Corporations

Monsanto Hid Decades of Pollution

Submitted by Laura Miller on

Washington Post reporter Michael Grunwald uncovers a decades-long campaign by Monsanto to hide its extremely toxic PCB pollution in Anniston, Alabama. Monsanto held a monopoly on PCB production in the United States until they stopped making them in 1977. For nearly 40 years while producing PCBs at the Anniston plant, Grunwald reports, Monsanto knew that the PCBs they were dumping into an Anniston creek and open-pit landfills were toxic and they concealed that knowledge.

No
Main Source: 
Washington Post, December 31, 2001
Topics: 
Corporations
Environment
Secrecy

The Enron Blame Game

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

A subtle blame game may be developing between two former executives most widely suspected of playing key roles in Enron Corp.'s collapse. Former Chief Executive Jeff Skilling and ousted Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow have both made carefully controlled media appearances in the company of the attorneys representing them in scores of civil lawsuits and government inquiries extending all the way to Congress. In both instances, the men or their lawyers distanced themselves from blame, suggesting others were responsible.

No
Main Source: 
Reuters, December 30, 2001
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Corporations

Denying Global Warming Bad For ExxonMobil's Reputaion

Submitted by Laura Miller on

PR trade publication O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports: "Robert Monks, Chairman of LENS Investment Management and Ram Trust Services, has filed a resolution calling for the separation of the Chairman and CEO positions at ExxonMobil because he believes the current holder of the posts, Lee Raymond, and his denial of the global warming problem is destroying the reputation of the energy giant. Monks says Raymond's 'extreme position' and negative public image is the reason that ExxonMobil's stock is 'undervalued compared to its peer group when it should be at a premium.'"

No
Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, December 18, 2001
Topics: 
Climate Change
Corporations

Omnicom Enters Corporate Spying Game

Submitted by Laura Miller on

PR trade publication O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports: "Omnicom has established SafirRosetti to spearhead its foray into the 'business intelligence' and 'executive and personal protection' arenas. Former New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir and ex-Kroll Assocs. and IBM Security Director Joe Rosetti head the operation that Omnicom CEO John Wren calls a 'natural extension' of the communications combine's business."

No
Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, December 12, 2001
Topics: 
Corporations
Public Relations

Enron Overshadowed

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"If there was no Afghanistan story," writes Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz, "the press would be going nuts over Enron. It's the biggest corporate collapse ever, the firm employed some top administration officials and the CEO was a Dubya pal. Enron has been a big business story, but hasn't drawn the kind of daily-drumbeat political treatment that often surrounds corporate chicanery with a strong whiff of scandal."

No
Main Source: 
Washington Post, December 12, 2001
Topics: 
Corporations
War / Peace

What Recession?

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"The American economy has officially entered what promises to be the worst recession since the early 1980s and, conceivably, the worst since World War II," writes economist Robert J. Samuelson. "But you'd hardly know from the media, which have treated the economic story as a sideshow. ... Editors have subconsciously delegated their jobs to Wall Street," which refuses to stop hyping over-valued stocks. "Editors would no doubt resent being cast as Wall Street's lackeys. But that is the effect."

No
Main Source: 
Washington Post, December 5, 2001
Topics: 
Corporations
Media

Enron Hires And Fires PR Firms

Submitted by Laura Miller on

Energy trading corporation Enron has hired "two of the nation's most respected strategic communications firms--Kekst & Company and The Brunswick Group" according to the Holmes Report. The firms have been working with Enron to assist with crisis communications as the company begins bankruptcy proceedings. Holmes reports Kekst has handled numerous projects requiring crisis management for Enron over the years, starting with a crisis involving the company's Puerto Rican water operations. This time Kekst was called in when Enron's financial troubles became public.

No
Main Source: 
The Holmes Report, December 3, 2001; O'Dwyer's Daily PR, December 4, 2001
Topics: 
Corporations
Public Relations

Downsizing the News

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Corporate decisions to slash the budget of news organizations have created a media environment that invites public relations manipulations. Now Jon Snow, one of Britain's most respected journalists, has launched a furious attack on his own TV network for "reducing its commitment" to news and current affairs. Ten years ago, ITV spent

No
Main Source: 
The Guardian (UK), December 2, 2001
Topics: 
Journalism
Corporations

The UN's Rio+10 Summit: Banking on Feelgood PR

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

In October 2001, captains of industry from around the world marked the tenth anniversay of the United Nation's environmental summit in Rio de Janiero by gathered in Paris for a major strategy meeting, hosted by Business Action for Sustainable Development (BASD).

No
Main Source: 
Corporate Europe Observer, December 2001
Topics: 
Corporate Social Responsibility
Environment

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