arts/culture

Both the Democratic and Republican conventions are bringing in millions of dollars in corporate sponsors, but there is no reporting requirement for either the political parties or the companies. There are a reported 146 organizational and corporate donors, but less than a quarter have chosen to disclose information about their donations. Some of the lead donors are telecom companies that just weeks ago received retroactive immunity from Congress for participation in the Bush spy program. AT&T is such a large scale donor that their logo is placed prominently on the attendees' welcome bags. Other identified donors include Motorola, Coca-Cola, Google, Qwest Communications, Comcast, and nuclear energy giant Xcel Energy. Stephen Weissman of the Campaign Finance Institute, explained that "to have that speech come off well, to have the lighting and the rigging and all of the sound and the Broadway producers who do it, to have the production and the setting look just right, to have specially built podiums and so forth, that will earn gratitude."

The Army National Guard is launching a new recruiting campaign, called the "Rock Star Hero Challenge." Developed by RedPeg Marketing, the effort focuses on venues where the Guard expects its target demographic to be: music festivals, NASCAR events, and fishing tournaments. Using a tour bus to be a presence at at many as 50 events that will draw 50,000 to 100,000 attendees each, the campaign will draw in potential recruits with "52-inch touch screen displays that allow potential recruits to see and participate in virtual missions. Interactive kiosks where visitors can pose with images of rock bands will sit outside the buses, tying into the musical nature of the events and emphasizing the figurative 'rock star' quality of Army National Guard members." LTC Joseph Day, chief of the Army National Guard's strategic actions and marketing, said that the National Guard is currently on track to meet its recruiting goal for 2008 and that "The interactive nature makes the 'Rock Star Hero' different and will appeal to our demographic's thirst for technology."

Listen to this week's edition of the "Weekly Radio Spin," the Center for Media and Democracy's audio report on the stories behind the news. This week, we look at rock star Guard members, protection for journalists and a bizarre "honor" for Jesse Helms. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," we look at Senator Elizabeth Dole. The Weekly Radio Spin is freely available for personal and broadcast use. Podcasters can subscribe to the XML feed on www.prwatch.org/audio or via iTunes. If you air the Weekly Radio Spin on your radio station, please email us at editor@prwatch.org to let us know. Thanks!

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless plans to hand out free movie tickets, free passes to the Zoo, Denver's Museum of Nature and Science and other cultural attractions to homeless people during the Democratic National Convention August 25-28. They will even provide free bus tickets for the homeless to visit attractions that are beyond walking distance. Day shelters will stay open extended hours during the Convention, and some shelters will set up big-screen TVs so patrons can watch the event. Supporters of the plan say it's going to help the homeless avoid protests and large crowds that will likely fill their usual places, and say it is a "more sanitary and humane" way to take care of the homeless during the Convention. But not everyone is buying that explanation. Some citizens think the plan is an effort to hide the city's homeless during the convention. Some homeless people have shown little enthusiasm for the plan. Denver panhandler Ronnie Wand says he'll believe the free tickets when he sees them, and expects to do time in jail for vagrancy during the convention.

"As a Los Angeles county prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi batted a thousand in murder cases: 21 trials, 21 convictions, including the Charles Manson case in 1971. As an author, Mr. Bugliosi has written three No. 1 best sellers and won three Edgar Allan Poe awards, the top honor for crime writers. More than 30 years ago he co-wrote the best seller Helter Skelter, about the Manson case. ... [H]is latest, a polemic with the provocative title The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, has risen to best-seller status with nary a peep from the usual outlets that help sell books: cable television and book reviews in major daily newspapers. ... Mr. Bugliosi said he had expected some resistance from the mainstream media because of the subject matter - the book lays a legal case for holding President Bush 'criminally responsible' for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq - but not a virtual blackout. ... Mr. Bugliosi said bookers for cable television, where he has made regular appearances to promote books, have ignored his latest offering. MSNBC and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show were two outlets Mr. Bugliosi had thought would show interest, but neither did."

