In February, the U.S. Army asked for proposals to boost its Iraq public affairs work with "three civilian PR specialists and two Arabic-speaking media monitors to work in Iraq and two staffers stateside." Then, the deadline for proposals was extended to mid-March.

The oil company Shell -- which is heavily invested in Alberta's tar sands, an especially dirty and greenhouse gas-intensive source of oil -- has launched a blog about climate change issues. It's "the first time a major oil company has used social media to make a public policy case," reports Siobhan Hughes.

After "President Barack Obama revealed a $634 billion plan for healthcare as part of his proposed budget," the healthcare industry and its PR firms sought to secure "a seat at the table." The head of Burson-Marsteller's U.S.