Third Party Technique

SourceWatch Tracks the Pro-War Lobby and Vets for Freedom

by John Stauber — August 15, 2007 - 8:37am
  • Topics: Citizen Journalism, Right Wing, Iraq, Front Groups, Terrorism, Third Party Technique, U.S. Congress, Lobbying, Public Relations, War / Peace

    • SourceWatch citizen journalist Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a dogged and prolific investigator of the pro-war lobby. AI began digging into the pro-war front group Vets for Freedom in June 2006. AI's research exposing the neoconservative agenda and Republican operatives behind VFF has been used by scores of journalists. Just do a Google search for "Vets for Freedom" and you'll find AI's work in our SourceWatch article right at the top of your returns, next to the VFF's own website.

    Pro-war funding appears plentiful for VFF as it gears up to lobby Congress in September. Here's some of the latest from AI and the VFF article on SourceWatch:

    McDonald's Advised to Fight or Fess Up

    by Bob Burton — August 13, 2007 - 3:47am

    McDonald's has been criticized by PR professionals for its response to the recent study by Stanford University School of Medicine and the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital which found that young children preferred foods associated with the company's packagi

    Main Source: 
    Advertising Age, August 13, 2007

    WWF Greenwashes Coca-Cola

    by John Stauber — June 5, 2007 - 9:24am

    As Ronald Reagan loved to remark, "There they go again." WWF, the corporate-funded environmental giant often accused of taking greenbacks in return for greenwashing its corporate benefactors, has

    Main Source: 
    Environmental News Service, June 5, 2007

    Shell's Broadwater Gathers ACORN's Support

    by John Stauber — June 1, 2007 - 7:40am

    Newsday reports on a successful cooptation of the activist group ACORN by Shell Oil's natural gas venture: "Amid its ongoing e

    Main Source: 
    Newsday, June 1, 2007

    An Academic Look at Fake TV News

    by Diane Farsetta — April 2, 2007 - 1:24pm

    In his paper "Loath to admit: Pressures on ethical disclosure of news release sources," Australian academic Peter Simmons analyzes issues around video news releases (VNRs), or fake TV news.

    Main Source: 
    Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, October 2006

    Minnesota Doctors on Drug Company Drip

    by Bob Burton — March 23, 2007 - 2:48am

    An examination of records from Minnesota, where legislation requires drug company payments to doctors to be disclosed, reveals that between 1997 and 2005 over 5,500 medical professionals in the state were paid a total of over $57 million. Gardiner Harris and Janet Roberts report that "another $40 million went to clinics, research centers and other organizations. More than 20 percent of the state’s licensed physicians received money.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, March 21, 2007

    Pepsi's Dean

    by Bob Burton — March 6, 2007 - 7:53pm

    PepsiAmericas' range of products

    Three months after the Dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Dr.

    Main Source: 
    Pioneer Press (Minneapolis), March 5, 2007

    Drug Gets a Cameo in a Film Backed by Its Maker

    by John Stauber — February 21, 2007 - 8:49pm

    Stephanie Saule reports that "Innerstate, a documentary about three people coping with disabling chronic illness, may be coming to a theater near you. If so, admission will be free, courtesy of the drug maker that produced the film. The 58-minute film ... is an unusual form of soft-pedal marketing of a blockbuster drug, Remicade. The documentary never specifically mentions Remicade, or the product’s maker, Centocor, a unit of Johnson & Johnson.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, February 21, 2007

    More Nukes? Moore Spin

    by Bob Burton — January 2, 2007 - 8:41pm

    Patrick Moore, a former environmental activist who left Greenpeace twenty years ago and is now a PR consultant, argues "it is now far more effective to work with governments and industries to encourage positive change." As a consultant, Moore has dismissed concerns about the impact of logging in the Amazon, supported Newmont Mining over controversies at its mines in the U.S., Ghana and Peru, defended the use of PVC in plastics and extoll

    Main Source: 
    Pallet Enterprise, January 1, 2007
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