Issue Management

Oil Company Front May Have to Disclose Contributors

by Bob Burton — October 16, 2006 - 2:43am

Alaska's Future, is a front group which, according to its former president, was created by BP, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.

Main Source: 
Fairbanks Daily New-Miner, October 11, 2006

Drug Ads Debate Heats Up in Europe and New Zealand

by Bob Burton — October 16, 2006 - 2:31am

A coalition of European health groups, including the International Society of Drug Bulletins and the Medicines in Europe Forum, is alarmed at a renewed campaign by the drug industry to lift the ban on direct-to-consumer advertising in Europe.

Main Source: 
Health Action International Europe, October 2006 (pdf file)

Blowing in the Wind

by Bob Burton — October 9, 2006 - 5:34am

A five-year long study into the 1959 meltdown of a nuclear reactor near Simi Valley in California has concluded that it could have caused between 260 and 1,800 cases of cancer. The report could not be more specific because the U.S. Department of Energy and Boeing, the parent company of Rocketdyne, refused to provide the weather data crucial to modelling where the radioactive pollution went.

Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, October 6, 2006

McDonald's Chews Fat with "Independent" Obesity Researchers

by Jonathan Rosenblum — September 26, 2006 - 3:42pm

When previously spotted pitching in to help the cause of "independent" research involving its products, McDonald's Corp. asked a Connecticut nun to quickly issue an unfinished report about farm workers in order to help the fast food giant fight off a fair wage campaign by migrant tomato pickers.

Main Source: 
Reuters, September 13, 2006

GolinHarris Aims To 'Leverage and Deflect' Activists

by Bob Burton — September 19, 2006 - 5:19am

Global PR firm GolinHarris has unveiled a range of new "practices and products," including one it has dubbed "Engage: Activist Issues Management." The firm explains, "In response to the growing influence of NGOs, GolinHarris has formalized its approach to leverage and deflect the influence of activists on issues ranging from the environment to animal welfare." In

Main Source: 
GolinHarris media release, September 12, 2006

Scary Evidence

by Bob Burton — September 16, 2006 - 4:45am

British Columbia's Deputy Minister of Health, Gordon Macatee, ordered a lunchtime presentation on disease mongering cancelled until a drug industry speaker could be added.

Main Source: 
Monday Magazine (Canada), September 13, 2006

A Fortunate Matter

by Bob Burton — August 29, 2006 - 4:07pm
  • Topics: Activism, Crisis Management, Obesity, Issue Management, Children, International

    • Prez Press Room Retrofit Aiming at Message Control?

    by Jonathan Rosenblum — August 29, 2006 - 2:37pm

    Technological advances in a refurbished White House Press Room open the door (or wall, actually) to daily presidential video news releases, says Professor Robert Thompson of Syracuse University. "The equivalent of press releases could go out without interruption or analysis," Thompson said of the new "video wall" that likely will be added to the press room when it reopens next year.

    Main Source: 
    The State (South Carolina) August 2, 2006

    Who's Afraid of Eric Schlosser?

    by Jonathan Rosenblum — August 7, 2006 - 4:23pm

    "Who made the edit?" asks Evan Hessel in his Forbes "OutFront" column. "The edit" in Wikipedia's entry on McDonald's Corporation erased a link to Eric Schlosser's highly critical assessment of McDonald's in Fast Food Nation, and replaced it with a link to a more academic tome.

    Main Source: 
    Forbes, June 19, 2006
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