Corporations

Wal-Mart: Low Prices, PR Triage

Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on

Sam Walton just might be spinning in his grave. He was said to detest public relations, preferring to let Wal-Mart products and services speak for themselves. Under the new regime, PR has taken on a special urgency, with company officials locking into a political campaign-like "war room" mentality to respond to critics of its labor and big box store siting strategies. Now comes word that the company is looking for "triage" and "emergency response" talent in its next key hires.

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Main Source: 
New York Times, March 30, 2006
Topics: 
Corporations
Labor
Marketing
Public Relations

Non-Profit 'Watchdog' Well Fed By ExxonMobil

Submitted by Bob Burton on

The Wall Street Journal reports that Public Interest Watch (PIW), a non-profit 'watchdog' group which sucessfully lobbied for an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax audit of Greenpeace, has been heavily funded by ExxonMobil. Two years after PIW urged an IRS investigation, Greenpeace was subjected to a three-month long audit.

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Main Source: 
Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), March 21, 2006
Topics: 
Activism
Front Groups
Corporations
Environment

Anti-Enviro Front Groups Grow on Trees

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

Paul Thacker reports on "one short-lived 'grassroots' organization" based in Oregon, whose leaders "played a key role in passing President Bush's Healthy Forests legislation and are now promoting changes" to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that

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Main Source: 
Environmental Science & Technology, March 8, 2006
Topics: 
Astroturf
Corporations
Environment
U.S. Government

Los Angeles "News" Show for Sale

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

"An anchor at KTLA-TV received a customized dining-room makeover worth more than $10,000 for her own home, in what a local furniture merchant says was meant to be a swap of free goods and services ... for favorable coverage on the station's 'Morning News'," reports the LA Times. The segment was taped in September 2005 but never aired, leading the merchant to warn, "If it doesn't air," KTLA's Michaela Pereira will "be treated like a paying customer." Pereira agreed to return some items and pay for others.

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Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2006
Topics: 
Journalism
Corporations
Ethics

On Dubai Ports Deal, It's Clinton vs Clinton

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

U.S. House Armed Services Committee chair Duncan Hunter will introduce legislation "to prevent foreign companies from controlling facilities determined to be critical to U.S. national security." If passed, the bill would nix the Dubai Ports World deal to manage major U.S. ports.

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Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2006
Topics: 
Corporations
International
Public Relations
U.S. Government

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