Product placement examplesThe U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) "is expected to open a formal proceeding about new rules requiring more disclosure of product placement." The "in-show advertising" practice is popular with marketers trying to "reach consumers who skip commercials." Product placement spending "increased 33.7% to $2.90 billion in 2007 from a year earlier," with "The Biggest Loser," "American Idol" and "The Apprentice" having the most product placements on network television. To improve disclosure, the FCC will consider requiring "notices similar to what political candidates must say before or after campaign ads." The agency will also "examine whether embedded advertisements violate FCC rules on children's programming, which require a few-second break in between the show and an ad. Commissioners will look at whether new product-placement rules need to be extended to cover cable programmers, which are currently exempt." Five years ago, Commercial Alert urged the FCC to require that product placements be "identified when they occur," instead of at the end of a show. The FCC didn't include that proposal in its new rule-making proceeding.

From the Army's 2006 All-American BowlHow can you counter "daily stories and blog entries that portray the negative aspects of joining the military"? That was PR firm Weber Shandwick's job in the lead-up to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January 2008. For the 11 month, $342,000 PR campaign, Weber Shandwick paired "athletes with local Army members for bowl-watching parties and football and Army skills competitions, creating feature-story opportunities." Weber Shandwick and the Army "contacted Army bases in the regions where the players are from. The Army also named a soldier as an All-American Bowl hero for every player selected for the game and honored them during the pre-game ceremony. ... The Army also released practice footage of the players to local media in regions where they reside, and profiled players to publications targeted at specific multicultural demographics." The Army was happy enough with the resulting 3,600 media hits and high message penetration -- "partially due to a successful radio news release" -- that it hired Weber Shandwick to promote its 2009 All-American Bowl.

Listen to this week's edition of the "Weekly Radio Spin," the Center for Media and Democracy's audio report on the stories behind the news. This week, we look at using comic books to counter protests, Morocco's promotion of questionable refugees, and product placement across the pond. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," we look at Jack Abramoff. The Weekly Radio Spin is freely available for personal and broadcast use. Podcasters can subscribe to the XML feed on www.prwatch.org/audio or via iTunes. If you air the Weekly Radio Spin on your radio station, please email us at editor@prwatch.org to let us know. Thanks!

In his first major speech on broadcasting, British culture secretary Andy Burnham minced few words. "I think there are some lines that we should not cross," Burnham told a media industry meeting. "One of which is that you can buy the space between the programmes on commercial channels, but not the space within them. ... There is a risk that product placement exacerbates this decline in trust and contaminates our programmes." The European Commission has directed member states "to say by the summer whether they will permit product placement." A spokesperson for ITV, which supports product placement, said the broadcaster "will be taking an active part in the consultation process on product placement." Burnham also "said he would not permit partisan news coverage in the UK in the style of Fox News in the U.S." Lastly, he argued in favor of self-regulation of Internet content through labeling. "If a clip on YouTube gets a million hits, it is akin to broadcasting and it doesn't seem to me to be too difficult to have an alert on that clip ... for language, violence or sex."

The USS George WashingtonConcerns about safety and the impact on the local fishing industry have led residents to protest the U.S. Navy's stationing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Japan. Some 48,000 residents called for a public referendum on the deployment of the USS George Washington, but the Yokosuka assembly rejected their plea. The U.S. Navy will distribute 26,000 copies of a comic book titled Manga CVN73, "named after the George Washington's hull number. ... The navy hopes the 200-page book, with its wholly positive take on life in the services, will dampen opposition to the George Washington's deployment amid protests by Yokosuka residents." The comic, drawn by Japanese cartoonists hired by the U.S. Navy, "follows Jack Ohara, a third-class petty officer, as he overcomes seasickness and prepares for his first overseas mission -- to Japan. In one scene he quickly puts out a fire that has broken out on board the ship." In May, the real George Washington had a fire on board that left "two crew members with minor burns and another 23 needing treatment." U.S. Real Admiral James Kelly said of the fire, "This is not something for the citizens of Yokosuka to worry about."