer, May 30, 2002

Berman Sees Anti-Meat Conspirators at Wall St. Journal

by John Stauber — May 29, 2002 - 8:57pm

Tobacco, booze and food lobbyist Rick Berman has mastered the art of lining his own pockets running his non-profit industry-funded front groups . And now there he goes again, attacking us for a quote of John Stauber's in a recent Wall Street Journal article on the mad deer epidemic . Berman is the master of the smear campaign and constantly misrepresents the individuals and groups he attacks.

Main Source:

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=1436

"Corporate Phantoms" Demonize the GE Food Debate

by John Stauber — May 28, 2002 - 10:00pm

Two weeks ago, Guardian columnist George Monbiot described how the Bivings Group, a PR company contracted to Monsanto, invented fake citizens to post messages on internet listservers. "These phantoms had launched a campaign to force Nature magazine to retract a paper it had published, alleging that native corn in Mexico had been contaminated with GM pollen," Monbiot writes in today's column. "But this, it now seems, is just one of hundreds of critical interventions with which PR companies hired by big business have secretly guided the biotech debate over the past few years. ...

Main Source:

The Guardian (UK), May 29, 2002