Rick Berman started ConsumerFreedom.com with $900,000 from the Philip Morris tobacco company. He is waging a corporate-funded smear campaign against public health, environmental and animal welfare organizations and the non-profit foundations that fund them.

In the wake of the September 11, even PR Watch editors John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton came under attack as "terrorists" from ConsumerFreedom.org, lobbyist Rick Berman's front group for the alcohol, tobacco and restaurant industries.

Nearly 70 percent of Americans say they do not trust corporate America, according to a recent survey conducted for the Interpublic's Golin/Harris PR unit. According to O'Dwyer's PR Daily, the surveys says that the Enron meltdown is only one of a number of recent events that have created "a crisis of confidence and trust in the way we do business in America." Industries that are especially mistrusted include: oil & gas; insurance; investment brokers; utilities; airlines; telecom; advertising; the media; PR; accounting; chemical; pharmaceuticals; and management/consulting.