This essay by PR industry writer Paul Holmes examines the pros and cons of the "attack dog" strategy advocated by PR specialists in crisis management such as the firm of Nichols-Dezenhall, which urges corporations to "get in the trenches and fight" against activists. "It

"Future generations may look back on this as the Century of the Spokesperson," comments Washington Post reporter Linton Weeks. "The Mouthpiece Millennium. The Night of the Living Flacks. Only a year and half into the 2000s and already we've seen: Marina Ein for Rep. Gary Condit and lawyer Billy Martin for Chandra Levy's family. Elizabeth Quigley for the family of confessed child-drowner Andrea Yates. William Shatner for Priceline.com. Cheryl Ladd for Presbyopia Awareness Month. And Tiger Woods for everything else."

Anxious to avoid another public relations calamity, the Italian government has agreed to allow a parliamentary inquiry into the horrific police violence that injured 240 protesters during recent globalization talks in Genoa. The violence included the secret torture of arrestees in police cells. "I heard my ribs break, like snapping matchsticks. I thought, my God, this is it, I'm going to die," said Mark Covell, one of the journalists injured when police attacked the school where he was staying.