The PR firm Dix & Eaton "is serving as 'media coordinator' for International Coal Group, the owner of the Sago Mine in West Virginia in which a dozen miners lost their lives," reports O'Dwyer's. The U.S.

Microsoft shut down "a popular Chinese-language blog" by journalist Zhao Jing on December 30, on the grounds that it "has run edgy content potentially offensive to Chinese authorities." The blog "had criticized the government's firing of top editors at a progressive Beijing newspaper." Microsoft stated, "Most countries have laws and practices that require companies providing online services to make the internet safe for local users. ...

"U.S. military websites that pay journalists to write articles and commentary supporting military activities in Europe and Africa do not violate U.S. law or Pentagon policies," concluded the Pentagon's inspector general.