Iraq

Pentagon Embeds Public Affairs Officers With Journalists

by Laura Miller — March 31, 2003 - 11:00pm

"They may not get as much attention as their media counterparts, but dozens of Pentagon public affairs officers are 'embedded' right alongside the reporters in Iraq," PR Week reports. "The Pentagon also maintains the Coalition Press Information Center (CPIC) in Kuwait, a base of operations for public affairs officers not traveling with troops.
A 24-hour operation designed to keep up with news cycles in every time zone, ...

Main Source: 
PR Week, March 31, 2003; Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2003

Propaganda's Diminishing Half-Life

by Laura Miller — March 31, 2003 - 11:00pm

"In the good old days, the US used to tell a lie -- crass propaganda -- and it would stick for a long time. Journalists would have to scurry for months before they could expose the lies, but by then it would be almost irrelevant," writes London-based economist Paul de Rooij
for PalestineChronicle.com. "In the run up to the US-Iraq war, it became increasingly evident that propaganda has a diminished half-life. ... As soon as a propaganda ploy has been exposed, the current media spinners will move to the next tall story.

Main Source: 
PalestineChronicle.com, April 1, 2003

Coalition Of The Shills

by Laura Miller — March 31, 2003 - 11:00pm

Government officials from the U.S. and U.K. insist on labeling the American and British forces in Iraq as "coalition forces" despite the fact that the majority of "coalition of the willing" countries are providing little to no support for the Iraq invasion.

Main Source: 
Reuters, March 26, 2003; AReporter.com, April 1, 2003

War: Not So Good For PR & US Brands, But TV Ads OK

by Laura Miller — March 30, 2003 - 11:00pm

"Following a disastrous 2002 for the public relations industry, the war in Iraq now threatens to blight 2003," Advertising Age writes. "The most immediate problem for PR agencies is the shrinking news hole -- a vital element of campaigns -- now that it appears the war will go on for longer than some expected." Bad news for PR, but advertisers need not worry. "A majority of U.S.

Main Source: 
Advertising Age, March 31, 2003

Edelman Defends France's Sodexho From Congressional Attack

by Laura Miller — March 30, 2003 - 11:00pm

"France's Sodexho Alliance is fending off Congressional bids to strip it of its $880 million food service contract with the U.S. Marines because of the French snub of President Bush's invasion of Iraq," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "Edelman is our corporate agency of record, and we use it for crisis work," Bonnie Goldstein, a PR staffer at Sodexho's North American headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., told O'Dwyer's. "Rep. Jack Kingman (R-Ga.) wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asking him to consider transferring the Marines contract to a U.S.-based firm.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, March 31, 2003

General GOP

by Sheldon Rampton — March 30, 2003 - 11:00pm

"According to recent leaks from the Pentagon, Gen. Tommy Franks and other uniformed war planners argued with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over how many troops and how much armor to commit to the war," writes Lucian K. Truscott IV. "The soldiers wanted more of both," but "Rumsfeld was reportedly among the influential group on the administration war team who predicted that the Iraqi army would quickly fold after it had been shocked and awed. ...

Main Source: 
St. Louis Today, March 31, 2003

Clear Channel Gets PR Help Over Pro-War Rallies

by John Stauber — March 30, 2003 - 11:00pm

"Clear Channel Communications ... finds itself fending off a new set of
accusations: that the company is using its considerable
market power to drum up support for the war in Iraq, while
muzzling musicians who oppose it. ... The critics ... cite an unusual series of pro-military rallies drummed up
by Glenn Beck, whose talk show is syndicated by Premiere
Radio Networks, a Clear Channel subsidiary. ...

Main Source: 
New York Times, March 31, 2003

An Army of Propaganda

by John Stauber — March 30, 2003 - 11:00pm

"It's no coincidence that Americans, and others around the world, are echoing the exact same phrases and news bites at the same times with near-military precision. It's the result of a slickly orchestrated public relations campaign on the part of the military and the U.S. government that is borrowing the best practices of the corporate PR world. ... The PR industry, as many may know, was actually started by the military during World War I, when persuasive techniques were developed to recruit soldiers.

Main Source: 
AlterNet, March 31, 2003

The Spectre of Al-Jazeera

by Sheldon Rampton — March 27, 2003 - 11:00pm

Throughout the world, people are witnessing scenes of horror from Iraq on Al-Jazeera, the Arab cable news station. However, Al-Jazeera barely penetrates the United States. The network's newly-launched English-language web site remains down and may not be available for several weeks due to hacker attacks.

Main Source: 
Guardian (UK), March 28, 2003

Chickenhawks' War Comes Home to Roost

by Sheldon Rampton — March 27, 2003 - 11:00pm

If you think you remember that we were promised a quick, easy war, your memory is not faulty. Eric Alterman has gone to the trouble of assembling some of those recent quotes in which Bush administration officials and pundits predicted, not that war is hell, but that it would be heaven. "Support for Saddam ... will collapse at the first whiff of gunpowder," predicted Richard Perle.

Main Source: 
MSNBC, March 28, 2003
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