Secrecy

Loose Lips Sink Ships, NSA Warned Reporters

by Diane Farsetta — October 2, 2007 - 2:58pm

Concerned at news reports on its electronic surveillance, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has held "an unprecedented series of off-the-record 'seminars' in recent years to teach reporters about the damage caused by such leaks and to discourage reporting that could interfere with the agency's mission to spy on America's enemies," reports Josh Gerstein.

Main Source: 
New York Sun, September 27, 2007

Australian Government Lays Information Smokescreen

by Bob Burton — September 26, 2007 - 1:34am

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

Flacks Get a Chill Up the Spine

by Sheldon Rampton — September 5, 2007 - 2:20pm

James L. Horton of the Robert Marston & Associates PR firm is worried about Wikileaks, a new website that provides a means for people to share information about unethical behavior by governments and corporations. Wikileaks says it "is developing an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and participatory analysis.

Main Source: 
Online Public Relations Thoughts, September 5, 2007

Wikis Prove Tricky for PR Firms

by Diane Farsetta — September 4, 2007 - 5:15pm

Thanks to WikiScanner, more PR firms are coming under fire for making anonymous edits to Wikipedia that favored their clients. "Freud Communications' London office was caught making edits" on articles about Pizza Hut and Carphone Warehouse, reports PR Week.

Main Source: 
PR Week, August 31, 2007

We Know What You Did Online Last Summer

by Diane Farsetta — August 31, 2007 - 6:38pm
  • 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 - 2:03pm

    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

    Who's Footing Allawi's Lobbying Bill?

    by Diane Farsetta — August 30, 2007 - 4:56pm

    The Barbour, Griffith and Rogers (BGR) lobbying firm "is talking to the Justice Department about how to amend its foreign-agent filings after department lawyers questioned whether the firm had adequately disclosed who was paying" for the $50,000 per month contract with former Iraqi prime minister

    Main Source: 
    Newsweek, August 29, 2007

    Whistleblowers Treated Like Terrorists

    by Sheldon Rampton — August 27, 2007 - 9:53pm

    "One after another, the men and women who have stepped forward to report corruption in the massive effort to rebuild Iraq have been vilified, fired and demoted. Or worse," reports Deborah Hastings.

    Main Source: 
    Associated Press, August 26, 2007

    Providing Information May Be Hazardous to Your Job

    by Diane Farsetta — August 23, 2007 - 11:03am

    Is there an attempt "to flush out would-be whistle-blowers" at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which "focuses on how pollution and other toxins in the environment contribute to disease"?

    Main Source: 
    Associated Press, August 20, 2007

    Spinning Wikipedia

    by Sheldon Rampton — August 16, 2007 - 9:27pm

    "Editing your own entry on Wikipedia is usually the province of vain celebrities keen for some good PR," writes Bobbie Johnson. "But a new website has uncovered dozens of companies that have been editing the site in order to improve their public image.

    Main Source: 
    The Guardian (UK), August 15, 2007
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