Issue Management

Follow the Money, Eh? Canadian Reporters' Glowing Failure

by Bob Burton — September 26, 2007 - 12:35am
  • Topics: Journalism, Issue Management, Nuclear Power, Third Party Technique, Environment, Ethics, International, Media, Public Relations

    • "Much of the environmental movement, including Greenpeace, has lost its way when it comes to nuclear power, caught up in politically correct ideology and stooping to sensationalism to garner support," declared a recent media alert announcing the visit of one-time Greenpeace activist Patrick Moore to Toronto. The alert continued, "In Ontario, CANDU nuclear energy is the greatest single contributor to carbon reduction relative to all other energy producing technologies."

    Australian Government Lays Information Smokescreen

    by Bob Burton — September 26, 2007 - 12:34am

    Faced with opposition to increasing government secrecy by Australia's Right to Know, a coalition of Australian media companies and the journalists' union, the Australian Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, has announced a review of the

    Main Source: 
    Sydney Morning Herald, September 25, 2007

    The Oil Industry Road Show Comes to New Jersey

    by Diane Farsetta — September 20, 2007 - 3:05pm

    "Energy giants ConocoPhillips and BP have brought their 'green' environmental campaigns to central New Jersey," reports Ryan Tracy, "funding research ...

    Main Source: 
    The Times (Trenton, N.J.), September 19, 2007

    The Formula for Deceiving Mothers Online

    by Bob Burton — September 19, 2007 - 1:56am

    Peggy O'Mara, the editor of Mothering Magazine, reports that "in addition to the inaccurate information on breastfeeding" by the media, the "marketing practices of the formula companies continue to undermine breastfeeding." She notes the existence of several "stealth" websites "that appear to be grassroots advocacy sites, but are actually mouthpieces for the formula industry." One of the websites, MomsFeedingFreedom.com, is campaigning against proposed restrictions on the free bags of infant form

    Main Source: 
    Mothering Magazine, September/October 2007

    PR Adviser Praises Maldives Prisons

    by Bob Burton — September 12, 2007 - 4:55am

    Nic Careem, a London-based "public affairs consultant", recently proclaimed his interest in helping raise the profile of the President of the Maldives, Abdul Gayoom, on the issue of global warming.

    Main Source: 
    Minivan News (news on the Maldives), September 11, 2007

    Did Marlboro Man Edit Wikipedia?

    by Bob Burton — September 5, 2007 - 1:23pm
  • Topics: Citizen Journalism, Internet, Corporate Social Responsibility, Issue Management, Health, Public Relations, Tobacco

    • Philip Morris (PM) has long been a past master at funding front groups and organizing scientists to deny the obvious. Now it is apparent that someone at PM tried puffing the entry in Wikipedia on the Marlboro cigarette.

    Literal "Whitewashing": The Taiwanese Show How PR is Done After Plane Catches Fire

    by Conor Kenny — September 2, 2007 - 2:42pm

    This bit of PR whitewashing comes very close to a literal definition. From a Japanese press account quoted in the "Telstar Logistics" blog: "China Airlines has painted over its name and logo on the wreckage of a passenger jet that exploded in flames at Naha Airport in Okinawa moments after passengers slid down emergency chutes to escape. The airline painted over the name 'China Airlines' on the left-hand side of the aircraft and the company's logo on the plane's tail fin.

    Main Source: 
    Telstar Logistics blog, August 23, 2007

    We Know What You Did Online Last Summer

    by Diane Farsetta — August 31, 2007 - 5:38pm
  • Topics: Citizen Journalism, Crisis Management, Internet, Issue Management, Human Rights, Secrecy

    • Self-described "disruptive technologist" Virgil Griffith lists as his top aim in developing WikiScanner: "To create a fireworks display of public relations disasters in which everyone brings their own fireworks, and enjoys."

    Here at the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), we see WikiScanner as a great way to better understand how public relations firms and other "perception managers" are subverting online discussions and social media. And what better website to track this on than Wikipedia, the world's most popular wiki, or collaboratively edited website?

    Was Wikipedia Spinning Part of H&K's Maldives Work?

    by Diane Farsetta — August 31, 2007 - 1:03pm

    The Center for Media and Democracy has previously reported on the PR firm Hill & Knowlton's work for the oppressive regime of the president of the Maldives, Maumoon Gayoom.

    Main Source: 
    Wikipedia / WikipediaScanner

    University of California Praises Hill & Knowlton

    by Bob Burton — August 28, 2007 - 2:59pm

    The University of California (UC) has dismissed objections by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union to UC management's hiring of Hill & Knowlton to spin its labor record. UC's Executive Director of Systemwide Labor Relations, Howard J.

    Main Source: 
    University of California letter (PDF), August 20, 2007
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