Third Party Technique

Did Sister Ruth Neglect to Reflect on McDonald’s?

by Jonathan Rosenblum — June 15, 2006 - 10:22am
  • Topics: Corporate Social Responsibility, Third Party Technique, Labor, Social Justice

    • I first met Sister Ruth Rosenbaum at the University of Wisconsin’s Living Wage Symposium in 1999. Her Hartford-based Center for Reflection, Education and Action (CREA), established in 1995, had produced impressive reports on miserable wages and working conditions in Haiti and Mexico, and I soon assigned them to students in my course on global sweatshops.

    Big Tobacco's Covert Witness Program

    by Bob Burton — June 13, 2006 - 5:55pm

    In a February 1989 speech to the Executive Committee of the now-defunct Tobacco Institute, the group's Senior Vice President, Charles Powers, sought to save the industry's covert "Scientific Witness" program from impending budget cuts.

    Main Source: 
    Anne Landman's Collection, June 11, 2006

    Donations Tie Drug Firms and Nonprofits

    by Sheldon Rampton — May 30, 2006 - 6:19pm

    "The American Diabetes Association, a leading patient health group, privately enlisted an Eli Lilly & Co. executive to chart its growth strategy and write its slogan. The National Alliance on Mental Illness, an outspoken patient advocate, lobbies for treatment programs that also benefit its drug-company donors. ...

    Main Source: 
    Philadelphia Inquirer, May 28, 2006

    They Really CARE -- About Energy Profits

    by John Stauber — May 7, 2006 - 2:14pm

    Wendy Brown reports, "Critics say the Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy ... is a classic front group for the oil-and-gas industry. CARE claims its purpose is to educate people about energy policy and undo some of the spin that left-wing groups have propagated about alternative fuels like ethanol and hydrogen.

    Main Source: 
    The New Mexican, May 7, 2006

    On TV News, the Ads Never End

    by Diane Farsetta — January 30, 2006 - 2:11pm

    "Local TV news operations hungry for free content have intersected with brand brokers looking for product placement opportunities," writes Advertising Age. The segments "typically come in the form of four-minute lifestyle segments that are dedicated to one brand and feature a brand's spokesperson chatting with the show's host and delivering the product's message to viewers.

    Main Source: 
    Advertising Age, January 30, 2006

    Cutouts Speak Out

    by Sheldon Rampton — December 18, 2005 - 10:51pm

    "U.S. military officials in Iraq were fully aware that a Pentagon contractor regularly paid Iraqi newspapers to publish positive stories about the war, and made it clear that none of the stories should be traced to the United States, according to several current and former employees of Lincoln Group," report Mark Mazzetti and Kevin Sack.

    Main Source: 
    Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2005

    Fake Op/Eds: Think Tanks and Piggy Banks

    by Diane Farsetta — December 16, 2005 - 5:44pm

    Two opinion columnists and fellows at conservative think tanks have admitted to taking money from indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to write favorable columns about his clients.

    Main Source: 
    BusinessWeek, December 16, 2005

    Shocked (or Not?) at PR and PsyOps in Iraq

    by Diane Farsetta — December 1, 2005 - 11:36am

    After the Los Angeles Times reported that the Pentagon, through the Lincoln Group, was planting "favorable stories about the war and the rebuilding effort" in Iraqi newspapers, military spokespeople "offered a mixed message" about the program.

    Main Source: 
    Associated Press, November 30, 2005

    And Now, for the Local Fake News

    by Diane Farsetta — October 26, 2005 - 9:22am
    New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, from the city government's website

    The mayor and city council of Newark, New Jersey "hired a fledging newspaper called Newark Weekly News to publish 'positive news' about the city - and will pay $100,000 over the next year for it." The no-bid contract specifies that the paper will "gener

    Main Source: 
    The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey), October 24, 2005

    The Emperor Doesn't Disclose: Why the Fight Against Fake News Continues

    by Diane Farsetta — October 11, 2005 - 1:57pm
  • Topics: Third Party Technique, Video News Releases, Media, Propaganda, U.S. Government

    • Like much news that's damaging to the Bush administration, the report came out on a Friday.

    Since then, it's gotten little media attention -- just 41 mentions in U.S. newspapers and wire stories, according to a news database search on October 11. That's remarkably sparse coverage for a story showing that the U.S. government has been engaged in illegal propaganda aimed at its own citizens.

    Syndicate content