New York Times reporter Keith Bradsher's new book "High and Mighty -- SUVs: The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way" hit bookstores September 17. Yet before its release, reporters began receiving a 15-page memo titled "SUV Allegations and Facts." According to the Corporate Crime Reporter the memo "seeks to mislead reporters with quotes taken out of context." The source of the attack memo is Washington DC-based PR firm Strat@comm, which counts as clients DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM, and a number of auto industry trade groups.

"One of the things medical people really know about is clever advertising and one of the really clever tricks of the industry is duping the media into running advertising campaigns absolutely free of charge," writes Media Watch of Australia as it deconstructs the "Healthy Weight Task Force," a front group set up by the Burson-Marsteller PR firm in Australia to promote sales of Xenical diet pills.

With war against Iraq on everybody's mind, you might not even know about the protests in Washington at last weekend's annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. "Police outnumbered activists, who said U.S. security concerns after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- and low official tolerance for risky tactics -- had forced antiglobalization onto a new, more mainstream tack," reports Laura MacInnis.